(Rick Bowmer, Associated Press)

Pot law expert: Colorado needs spaces for public consumption of marijuana

The state of Colorado was the first in the modern world to plow ahead into the unknown depths of legal, regulated recreational marijuana, and its experiment with retail pot has been considered so successful that many within the cannabis industry refer to what is known as “the Colorado model.”

But there are still a number of unresolved issues in the state — including a severe lacking of spaces where locals and tourists alike can actually legally consume the weed they’re buying.

With public consumption being one of the most contentious issues in Colorado pot, marijuana editor Ricardo Baca asked University of Denver law professor Sam Kamin – known for his expertise in cannabis law – about his opinion on the subject.

Does Colorado need to allow pot clubs or marijuana bars, so tourists and locals alike have a safe and legal place to consume?

“Some people can’t even smoke in their homes, right, so there may be no legal place for some people to smoke, and that’s just not what the voters voted for,” Kamin said while on The Cannabist Show. “What they voted for was to treat (marijuana) like alcohol, and alcohol means there’s places to do it.”

Hear more of Kamin’s thought process in the above video.

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