Tvert: Once, it was at the press conference of the law enforcement authorities on amendment 44. That was a few weeks before election day in 2006. And that`s when they held their big press conference against the initiative, led by (then Attorney General John) Suthers along with most of the sheriffs and police chiefs. And Steve was on the phone. We had a huge show when 70 people showed up, all dressed in shiny neon green shirts. And Steve says, “You should start singing. Something like, “What do we want? A safer choice. When do we want it? Now.` So everyone sings, but everyone does it while Suthers is talking, and basically you couldn`t hear anything Suthers is saying. And after that, Steve said, “Oh, you did it while they were talking? That`s exactly what I meant, you know, sometimes, when no one was talking. And I said, “Well, it`s lost in translation.

We certainly yelled at a guy while he was talking. Today, there are more than 600 licensed marijuana stores in Colorado, as well as hundreds of other licensed grow operations, product manufacturers, testing facilities, transportation and delivery services, and other types of businesses. Cannabis sales since 2014, when the first recreational sales began, have totaled more than $13.4 billion. Tax revenues from these sales are approaching $2.3 billion. While Colorado was the first state to fully legalize marijuana and regulate businesses, researchers have found that their market is gradually stabilizing. That`s partly because other states in the U.S. and all of Canada have legalized recreational marijuana, so Colorado has competition. As a result of this more widespread recreational legalization, drug tourism in Colorado has declined somewhat. This month, a decade ago, Colorado voters did something never before done in the world: they legalized the use and sale of marijuana at the state level. Hickenlooper: If we hadn`t done a process where everyone gets a vote, we don`t puncture every I`s and cross every T`, we would have been devastated at every turn. And I think we need to make sure that we get all the stakeholders, not just producers and lawyers, people who have a natural self-interest.

But we included religious groups, we included local politicians. We really relied on a broad consensus that we were going to do this job — that the voters had legalized and that we were going to do this work. Suthers: A lot of people didn`t think that would happen. That was part of the problem. Most of the people I talked to said, “Hey, I smoked weed when I was in high school. Look at me, I`m a stockbroker,” all these things. And I just think they didn`t think it was a big deal. But I really think it was a big problem. Companies in the recreational cannabis industry have generated more than $6.5 billion in revenue over the past five years.

April and May 2019 have been the most profitable months for cannabis in Colorado so far, although many other states have legalized recreational use of the drug. As of June 2019, there were 2,917 licensed marijuana businesses, of which 41,076 are employed in the industry. They thought they could find an answer that would please both parties. OK, you can do it, but under very strict conditions, when in reality it was only a complete green light for the industry. And they ran. Research by Tiffany Ito, a professor of psychology and neuroscience, has shown that students tend to drink more alcohol when they use marijuana, a combination that can potentially affect grades and graduation status. Due to the legalization of recreational marijuana, several new businesses (large and small) are also opening in Colorado, employing thousands of people. Vicente: The turnaround we saw with Hancock and Hickenlooper in front of our eyes was so remarkable. And honestly, I give them a lot of credit. They are more powerful than when we were trying every day to find a way to get them to enforce our laws.

And here they say, “Hey, I was wrong.” Following Colorado`s apparent success, many other states have decided to legalize recreational cannabis. Now, 11 states have passed laws allowing residents 21 and older to own a number of legal dispensaries. These pharmacies must meet strict criteria set by the state. And I remember Chris Vanderveen coming in on Channel 9 and saying, “You`re just playing with us.” I saw the light bulb go out in his head.