I wasn’t truly excited when legal cannabis laws were passed in the state of CO.
- I honestly tried to argue against the drug being legalized, but more than half of the population voted to approve legalizing recreational marijuana in 2012.
I was uneasy that recreational marijuana would turn Denver into a city filled with crime, but it has unquestionably had the opposite effect. Not only are the crime rates substantially lower, but the amount of tourism has doubled in the past 5 years! Since recreational marijuana was legalized, our sales have been amazing. I never had a sizable amount of actual business and foot traffic, so I was essentially forced to spend a tremendous amount of money on advertising. All of that changed when a legal recreational dispensary opened up on the corner approximately a block away from our clothing and jewelry boutique… When the dispensary actually opened, I abruptly got free foot traffic to our shop. People were parked up and down the street to visit cannabis dispensary and our sales started to increase by a good amount. I do not even need to advertise the shop, because I get 50 or 60 visitors every single day. For a long time, I was uneasy that legalizing marijuana in Denver, CO would lead to a brutal crime rate and a trashy city, even though I was definitely wrong. Since the laws have changed, our city has seen so much tourism. There is also a ton of more money from taxes that maintain the roads, parks, traffic signs, and schools. There have not been any downfalls since the state made the move to legalize the plant for all the people.