Colorado poised for Day 1 of legal pot sales

Colorado marijuana dispensaries are poised for the New Year's Day start of the nation's first legal sale of marijuana to anyone age 21 or over for any purpose. "I expect a line, I expect media," Moe Atieh, manager of Denver's Citi-Med dispensary, told the Denver Post. "Do I expect camping and tents in Black Friday style? No, I don't really see that happening," he said. But if people are curled up on the sidewalk outside his pot shop when Atieh and other employees arrive ahead of Wednesday's 8 a.m. opening, he won't chase them away, he said. "This is a historic event and we welcome anybody and everybody to be part of history," he told the newspaper. Colorado is the first state in the country to allow the sale and use of marijuana for recreational purposes, after voters amended the state Constitution in November 2012. The amendment allows for the "personal use and regulation of marijuana" for adults age 21 and over. The amendment also permits the commercial cultivation, manufacture and sale of pot, effectively regulating cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol. People will be able to buy pot starting Wednesday at specially licensed stores, where they will show ID and make a purchase, similar to what they would do buying alcohol from a liquor store. A customer with a Colorado ID can buy up to an ounce of marijuana at a time. Someone with an out-of-state ID can buy up to a quarter ounce. A similar law passed in Washington state on Election Day 2012, but Washington is not expected to start legal marijuana sales until spring. Denver gave out several last-minute licenses late Tuesday, making the total in the city 18, the Post said. Some three dozen stores across the state said they would start selling pot Wednesday. Some shop owners told the Post they would limit pot sales to make sure they could meet an expected rush of customers. "I've seen area codes from all over," Adam Segalis, a bud tender at Denver's LoDo Wellness Center, told the Post, while Bianca Lopez, manager of Kindman Denver Dispensary, said her shop got at least one call from Europe. "They said they were flying in and calling to see where they could head to," she said. "All kinds of people are saying they will be here. We're pretty excited." Opponents of legalization have argued it will lead to increased pot use, which many opponents consider harmful.