Garden City Welcomes First Legal Sales Of Recreational Pot In Northern Colorado
GARDEN CITY, Colo. (CBS4) - The first legal sales of recreational marijuana in Northern Colorado began Monday morning in Garden City.
Cloud 9 Caregivers on 6th Avenue opened doors at 11 a.m. A crowd of people lined up to buy pot legally. They see it as a historic moment, not just for Northern Colorado, but for the nation.
"I think it's about time. It's amazing that they've had it illegal for this long," James Sorensen from Greeley said.
Cloud 9 Caregivers basically set up a launch party with plenty of food and even a deejay. The store has been operating as a medical dispensary for 3 1/2 years and says they are the first in Northern Colorado to open their doors for recreational marijuana sales.
The store got all of their approvals in on Friday to open their doors on Monday. There was a national media presence at the store which stayed packed with people well after it opened.
Store owner Erica Pilch said it took extra time to prepare for retail sales. Other dispensaries in Colorado began selling recreational pot on Jan. 1 as soon as state law allowed.
"It's historic for the nation and the world as well. I think it's starting an empowerment movement allowing people to choose to use this instead of alcohol and other drugs," Pilch said.
CBS4 checked the state licensing records and found there is another store in Fort Collins that has a license pending, but right now Cloud 9 Caregivers is the only store in Northern Colorado selling legal recreational marijuana.
It's a first in a town known for its firsts. In the 1930s Garden City allowed liquor sales when towns like nearby Greeley were dry.
