Annie’s, a medical marijuana dispensary in the Colorado mountain town of Central City, has received the first business license in the United States to sell recreational marijuana.
Local officials approved the license this week. Annie’s still must also receive a business license from the state, which could happen in the next few weeks.
The first recreational marijuana stores in Colorado are scheduled to open on Jan. 1.
Central City’s chief of police delivered the license to Annie’s, which is located conveniently across the street from the police station.
“It’s the same old bureaucratic piece of paper,” said dispensary representative Erin Phillips of the license. “But we might put it in a fancy frame.”
The shop is owned by the Colorado-based company Strainwise, which also owns six other medical marijuana shops in the Denver metro area.
According to a press release from Strainwise, three of its Denver-area shops – The Grove, The Haven and The Shelter – all received local approvals for their individual recreational licenses as well. The Grove was the focus of Denver’s first retail marijuana license hearing on Nov. 12.
The retail license is not the only “first” in Central City’s history. The town was site of the original 1859 gold rush, which brought the first major wave of settlers into the state.
