Colorado’s Parachute gets a drive-through Marijuana Shop

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on February 22, 2017.

In a first in the state, the western Colorado town of Parachute is getting a marijuana shop with a drive-through window. The business is expected to open in March in a former car wash.

The Glenwood Springs Post Independent on Saturday reported that the Parachute Board of Trustees approved a business license to Tumbleweed Express, owned by Green Cross Colorado LLC, for drive-up marijuana sales across the street from Tumbleweed’s primary location.

Tumbleweed Express also had to get approval from the state Marijuana Enforcement Division.

“As far as I can tell, we are not aware of this business model ever coming up before,” said Robert Goulding, spokesman for the state Marijuana Enforcement Division. “The store cannot allow anyone younger than 21 on the premises, even in the back seat of a car.”

The business must also have security and surveillance, and marijuana may not be visible from outside the dispensary.

The town of Parachute was originally opposed to marijuana sales within city limits, but marijuana sales accounted for nearly 30 percent of the community’s 2016 sales tax revenue of just over $1 million.

“We think the drive-through is a very creative and innovative idea,” Parachute Town Manager Stuart McArthur said. “Travelers stopping to buy marijuana in Parachute are more likely to stop at restaurants and other shops, helping an economy that was hit hard by a downturn in natural gas production”.

Colorado legalized the sale and possession of marijuana for non-medical uses in 2012, including private cultivation of up to six marijuana plants.

Legal marijuana sales, for people with 21 years of age or older, have been occurring in the state since January 2014. Last year alone, marijuana sales brought in close to $200 million in taxes and fees to the state, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue.

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