Colorado becomes first US state to permit sale of recreational marijuana скачать в хорошем качестве

Colorado becomes first US state to permit sale of recreational marijuana

(1 Jan 2014) America's first recreational pot industry opened in Colorado on Wednesday, kicking off an experiment that will be followed closely around the world and one that activists hope will prove that legalisation is a better alternative than the costly US-led drug war. Business owners who threw their doors open for shoppers at 8 a.m. local time (1500 GMT) are looking for the fledgling industry to generate as much revenue as state officials hope it will. At least 24 pot shops in eight towns opened, after increasing staff and inventory and hiring security. Pot users welcomed the new year - and the new industry - by firing up bongs and cheering in a cloud of marijuana smoke at a 1920s-themed "Prohibition Is Over" party in downtown Denver. Later, at the "3D Cannabis Centre" in Denver, Sean Azzariti, an Iraq veteran who is said to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), became the first customer to legally buy pot at eight o'clock in the morning, when the shop opened. "I get to use recreational cannabis to help alleviate my PTSD and it's a stepping stone for other states to help other veterans as well," he said after making the ceremonial purchase. Preparation for the retail market started more than a year ago, soon after Colorado voters in 2012 approved the legal pot industry. Washington state has its own version, which is scheduled to open in mid-2014. Uruguay passed a law in December to become the first nation to regulate pot. Pot advocates, who had long pushed legalisation as an alternative to the lengthy and costly global drug war, had argued it would generate revenue for state coffers and save money in locking up drug offenders. Still, setting up regulations, taxation and oversight for a drug that's never been regulated before took some time. Cynthia Johnston, one of the first legal buyers, said she was "very glad Colorado became the first in the country" to legalise marijuana. "Prohibition is over,'' she added. Another marijuana user, Ralph Mestas, joined hundreds of people waiting in line outside the Denver store to get his hands on legal weed. "I'm in line to buy something legal. Let's do this, that's all I'm saying. Let's do this," he said. There was no shortage of sceptics worried retail pot would endanger the public. Addiction counsellors and physicians said they're seeing more marijuana addiction problems, especially in youths, and that wider pot availability will exacerbate the problem. And not all marijuana users in Colorado are toasting the dawn of retail sales. Some medical marijuana patients groups say they are worried about supply. That is because the retail inventory for recreational use is coming entirely from the pre-existing medical inventory. Many in the industry warned patients to stock up before the sales began. It was too soon to tell whether prices were going up. For now, medical patients should have plenty of places to shop. Most of Colorado's 500 or so medical marijuana shops have not applied to sell recreational pot, and many that have, plan to serve both recreational and medical patients. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...