ASPEN — Pitkin County commissioners on Wednesday denied a local woman’s application to open a kitchen at the Aspen Business Center that would have manufactured marijuana-infused edibles.
“The (marijuana) legalization train left the station at a good clip, and I’m not sure our communities have caught up,” said Commissioner Rachel Richards. “The messaging is this isn’t a drug. This isn’t serious. It’s just a piece of candy.”
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And that message – which Richards said was driven home by a 90-minute discussion commissioners had last week about marijuana edibles with Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo, county staff members and officials from valley public health, anti-drug and youth organizations – is the wrong one to send to the community’s children.
“Nobody puts a bottle of hard alcohol in a Halloween basket,” Richards said. “Things that look like candy, smell like candy and taste like candy are too dangerous to my mind.”
