Snowmass Village police have denied a club owner’s request to bring in extra business during the X Games by holding a private cannabis vape party on his patio.
Tim Lucca, owner of Turks music club, received a request from a regional X Games promoter to rent his patio for a private cannabis vaporizer event. “I said I’d love to do it,” says Lucca. “I’d love to bring some X Games action up here.”
Lucca asked Snowmass Village police chief Brian Olson about the legality of such a party—who then reached out to the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement office, and learned that holding an event in a public space where cannabis would be consumed was impossible.
“There’s no way to make the scenario non-public,” Olson told the Aspen Daily News. “And you can’t smoke marijuana in public.”
The refusal is symbolic of a larger problem facing Colorado since legalization in 2014. Tourists are able to purchase legal cannabis, but there’s nowhere to consume it besides private residences.
“I don’t see this (activity) coming into a public place until the state creates a licensing function that allows for a café ordinance,” Olson said.
Luckily, that café ordinance is underway. The Denver chapter of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) is currently drafting an initiative to be introduced to state voters on the November ballot, allowing for clubs and social pot use.