After Almost a Decade in Business, Colorado Cannabis Tours Can't Wait to Be Licensed

Michael Eymer's Colorado Cannabis Tours has been up and running for close to a decade, but his route through Denver bureaucracy hasn't always been smooth.

Eymer launched his business offering pot-friendly tours and classes shortly after the state's voters approved legalizing recreational marijuana in late 2012. At first he operated under a law current at the time that allowed pot use in the back of private, registered limousines or buses. City officials weren't fans of the business model, however, and Mayor Michael Hancock's administration and the Denver Police Department cracked down on unlicensed mobile marijuana lounges. While there were varying interpretations of the law, Eymer decided to get on the same page as the city.

"Pissing people off doesn't work. Well, It worked to a point where we could establish a license for the model that we run," Eymer recalls. "We've decided to play the game now, whether I agree or not."

So in 2018, he stopped allowing riders to consume marijuana while his vehicles drove through Denver, as he and other mobile lounge operators continued to argue their case with the city. Eventually, Eymer and several other marijuana hospitality business owners successfully pushed Denver officials as well as the Colorado Legislature to create a business license for mobile marijuana lounges.

Over three years after the state created its mobile hospitality license, however, Colorado Cannabis Tours is the only business to receive one. A combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, slow movement at the local government level and strict regulations have scared away most of Eymer's competitors, and those who remain have chosen to stay private and unlicensed, he says.

"We're done with the private model; we gave it up. Whether we think it was legal or not, we paid a $50,000 fine, and it took a long time to get through the application process with the state," he says. "But I got through it, and don't want to ruffle anyone's feathers anymore."

After Eymer secured his state license from the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division in April, he applied with the city in July for two separate marijuana consumption permits: one for an establishment at 1910 South Cherokee Street, and another for mobile consumption that would allow for one limo and one sprinter van. Until they're approved, guests can smoke only hemp products on tours or in classes.

"Whatever hurdles are in our way, we'll get through them. I'm hoping by the end of the year that we'll be fully licensed. I'm really hoping that it happens in two or three months, but I'm not living in fantasies, either," he explains. "These processes are complicated, and I think the [city] offices are backed up."

The applications are for hospitality only, according to the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses, and wouldn't permit marijuana product sales on board or at the establishment. (Guests would have to bring their own or purchase products at a dispensary during the tour,)

Once approved by the city, Colorado Cannabis Tours' mobile offerings — marijuana-friendly bus tours to dispensaries, marijuana cultivations, extraction facilities, hemp farms and breweries —  would remain largely the same, with transportation options to and from venues like Red Rocks Amphitheatre or Denver International Airport also available. The headquarters, just off South Broadway's Green Mile stretch of dispensaries, would host pot-friendly karaoke as well as painting, pottery and cooking classes.

Mobile marijuana lounges would likely take less time to get up and running, Eymer predicts, and could be useful to businesses or event organizers that want to feature marijuana consumption but don't have a license for it.

"We could just park it outside for about thirty minutes at a time, as long we move it regularly," he explains.

While the vast majority of Colorado Cannabis Tours customers have been tourists, Eymer hopes to attract locals as marijuana sales decline in Colorado and more states legalize pot. Having a secure space for pot-friendly art and cooking classes and being able to partner with dispensaries would go a long way toward attracting locals as well as visitors, he suggests.

"The one thing that will change is that we can begin offering local packages and targeting more local clientele," he concludes. "With or without marijuana consumption, I've proved these are entertaining tours and classes."