Colorado Springs Cracks Down On Cannabis Clubs

Colorado Springs is cracking down on cannabis clubs for social smoking.

The Gazette reports that nine consumption clubs received cease-and-desist letters from the City Clerk's Office last week, six months after the City Council banned the clubs.

Cannabis clubs popped up shortly after Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012. The clubs provided a place to use cannabis and socialize in private.

Colorado law doesn't allow nor ban public marijuana use. The result is a patchwork of local ordinances regarding pot clubs.

Colorado Springs outlawed sales of recreational marijuana in the city but still had private clubs. The city still viewed membership transactions as sales but didn't ban the practice until this year.

The clubs have filed an appeal to the cease-and-desist, and a lawsuit challenging the crackdown.