Sure, pot is legal in Colorado, but getting your hands on some legal weed is more difficult than it may seem.
Under Amendment 20, Colorado's medical marijuana law, Coloradans cannot legally sell marijuana unless they are a licensed medical marijuana dispensary and residents cannot legally buy from a dispensary unless they are a registered medical marijuana patient. And under Amendment 64, the regulations for the sale of recreational marijuana have not been established yet, so no buying that way either. But, under Amendment 64, an adult 21 and over can gift up to an ounce of pot to another adult, legally. So some Coloradans are getting creative with the loopholes that currently exist in state law and are offering "free" marijuana on Craigslist, with the purchase of another product or a small donation -- no medical marijuana card required.
Over the weekend, CBS4 was the first to report on these Craigslist ads that offer "free" pot and found an offer for free marijuana with the sponsorship of some worms at a worm farm -- sponsor 100 worms with certain amount of money and get a free 1/8th of an ounce of pot.
Another ad that boasts "Amendment 64 & 20 compliant" offers "fresh and cured hash and honey oil" for free, but for a $60 or $40 donation, the ad poster writes:
None of these items are for sale. I ask donations for my time, energy, the ability to grow the plant then make oils, the cost of butane and ice for hash. Thank you very much.
Another donation-based ad asks for a $30 donation for a free 1/8th of an ounce or a $60 donation for a free 1/4 of an ounce of pot -- all donation proceeds go to supporting marijuana law reform. This ad also references Mason Tvert, the co-director behind the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, the pot advocacy group behind A64. "There's no doubt that if people choose to use marijuana instead of alcohol we would not have the same number of problems," the ad reads, attributing the quote to Tvert.
Several ads were posted from Denver's 4 Strains Pipe & Tobacco advertising two grams of "free marijuana" with the $30 purchase of smoking accessories or tobacco at the shop.
Westword spoke with Mike Paulk and Felicia L., two caregivers who run 4 Strains, who say that the promotions have been a success. Felicia stressed to Westword that the caregivers are "really not making any money" from the free two-gram giveaway, "What we're selling is smoking accessories."
Until Amendment 64 regulation gets nailed down, Coloradans may be seeing many more of these "free" pot giveaways at head shops and online.
For more information about the ins and outs of what Amendment 64 means for Coloradans, check out The Huffington Post's interview with Brian Vicente, co-director of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like alcohol, who answers common questions about legal pot in the state.
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