THE only thing higher than the population in Denver is the rent.

House prices and rentals are skyrocketing in the mile high city and it’s all thanks to a law that made it possible for businesses to grow and sell marijuana and for residents to smoke as much as they like, wherever they like.

Five years after the US state of Colorado made pot legal, its biggest city is thriving. Thousands are moving from major cities for the lifestyle, buying up properties and buying pot.

Once unoccupied, derelict industrial buildings are filled to the brim with cannabis plants. Crime rates are down, tax revenue has ballooned and tourism is bigger than ever.

In 2014, sales of marijuana eclipsed $700 million in Denver. The fear of an addicted, lazy population that some predicted before 2009 does not exist now.

Half way around the world in Australia, the government is taking its first tentative steps towards making marijuana legal, if only for medical purposes at this early stage.

One small town has already volunteered to be “guinea pigs” for the farming industry and experts say there’s every chance Denver’s success could be replicated down under.

DENVER’S MARIJUANA BOOM

“Denver smells green, like weed and money.” That’s the takeaway line from an article by the New Republic which declares cannabis is booming and house prices are through the roof in the city.

The figures don’t lie. There’s 4.5 million square feet of marijuana grow space in Denver’s once-struggling industrial areas, occupying 2.6 per cent of all warehouse space in the city.

Denver experienced a 10.6 per cent population increase between 2010 and 2014. In nearby Colorado Springs, there was a 6.8 per cent population increase. House prices have shot up by 17 per cent in Denver.

J.P. Speers, a real estate agent at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, told New Republic legal marijuana has likely pushed the housing market up.

“I do believe that there has been a huge amount of individuals who have moved out here specifically for the marijuana industry, and it has affected the housing market,” he said.

So great is the real estate boom that the city last month took steps to protect affordable housing.

The migration to Denver has taken its toll on the vulnerable. According to New Republic, Colorado’s minimum wage is less than $9 an hour. To be able to comfortably afford rent in that city, someone would need to be working full time, and earning $35 per hour — almost four times the minimum wage.

Benjamin Donlon from Denver Homeless Out Loud said there was a “big drive from people from California ... which is driving prices through the roof”.

NIMBIN PUTS UP ITS HAND

The Turnbull Government announced last week it will legalise the growing of cannabis for medical purposes. The announcement received cross-party support from Labor which called for a nationwide scheme.

Health Minister Sussan Ley said it was important for people suffering debilitating illnesses to get effective treatments.

“I have heard stories of patients who have resorted to illegal methods of obtaining cannabis and I have felt for them,” she told the ABC.

“With a terminal condition, the most important thing is quality of life and relief of pain relief and we know that many people are calling out for medicinal cannabis.”

In Nimbin, home to the Hemp Party and the marijuana mecca of NSW, hemp farmer Andrew Kavasilas said it was about time for some positive news on the topic.

He said Australia could learn from Vancouver and Toronto where 20,000 people are employed legally in medical cannabis industries and from Denver where the city is thriving.

“Its about time Australia catches up with the rest of the world,” he told news.com.au. “Let the detractors detract, let the science speak for itself.”

Hemp Party president Michael Balderstone said Nimbin would be the perfect location for growing the drug and there would be plenty of willing workers to take up jobs in the industry.

Michael Potter is an economist and research fellow at the Sydney-based Centre for Independent Research. He said he was surprised by Denver’s success but that Australia could see a similar boom on a smaller scale.

“If you had it legalised in one area, like Canberra for example, it’s likely that people would go there specifically for that purpose,” he said.

“We’ve got substantial medicines and farming practices in Australia. There are quite a number of businesses who would be well placed to take advantage of going legal.”

Mr Potter said if there was enough demand, one particular area could experience a mini-boom but the net effect on the entire country would be minimal.

He said any decision about legalising marijuana should leave financial interests out of the equation.

“The wellbeing and welfare of people is more important than the economic effect. There’s a lot of evidence that medical marijuana would be of significant benefit.”