14 APRIL 17-23, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | LETTERS | CONTENTS | plant’s longtime legal prohibition, many dispensary shoppers are still used to buy- ing cannabis off the street — and discreetly smoking it there, too, if they have to. “Anyone who wants to open a cannabis consumption space is competing with the reality that most consumers are still buy- ing gummies and edibles, and that most cannabis tourism is still geared around the half-gram joint or vape pen, most of which is consumed right outside on the sidewalk,” Chiari says. “This is how most people smoke, and I’m still not sure if cannabis hospitality, as far as a going-out-sort-of-thing, works. It might work two blocks from the convention center, but in bigger and bigger venues, I’m not so sure.” Venues are only part of Denver’s cannabis hospitality equation. Tour services and spe- cial events, like the Mile High 420 Festival at Civic Center Park, are an integral part of social consumption activities in Denver. Mobile cannabis lounges have been li- censed by the city since 2023, with three currently operating and one more hoping to launch soon, according to Excise & Licenses. Mobile lounges have fewer ventilation re- quirements and lower startup costs, allowing them to get on the road relatively quickly compared to getting venues off the ground. Some of these businesses, such as Colo- rado Cannabis Tours, offer an extensive list of bookable tours through dispensaries, cannabis growing and extraction operations, and mural-fi lled stretches of town; they even feature seasonal ghost and holiday tours. Others mostly serve as a licensed consump- tion space for tourists or private weddings, business outings and parties. According to licensed mobile lounge owner Alisha Gallegos, getting the word out has been diffi cult. “We’ve been more on industry and community events. We’ve done a lot of events at green spaces in RiNo, and we work with the Cannabis Ski Club and the Cannabis Golf League to provide transportation for their outings,” she says. “We’re just making relationships. I think this year is going to be big for us.” After receiving a $20,000 social equity grant from the state Cannabis Business Of- fi ce, Gallegos plans to increase marketing efforts for Canna Cabanabus in permitted media like newspapers or radio. But because the bus is a licensed cannabis business in Denver, she’s not allowed to buy billboards or wall signs, and social media giants such as Instagram and Facebook have a stern policy against cannabis advertising. Gallegos is pushing local and state can- nabis offi cials to craft more education around Colorado’s laws surrounding public pot consumption. While she doesn’t think regu- latory oversight is needed for “some places where it’s adults-only,” she would like to see “more public safety at festivals and public events,” she says. “Just like we have to drink responsibly, I think we need to be responsible cannabis consumers. At public events, there needs to be a designated area; we should not be able to just smoke anywhere,” she adds. “We’ve created a culture in Colorado where it’s okay to publicly consume, and the only way to get through that is by working with the regula- tory agencies and, in particular, the police department.” Denver event organizer Stephen Woolf says he’s glad to have mobile lounges at his disposal and enjoys working with licensed venues. On April 20, he’s hosting a hash and coffee pairing at Tetra with Crema Coffee House and Lazercat rosin. But creating a permanent or temporary allowance for can- nabis use at unlicensed locations is needed to maximize the city’s relationship with cannabis hospitality, he argues. Woolf, who holds both private and public gatherings that allow cannabis use, believes that restricting cannabis-friendly events to a small group of locations inhibits their potential scope and impact. A proud cog in the city’s food pop-up scene, he likes to have Denver chefs pair dishes with specifi c types of hash rosin at his events, which also feature art, music and popular glassblowers. The chefs behind La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal, Little Arthur’s Hoagies and King of Wings are just a few he’s collaborated with during cannabis-friendly events. “I appreciate the lounges and love going to them, but it’s a limited space,” he notes. “You kind of have your hands tied behind your back with anything you want to do at a cannabis lounge. Unless they have a kitchen, then you can’t cook. It has to be prepared food or from a food truck, and a chef can only do so much with a portable deep fryer or a small Blackstone. You also can’t have any alcohol there, and you have to go through so many hoops for what is a pretty small event. If you’re having a consumption-forward event, you’re in a position where you’re not selling it to 1,000 people. You’re selling it to something like sixty people.” Woolf tried to spearhead an effort to cre- ate a temporary or special event license for cannabis use at the state level, but says the lobbying effort became too expensive. And as long as an establishment or restaurant with an active liquor license is banned from