Reader: Out-of-Staters, Craft Beer and Pot Can Be a Tricky Combo

The city will be flooded this week with people in town for the Great American Beer Festival, and the fun will spill over into brewpubs and bars around Denver. But great craft beer isn't this state's only amenity. Since January, recreational pot has been legal here -- thanks to the...

By Patricia Calhoun

October 1, 2014

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The city will be flooded this week with people in town for the Great American Beer Festival, and the fun will spill over into brewpubs and bars around Denver. But great craft beer isn't this state's only amenity. Since January, recreational pot has been legal here -- thanks to the 2012 passage of Amendment 64, whose supporters urged that "marijuana be treated like alcohol." Will the two complement each other during GABF? Or will we see the chaotic result of too much of two good things? See also: Now That Weed Is Legal, Can It Co-Exist With Beer During the Great American Beer Festival? Says OGBREW:

Breweries and bars still need to watch how intoxicated people are getting in their tap rooms. When you mix out-of-staters, great craft beer and marijuana, things start to go pear-shaped fast. I have seen it happen more than once around town. People just need to be smart about their marijuana and beer consumption and things should be fine.

What do you think about the combination of cannabis and craft beer? Is the availability of both a selling point for Colorado? Or a danger point?

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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