Getting weed in Colorado is getting easier with a drive-through marijuana shop and could get even easier with a proposed bill that would allow it to be delivered to one’s front door.
As The Denver Post reports, the western Colorado town of Parachute is getting a drive-through marijuana shop, believed to be the first in the state.
The Parachute Board of Trustees approved a business license for Tumbleweed Express last week, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported Saturday.
“As far as I can tell, we are not aware of this business model ever coming up before,” said Robert Goulding, spokesman for the state Marijuana Enforcement Division.
Tumbleweed Express is expected to open in March.
Meanwhile, a bill introduced in the Colorado Senate last week would open the door for home-delivered recreational and medical marijuana in the state.
As The Cannabist reports, Senate Bill 192 would allow for medical marijuana dispensaries and recreational pot shops to apply for a license to deliver marijuana products to the private residences of Colorado adults or qualifying medical marijuana patients. The legislation is modeled after Oregon’s newly launched marijuana regulations, said Rep. Jonathan Singer, D-Longmont, who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton, and Rep. Jovan Melton, D-Aurora.
“This hopefully solves some of the problems as it relates to people concerned about marijuana DUIs or sick patients who don’t have access to dispensaries,” Singer told The Cannabist in a phone interview Friday.
The bill’s language goes a step further to also try to put in place a Plan B should there be a major change in federal enforcement policy by calling for single-instance transfers of product from a retail marijuana store to a medical dispensary – effectively creating a “safety valve” for the state’s operations, Singer said.
For example, if a municipality were to ban recreational marijuana or if a federal crackdown occurred, affected businesses would be allowed to transfer their inventory to a medical dispensary.
“This ensures that we have safe passage … and it doesn’t escape out the back door,” he said.
The bill is scheduled for a hearing March 1 with the Senate Business, Labor and Technology committee.