What we didn't see in Colorado, with legalization in full swing
DENVER — Here is a list of the things not seen or experienced on a brief visit to the epicenter of the marijuana legalization movement:
* Staggering stoners on city streets. It’s almost certain they’re around, somewhere, but in four days of driving Denver's streets, they weren’t visible.
* People smoking marijuana in public. It’s illegal – like smoking tobacco in public.
* That certain skunky smell. Unless inside a marijuana store, Colorado smelled like mountain air. And car exhaust. But mainly mountain air. Inside a store, though, was chaos, olfactorily speaking. At the retail story/dispensary Medicine Man, massive air cleaners prevent aromas of flowering marijuana from escaping outside.
* Impaired drivers. Except for the people who held cell phones to their ears. A trip to Colorado Springs on Interstate 25 revealed a surprising number of drivers who obeyed the speed limit. Which was 75 mph.
* Advertising. The marijuana stores run ads in print publications. Stores and dispensaries had their names or green crosses on premises. But there were no billboards, radio or TV advertising, not even adopt-a-highway signs -- although on I-25 in Denver, five “Clean Colorado” signs were sponsored by Incredible Wine and Spirits, a big liquor store.
* Walmart-ization of marijuana. The half-dozen stores we visited were distinctive and entrepreneurial. They look different inside, and they offer different product lines. Euflora in downtown Denver even gives customers a bar-code scanner for easy ordering.
* Gripes about an all-cash business. Every store has an ATM available.
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