PRIVATE CLUB IN BRECKENRIDGE ALLOWS MARIJUANA USE ON-SITE

Town Officials Frown on Club 420

BRECKENRIDGE - Folks over 21 can get high at a private club on Main
Street - but town officials are considering a law to prohibit
cannabis consumption at such venues.

For a monthly fee, members of Club 420 in Towne Square Mall can use
vaporizers for rent or sale in an exclusive lounge. Cannabis is not
made available at the club, which neither permits nor prohibits use
of the drug.

"I don't think that was the intention of any of the local
ordinances," town Councilman Jeffrey Bergeron said. "And I don't
think it's particularly good for neighbors of that business and just
the perception of the town."

He supported an initiative voters approved last November allowing
possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, but he said he'd
prefer to "let the dust settle" with local and statewide marijuana
laws before he'd get behind an establishment like Club 420.

The club has been open since April 20, and owner Collette Wilson said
it is not connected with medical marijuana dispensaries. Members must
be at least 21 and agree to the club's rules and regulations.

"(Members) also agree not to inquire, seek or try to receive any
cannabis from any of my employees," she said.

The club appears to operate in accordance with the town code, which
prohibits consumption in "places of business generally open to the
general public" among other locations, as the town's cannabis laws state.

Breckenridge police chief Rick Holman said the town has received
complaints from a couple of neighboring businesses that "they don't
feel that type of business is appropriate in the town."

He said town staff is examining case law to determine whether Club
420 operating as a private club in that capacity is in fact violating
the law as a business open to the general public.

"Our intent right now is to amend this ordinance and put it in front
of council for first reading May 11 ... to prohibit any use or
consumption of cannabis within a business in town," Holman said.

Wilson, a former middle and high school math teacher, said the club
offers a positive alternative to "cars with smoke billowing out - to
me, that's inappropriate."

She said the club supports healthy lifestyles.

"We're definitely health advocates, and smoking is dangerous to your
health," Wilson said, adding that the club offers members an
opportunity to become familiar with vaporizers, a significantly
healthier alternative that doesn't involve actually burning the weed.

Vaporizers priced from $25 to more than $1,000 are available at the
club, and they may be purchased in conjunction with membership dues.
Membership is $20 per month until the end of May, when it increases
to $50 per month.

Wilson also runs the Colorado Cannabis College on Airport Road in
Breckenridge, which offers training for medical marijuana technicians
and organic growers, as well as information on marijuana's medicinal
components and history.

Club 420 member benefits include free access to those meetings.
Benefits also include access to wireless Internet in the lounge as
well as future additions to include theater seating with large-screen
TVs, aromatherapy and possibly an oxygen bar.

"It's a very peaceful place," Wilson said.