Denver awards second cannabis social-use license

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As more U.S. and international adult-use cannabis markets consider allowing marijuana social-consumption spaces, Denver on Friday approved a social-use permit for Mile High Game and Play, which will do business as Vape and Play.

It’s the second social-use permit issued in Colorado’s capital city.

The entertainment facility will have a multistation vape bar, patented and approved for public use by the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.

Vape and Play will not sell cannabis; customers are expected to bring their own.

Taylor Rosean, Vape and Play’s director of operations, and his business partner, Megan Lumpkins, reportedly invested approximately $500,000 to apply for the license and renovate the company’s building for a November opening.

The owners plan to host educational seminars, yoga classes, catered and corporate events, and tasting rooms for local dispensaries, Rosean said.

Some marijuana business owners have previously expressed the opinion that Denver’s regulations for social consumption spaces are too burdensome.

According to Rosean, specific challenges in the process have been:

  • Navigating the city’s rules governing social-consumption spaces.
  • Obtaining a certificate of occupancy for Vape and Play’s location, which meant paying to occupy the space for months before the permit was approved.
  • Attracting investors, who are waiting to see how “untested” social-consumption businesses perform.

An example of the city’s strict rules include the fact that officials rejected a would-be “cannabis spa and lounge” because it would have been 19 feet too close to a child-care center.

With its Denver permit locked down, Vape and Play’s owners are watching Alaska, Nevada and Canada – recreational markets where social-consumption spaces may soon be regulated.

Denver awarded the first social consumption license in February to The Coffee Joint, which will allow vaping and edible consumption.