The Colorado City That Legalized And Banned Cannabis At The Same Time

Recreational cannabis for adults has been legal in Colorado since 2012 though not every city opted to allow cannabis vendors to open up shop. Many towns are still not on board.

As a result, voters in Colorado Springs – population 491,441 – have unwittingly created a scenario wherein cannabis is both banned and legal.

What Happened: In a head-scratching twist, the city's residents approved two opposing ballot measures in last week’s elections. One allows the city's medical marijuana dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana and the other amends the city charter to explicitly ban those very sales.

A Decade-Long Tug Of War

Colorado Springs – known for being the base of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command – has permitted medical marijuana for nearly 20 years. Yet, attempts to legalize recreational weed sales has consistently faced pushback.

This year's vote was different, sort of. It seemed to break the deadlock: voters backed a local ordinance allowing the city's 90 medical dispensaries to sell cannabis to everyone, not just to medical marijuana card holders.

Unfortunately, at the same time, voters also passed an opposing measure banning recreational weed sales outright.

Mayor Yemi Mobolade summed it up: "This presents a really interesting legal dilemma for us."

According to him, the city charter amendment that bans recreational sales most likely supersedes the new ordinance, reported ColoradoNewsline.

Read Also: Take A Look At Colorado And Washington Before Deciding On Cannabis Regulations, Expert Says

Legal Clash Brewing

Authorities say they are reviewing the language of both proposals.

Ahead of the next meeting of the City Council, which is for Nov. 12, Responsible Rec for Colorado Springs, the group championing the reform, noted in a statement in X “Responsible regulation will be law and the city council’s cynical ploy will be defeated (…) We know that those in municipal government will defer to the clearly expressed intent of voters to authorize recreational marijuana.”

Our statement on the election results. #copolitics pic.twitter.com/IljiOFGSFN

— Responsible Rec for Colorado Springs (@_responsiblerec) November 7, 2024

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Cover: Photo by Alexis Gethin via Unsplash