Cannabis hospitality future still uncertain in Boulder

Oct. 2—For well over a year, Boulder has been debating whether to permit businesses where cannabis could be consumed publicly in its city, and if it does, what limitations might be imposed on such establishments.

The initial hearing on the topic hosted by the city's Cannabis Licensing and Advisory Board in May 2021 left more questions than answers. Since then, the board has embarked on an effort to tackle particular subjects related to social consumption one at a time.

The goal is to come up with recommendations that ultimately will be provided to Boulder City Council — the entity with the final say on the matter.

The cannabis board is nearing the end of its work on the subject and it's crafted a list of suggestions for city officials and council members to contemplate.

Ideas for consideration include limiting the hours of operation to no later than 10 p.m.; requiring smaller doses of edibles; and requesting that customers sign a pre-entrance waiver that includes a transportation plan.

But perhaps one of the most significant is a recommendation to restrict entry to those ages 25 and older.

Supporters say that doing so is a good way to take into account the feedback that the board has heard from parents and advocates regarding the potential impacts of young adults using cannabis.

But others argue that enacting strict regulations will not have the desired safety effect but instead would drive young adults to use cannabis in unregulated and unmonitored spaces.

The idea for cannabis hospitality businesses came well after Colorado legalized cannabis for adults 21 or older in November 2012. A bill allowing social consumption establishments passed through the state legislature in 2019.

Local governments are required to opt into the licensing program. Any social consumption businesses would have to apply for a license through Colorado's Marijuana Enforcement Division.

And if cities such as Boulder choose to permit such establishments, they have the authority to craft their own set of rules and regulations guiding them.

"Each municipality gets to decide how it's done," the Boulder board's Chair Tom Kunstman said. "But not many have actually jumped on the bandwagon."

Denver is among the few neighboring cities with active social consumption businesses. There are some slightly closer by in Adams County as well.

When considering potential suggestions, the board selected 25 as its age restriction at least in part due to research published by the Canadian government, which notes that young adults are more likely to experience harm from cannabis since the brain is still developing until around the age of 25.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention echoes that.

"The teen brain is actively developing and continues to develop until around age 25," the CDC wrote on its website. "Marijuana use during adolescence and young adulthood may harm the developing brain."

Such negative effects could include difficulty thinking and problem solving, problems with memory and learning and reduced coordination.

Denver and other surrounding communities that allow social consumption opted to keep the 21-year age limit.

In many ways, the decision to legalize cannabis for those 21 or older feels arbitrary and was likely chosen to align with the age limit for alcohol, board Vice Chair Brian Keegan noted.

"We can't necessarily move that goal post at this point," he said. "But I think we saw ourselves in a position to be able to say that there are very real differences between cannabis and alcohol. ... We also have an opportunity here to regulate this or make recommendations that it should be regulated in a way that's commensurate with its risk in ways we don't regulate alcohol."

It's complicated and requires weighing perspectives and considering the potential harms and benefits, Kunstman noted.

"We're not implying — the CLAB and those of us that are advocating for this — that everybody under the age of 25 is going to have a significant health problem," he said.

"Certainly, there's very real and accelerating concerns about high potency use and its threats to young people," Keegan added. "We're reacting in part to that."

For others, however, the notion that prohibiting social consumption for those in the 21- to 24-year-old age range will have an impact on the amount of young people using cannabis is a misguided one.

"People 21 and over have been consuming marijuana in Boulder since Boulder was founded," Truman Bradley, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group, said. "The question is should those people have a safe place to do it or would you prefer that they continue to do so on the Pearl Street Mall.

"It's not a question of if people are going to consume cannabis in public. It's just a question of where," he added.

Additionally, Alana Malone, cofounder of Boulder-based Green Dot Labs and a member of the board, argued that restricting ages and hours of operation would likely only push people toward bars serving alcohol.

The idea of preventing people from using multiple substances was at least part of the driver for some of the suggested restrictions, Malone noted.

"This would seem to be at odds with that," she said.

Malone was no longer present in the meeting when the board voted on the proposition to recommend age limits but said she does not support it and was concerned about the fact that a vote would occur later in the meeting without all board members present.

In addition to expressing general concerns about potential unintended consequences, Malone noted that the age restriction could pose challenges for local businesses. Current infrastructure allows businesses to check whether a customer is 21 or older, not 25.

"It's a significant functional challenge and compliance challenge for our local businesses that other people won't have to deal with," she said.

It's taken time for the board to come up with recommendations, but that was expected, given that members are exploring new territory. And at the end of the day, the current list of suggestions is exactly that: recommendations the board hopes Boulder City Council will take into consideration when determining the future of the cannabis hospitality industry in Boulder.

The goal is to have the full document with the recommendations ready for a public hearing before the cannabis board in the first quarter of 2023. The responsibility then falls on members of Boulder City Council.

"They hash out the details, hopefully and presumably based on some of the recommendations," Kunstman said.