Monday night Denver’s city council passed its regulations for retail cannabis dispensaries in the city. The regulations determine where dispensaries can be located and set the application rules. Until 2016, only licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in good standing can apply to become recreational dispensaries, and must have a public hearing before their license is granted.

Dispensaries must also be 1,000 feet from each other, schools, day cares and rehabs. The only changes the council made to the proposed rules before approval were noting that the distance requirement is absolute distance, not the distance a pedestrian must travel to get from one place to the other and that medical marijuana dispensaries that have still not applied for their licenses must close by October 1.

Banking remains a large concern for the marijuana industry in Denver, medical or recreational. Even councilmembers that opposed legalization are hoping Congress will make it possible for banks to do business with the marijuana industry. Charlie Brown, a councilmember commonly found complaining about some aspect of the legalization of cannabis, stated: