There's currently one dispensary on 16th Street — a basement spot that dubbed itself the "Apple Store of weed" before being sold to an out-of-state company, which has largely kept the same model — as well as two retail pot tourist traps located a block or two off it.
And once people get their weed, where are they supposed to smoke it?
Denver's only licensed cannabis consumption lounges are located over a mile away in RiNo, on East Colfax and near West Colfax. Because of restrictions on marijuana lounges at the local, state and (as always) federal levels, we probably won't see a 16 Street venue allowing cannabis use any time soon...if ever.
Hard to complain much about that, given everything else going on in the world right now. But let's think about what 16th Street, in the heart of the city, has now to commemorate Denver's status as the first major city to decriminalize the plant and allow recreational pot sales:
- Plenty of places to get a beer or throw back shots
- Tacky T-shirts, shot glasses and knick-knacks for sale with marijuana leaves and "420" on them
- The smell of burnt weed wafting around from all rude walks of life smoking in public
- Mediocre restaurants that could use some licensed cannabis to improve the flavor
- Hours of potential people-watching
Why not set up Colorado's first cannabis farmers' market, where licensed cultivators and vendors interact with customers and sell their products, to attract people to 16th Street one Saturday a month? Or create a pop-up consumption lounge allowing visitors to get stoned and then listen to music or eat overpriced dumplings and tacos? Of course, these would require changes at the state level and, frankly, a more relaxed approach from city lawmakers. But it's not like we haven't seen similar activations in California and New York.
Cannabis won't save 16th Street, but a little herb won't hurt its chances. Remember what South Broadway looked like before legal weed?
