Colorado's recreational marijuana stores make history | CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Customers wait in a long line for their turn to buy recreational marijuana outside the LoDo Wellness Center on Wednesday, January 1, in Denver. Colorado is the first state in the nation to allow retail pot shops.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Donald Andrews, whose family owns and runs the LoDo Wellness Center, hands out tickets marking customers' place in the line.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Hailey Andrews, who manages the LoDo Wellness Center, fills an order for a customer. Colorado residents can now buy marijuana like alcohol, but purchases are limited to an ounce at a time.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Andrews examines marijuana plants in the grow room of the LoDo Wellness Center. Pot is the third most popular recreational drug in America, after alcohol and tobacco, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Marijuana plants thrive in the grow room of the LoDo Wellness Center.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Marijuana dries next to a harvest calendar in the grow room of the LoDo Wellness Center.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Beej Jackson, left, and Amber Bacca serve customers in Evergreen Apothecary in Denver. In 2012, 55% of Colorado voters said yes to legalizing recreational marijuana.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Jackson fills a display with THC lollipops in the Evergreen Apothecary.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Different strains of marijuana are displayed in the Evergreen Apothecary.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Leica Zayat and Mark Harris serve customers in Evergreen Apothecary.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

People line up to buy recreational marijuana outside of Evergreen Apothecary.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Customers wait to be served in the LoDo Wellness Center.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Pamphlets about the legal recreational use of marijuana sit on a desk at the LoDo Wellness Center.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

People line up to buy recreational marijuana at the LoDo Wellness Center.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Marijuana plants sit under grow lights at the 3D Cannabis Center in Denver.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Sean Azzariti, an Iraq war veteran and marijuana activist, speaks to the media after becoming the first person to legally purchase recreational marijuana in Colorado. "It's huge," he said. "It hasn't even sunk in how big this is yet."

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Customers buy edible marijuana products at the LoDo Wellness Center.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Marijuana paraphernalia sits on display at the LoDo Wellness Center. Communities and counties in Colorado can still choose not to allow marijuana stores in their local jurisdictions.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Mark Wootten, left, and Tom McCoy purchase marijuana products at the LoDo Wellness Center.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Marijuana prices are on display at the 3D Cannabis Center. Tax revenue from retail pot sales will initially amount to $67 million a year, with $27.5 million of it designated to build schools, state officials say.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado —

Darren Austin, left, and his son Tyler line up outside the 3D Cannabis Center.

Benjamin Rasmussen for CNN

Retail pot shops open in Colorado

Story highlights

NEW: Denver mayor says pot shops, buyers behaved "responsibly and with great accountability"

Pot buyers at one shop come from Canada, Australia, Italy, Hawaii, Alaska

700 people in line take numbers at another pot shop, but can it serve so many?

"What's going on?" a curious passenger asks; "Legal pot sale!" a man in line replies

Denver CNN —

Iraq war veteran Sean Azzariti described his purchase of recreational marijuana – legally – as a historic moment Wednesday.

“It’s huge,” he said at a marijuana store along a light industrial corridor outside downtown Denver. “It hasn’t even sunk in how big this is yet.”

Indeed, before the 3D Cannabis Center opened at 8 a.m. MT, more than 100 people were waiting in snowfall and cold under gray skies to be the next buyers of recreational pot under a landmark law voters approved in 2012. The dispensary was one of a handful that opened to lines of waiting people on New Year’s Day, with scores more expected statewide in coming months.

Do you smoke pot? Tell us about it

Azzariti was selected to be the first buyer at the 3D Cannabis Center because he was a Marine from 2000 to 2006 who now suffers post-traumatic stress disorder after two tours in Iraq. He can’t obtain medical marijuana in Colorado because PTSD isn’t a qualifying condition for that treatment, he said.

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Colorado’s recreational marijuana stores make history

Retail pot shops open in Colorado

Story highlights