State to Denver: Not budging on indoor marijuana smoking

SWant to vape weed at a bar? It’s not happening anytime soon, according to a new letter from five different state agencies to the Denver City Council.

A city task force has been working for months on suggestions to make it easier for people to use cannabis at businesses. The task force had asked openended questions in a report about whether the state should reconsider some of its laws.

The letter from the state, sent this week, shot down the idea of allowing indoor smoking or the use of marijuana at liquor establishments — two possibilities that the city task force had asked about — and it left open another big question.

The state administration wants to ensure “that all Coloradans can breathe clean air in public spaces and in workplaces, and that means protecting Coloradans from secondhand smoke as a result of tobacco, vape and marijuana,” the letter said. Councilwoman Kendra Black said she didn’t know why the let ter mentioned vaporization, which has widely been interpreted to be allowed indoors under the state clean air act. “I don’t know if they’re sending a message. I don’t know. But currently it is allowed,” she said.

Vaporizers are part of the plan for one prospective cannabis business, the arcade Vape and Play. A state spokesperson said Friday the letter was not meant to suggest a change in vaping law.

The document also said allowing businesses to mix alcohol and cannabis could be dangerous. “(T)his administration is concerned that allowing marijuana and alcohol in licensed premises will result in an increase in impaired roadway users,” the letter stated, warning of the dangers of combining the substances.

The city task force hadn’t suggested allowing crossbuzz bars, but had asked whether it should be allowed. The group included a mix of city leaders, industry experts, neighborhood leaders and others.

The state officials didn’t provide much guidance on another key question. The amendment to legalize marijuana said that use couldn’t be “open and public,” but there’s no clear definition of that. That has resulted in arguments about the use of weed on tour buses in Denver.

That won’t be clarified unless the legislature or the courts provide an answer, the state officials said.

The letter, however, didn’t address the concrete recommendations of the task force. That includes suggestions about where cannabis businesses can be located, whether cannabis can be used at dispensaries and whether the city should provide permits for cannabis events.

“It is what I expected, and I am not surprised that that’s what they wrote. We agree that we need further definition for ‘open and public’ at the state level, so hopefully that will happen at this legislative session,” Black said.

City Council members will talk about marijuana issues at a Nov. 19 meeting.