Colorado residents voted for the legalisation of recreational cannabis use in 2012, but had worried that the federal government would sue to block laws flouting federal drug law.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper famously warned residents not to “break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly,” and activists predicted a legal showdown.
But that didn’t happen and in August, the Department of Justice said it wouldn’t sue so long as the states met an eight-point standard that includes keeping pot out of other states and away from children, criminal cartels and federal property, paving the way for over the counter sales for all.
“These are big businesses that have been operating in good standing in our city for a long time,” said Amber Miller, spokeswoman for Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.
Closely watching what the New Year will bring for Colorado will be Washington state, the only other to allow recreational pot use by adults, which plans to have stores open by the late spring of 2014.
Article Appeared @http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/green-wednesday-colorado-prepares-for-over-the-counter-sale-of-recreational-marijuana-9030449.html