Hours After Announcing He’d Close Dispensaries, Denver Mayor Hancock Backs Off

The people spoke — and lined up by the masses — and Mayor Michael Hancock listened.

Just hours after issuing a citywide order for Denver residents to stay at home, which included a temporary shutdown of liquor stores and recreational marijuana dispensaries to limit the spread of coronavirus, Hancock reversed the decision, at least regarding rec cannabis and liquor stores.

Originally slated to close at 5 p.m. March 24 along with dozens of other retail operations deemed non-essential by the city, which are ordered to stay shuttered until April 10, recreational dispensaries and liquor stores in Denver may now remain open “with extreme physical distancing in place,” according to an update from the city.

However, because Governor Jared Polis had already issued an executive order that all recreational dispensaries in the state must stop in-person sales from March 24 through April 10, and instead go to curbside pickup and delivery, Denver’s recreational pot shop sales must all be through online pre-orders or orders made outside the store.

Medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed to remain open for in-store shopping under both Polis’s order and Hancock’s original and revised order. [Read More @ Westword]