hold- ing a permitted cannabis event, he doesn’t see much movement in mixing fi ne dining and cannabis. Woolf is still optimistic about what’s to come, though. Like many others in the can- nabis space, he has been paying attention to Cirrus’s development. As social media posts swirl with rumors of what Richard has planned, Woolf thinks that Colfax’s up- coming cannabis lounge looks “really cool” and is having conversations with Cirrus management about future collaborations. Cirrus will offer onsite cannabis sales in- side of an 8,400-square-foot building, with plans to cater to higher-end clientele and serve as a spot for date nights and friendly gatherings. Pictures shared on social media show a colorful and luxurious layout, with chandeliers, elaborate fl oral arrangements and a Steinway & Sons piano, something Richard has been teasing since announcing his vision. Richard declines to speak about Denver’s current cannabis hospitality scene as he’s “hyper-focused on giving interviews about our launch,” which is slated for the 4/20 weekend. This comes after several delays to Cirrus’s anticipated opening in 2024 and again on March 7 of this year. But Cirrus crossed the fi nish line on Fri- day, April 11, when Excise & Licenses gave the venue fi nal approval. Pure and the Patterson Inn, too, had to reassess their opening dates after unforeseen complications. And Tetra’s had numerous false alarms. Benjamin’s original application for Tetra to become an indoor smoking lounge was approved by Excise & Licenses over two years ago, but he never actually received his license. The department later explained that Tetra still needed to pass building and venti- lation inspections, and that it only received preliminary approval — but that was after a highly publicized ribbon-cutting ceremony at Tetra in March 2022 at which Governor Jared Polis and then-Mayor Michael Han- cock praised Colorado and Denver’s can- nabis regulations and touted Benjamin, who is Black, as a success story in social equity efforts in legal cannabis. Over the next two-plus years, Benjamin went back and forth with city licensing and building department officials about Tetra’s ventilation system and accessibility issues — issues he’s maintained were never relayed to him until after the ribbon-cutting ceremony. As a result, Tetra’s opening dates were pushed back again and again, until Benjamin eventually pivoted to a model that allows smoking outside and certain forms of vaping indoors, which complies with Denver rules, he says. Cirrus has spent upwards of six fi gures on an indoor ventilation system, according to Richard, while Chiari says he’s fi gured out a new way to mix indoor and outdoor air in a $30,000 system that meets the city’s standard, which mandates that air inside of a weed lounge must be as breathable as outdoor air. “Cannabis hospitality was under a lot of scrutiny, but it seems like it kind of eased up,” Benjamin says. “After my licensing, there have been a couple of new lounges coming up across the city. I’m looking forward to seeing all of them.” According to Excise & Licenses Executive Director Molly Duplechian, “nothing has changed” from a regulatory standpoint, but businesses may have learned how to better navigate the rules. “I think this was a bit more of a challenging business model for people to fi gure out and navigate through,” she says, adding that indoor smoking is “one of the more diffi cult things to fi gure out.” The smell of weed and public safety are often brought up by Denver residents who oppose allowing cannabis hospitality busi- nesses. However, Duplechain says the city “hasn’t had any issues with the neighbors” of licensed lounges, nor has Excise & Licenses received “any complaints, or anything like that” regarding the businesses. Cannabis hospitality “used to take a ma- jority, or a lot, of our time, and now it’s getting less,” she adds. “And that’s a great thing. It means we’ve addressed a lot of the chal- lenges, and businesses are in compliance.” Duplechian is open to creating a permit for temporary cannabis events but says state laws would have to be changed fi rst, citing a rule requiring all hospitality permits to run for at least one year. “I defi nitely think there is space for that,” she adds. Benjamin, Gallegos and Woolf get excited at the thought of a special cannabis use sec- tion at restaurants, places like Red Rocks Amphitheatre or Ball Arena, and events like Denver Jazz Fest at City Park — but they know we’re still years, if not decades, away from that kind of cannabis (and insurance) acceptance...and that’s if we ever get there. In the meantime, cannabis users who don’t want to trek to Civic Center Park on 4/20 will have a few new, legal places to visit. They can even catch live music or comedy, take a dab and sip on espresso, or enjoy a massage and skin wrap, too. We can still count the legal lounges on just two hands, but slow motion is better than no motion. Email the author at [email protected]. Slow Burn continued from page 12 Then-Mayor Michael Hancock and city licensing director Molly Duplechian talk to Benjamin after a ribbon-cutting at Tetra in March 2022. GRAYDON WASHINGTON
