Colorado pot club bill backers near showdown with governor

The bill also has Republican supporters who say clubs would keep pot out of parks and other public areas. It has already passed the GOP Senate.

But Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper told reporters recently that he opposes the pot club bill if it allows indoor smoking.

He said it’s a bad idea to invite attention to Colorado as a new president takes office and sends mixed messages about state pot experiments.

Sponsors counter that the clubs would still be subject to the Clean Indoor Air Act, which bans indoor smoking unless the establishment has no more than three employees. The bill bars the clubs from serving food beyond pre-packaged snacks or coffee; state liquor code bars any club from selling alcohol.

Pabon and other supporters mentioned indoor smoking during testimony Monday. Colorado already has a patchwork of private pot clubs, but the law is unclear about whether pot clubs are OK and many existing clubs are word-of-mouth “smokeasies.”

“We have at best a piecemeal approach to public consumption,” Pabon argued.

But anti-smoking activists oppose the bill, saying it could send the sig- nal that smoking inside is OK.

Bob Doyle of the American Lung Association warned that Colorado is “opening a Pandora’s Box” if it opens the door to statewide pot clubs.

No other marijuana state has regulated pot clubs. Voters in California and Maine last year approved legalization measures that allow for social consumption, but regulations in those states are still being worked out.

Colorado’s pot club bill awaits a vote by the full House, though sponsors hint that amendments are likely, meaning the bill would have to return to the Senate before hitting the governor’s desk.