Marijuana: 24 Colorado cities (so far) have banned recreational pot

The idea of recreational marijuana for sale in your hometown gets closer to reality for many individuals. For others, though, it just keeps getting pushed away. Castle Pines recently passed an ordinance banning the sale of recreational pot, by a unanimous vote from its city council last week -- and it's not alone.

Two dozen communities, by our count, have taken similar actions, and each week seems to bring more. See the latest list below.

Why ban recreational sales?

According to Castle Pines Councilmember Marc Town, as quoted by ourcoloradonews.com, the city is always looking for a way to increase revenues -- but "you never want to bring in revenue that's going to negatively impact your community." He went on to say that the people he sees near dispensaries in Colorado Springs "are not Castle Pines clientele."

This comes as no surprise considering the conservative nature of the community. Castle Pines does not allow MMJ businesses and is located in the first of three counties in the state to impose a commercial ban in unincorporated locations. Several other cities in the county, including Parker, Castle Rock and Lone Tree, have similar ordinances, and Larkspur placed a moratorium on the industry until next January.

So far, there have been 24 cities with an all-out prohibition on recreational marijuana businesses. Since most of these communities already banned MMJ stores, and the July 1 deadline is approaching for municipalities to have guidelines in place for recreational pot businesses, this is to be expected.

There are eighteen other cities that have opted for a moratorium on recreational shops. Of those communities, though, only three have established moratoriums that actually push start-up dates farther back than Amendment 64 legislation does. The others were preemptively imposed before A64 implementing legislation was signed into law.

Many ganjapreneurs may be sad to see their town's name on one of these lists. But as a new industry emerges, it's to be expected that some are going to resist.

Cities with prohibition

Greeley Montrose Longmont Blanca Broomfield Buena Vista Burlington Castle Rock Cherry Hills Village Crawford Crested Butte Dacono Del Norte Englewood Fairplay Foxfield Greenwood Village Gunnison Hudson Johnstown Limon Parker Superior Thornton Westminster Windsor Woodland Park Castle Pines

Cities with moratorium

Aurora -- until May 2014 Pueblo -- until March 2014 Centennial -- until October 2014

More from our Marijuana archive: "Ask a Stoner: How do I find weed when I'm out of town?"