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Colorado lawmakers fail on bill to define areas where adults, tourists can use pot

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Colorado lawmakers have backed off plans to regulate marijuana clubs, saying the state would invite a federal crackdown by approving Amsterdam-style pot clubs. Colorado already has about 30 private pot clubs, according to legislative analysts, but they operate under a patchwork of local regulations and are sometimes raided by law enforcement. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)
Associated Press file photo

DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s long debate over where people can smoke pot will continue for at least another year.

State lawmakers failed to agree on a bill to define areas where adults can use pot. The disagreement came Wednesday night in the closing hours of the 2017 Legislature.

Lawmakers at first considered legislation to authorize Amsterdam-style pot clubs. That proposal that had bipartisan support because of complaints that tourists and people who don’t want to smoke pot at home are smoking weed in public.

But the club proposal was abandoned weeks ago in light of opposition from Gov. John Hickenlooper and some other lawmakers.

A more modest proposal to define areas that are open to the public failed Wednesday. Lawmakers could not agree whether it should be a crime to smoke pot on a private front porch.