In the upcoming chapters, I’ll tell you all sorts of tales about the first year of legalization, which I’ve compiled by interviewing many key players on the scene at the time. I thought it only fitting that I open with my own experience: a step-by-step walk-through of what buying pot in those early days was like.
For me, it first felt real on the night of the actual vote — November 6, 2012. A group of friends and I had planned on meeting up at Ollie’s Pub and Grub in Frisco after we voted. Around 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. that evening, the televisions in the bar began to show some voting results. I will never forget how loudly the whole bar cheered. Marijuana had just become legal in the state of Colorado in regulated amounts for adults over twenty-one. It was a standing ovation. I don’t think I have even heard of a standing ovation happening as a result of the passage of a bill. A mere fourteen months later, legalized cannabis became available to purchase in dispensaries across the state.
On January 1, 2014, the day the first recreational pot shops opened in our state, I was having an early lunch with some friends in Frisco, and we decided to go to the local pot shop to purchase marijuana simply because it was legal. I am a very rare consumer of cannabis, so it didn’t matter to me either way. It was just crazy to see and attempt to be a part of day one in history. We all wanted to post a photo on Facebook holding up our little bags of weed for our friends in other states to see. Can you think of a better way to make some friends green with envy?
The pot shop was so crowded and there was such a long line that we changed our minds and left empty-handed. The next day, the front page of the paper showed pictures of the long lines at the pot shops all across the state. Reports of how these shops were running out of product were rampant.
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