Rocky Ford residents plant seed for pot

A Colorado city known for its cantaloupes will soon be known for its recreational cannabis.

Three cities in southern Colorado — Alamosa, Monte Vista and Rocky Ford, all located south of Pueblo — voted Tuesday on whether to allow sales of medical marijuana, recreational marijuana or both; they also had separate, corresponding tax measures for collecting revenue on prospective cannabis sales.

While the proposed pot-tax measures in the three cities all passed, only one approved retail sales: Rocky Ford, famous for its melons.

Elsewhere in Colorado, voters had a handful of local marijuana tax measures to consider on their ballots, including the town of Foxfield, where marijuana sales are currently banned. In 13 of 14 cities, the tax measures passed — Foxfield’s did not.

Additionally, Fort Collins voters authorized the City Council to amend the city code with regard to medical marijuana ordinances without requiring voter approval of each amendment, according to the Colorado Municipal League, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization.

State marijuana laws allow municipalities to “opt in” or ban marijuana sales and set local taxes. CML data on local ordinances shows that as of April 2017 about 90 percent of municipalities had taken action to address retail marijuana sales; 69 municipalities had regulations in place to allow sales and 168 had bans or moratoriums.