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In this Feb. 14, 2014, file photo, pot store employee Sam Walsh informs a first time customer about different strains of marijuana, a white board listing prices and sales tax, inside the retail shop at 3D Cannabis Center, in Denver. The Denver Post reports on how recreational marijuana shops weigh their customers' desire for privacy when collecting information about them.

(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

Colorado's constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana for recreational use doesn't require pot retailers to collect personal information on customers. But marijuana businesses like to track customer information, such as which marijuana strains they prefer so they keep coming back.

Recreational marijuana retailers in Colorado are grappling with how protect customers' desire for privacy with building a solid business in a nascent industry,

. (Medical marijuana dispensaries in the state are required to record information on the patients purchasing cannabis.)

Denver Post reporter

reports:

Store owners say they're taking a cautious approach, prioritizing customer privacy while weighing security concerns and a desire to know who their customers are and which strains of marijuana they like.

"You have to find a healthy balance," said Brooke Gehring, co-owner of Bud Med and a chain of recreational and medical marijuana outlets. "How do we capture information that is pertinent to the success of our new retail business, versus the privacy of adults who now have this right and are able to shop at our stores?"

At Gehring's stores, the answer for now is to go no further than inviting customers to punch their cellphone numbers or e-mails into tablet computers at the counter to receive promotional offers, she said.

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-- Noelle Crombie