DENVER (AP) — Colorado marked its second anniversary Wednesday of allowing recreational marijuana for adults over 21.
Voters approved Amendment 64 in November 2012. On Dec. 10, 2012, Gov. John Hickenlooper formalized it as part of the state constitution.
It was a procedural but important step. The governor’s executive order was the first public declaration that Colorado wouldn’t try to block marijuana legalization or ask the federal government, which considers pot illegal, to intervene.
Hickenlooper also announced a task force to start regulating pot, a signal that Colorado planned to actively manage legalization instead of wait for a possible federal lawsuit.
