The sun has set on the first day of Legal Recreational Marijuana Sales in the great state of Colorado, the first place ever to do so IN THE WORLD.

So did the people of Colorado turn into Taco Bell-eating zombies? Did the women become “loose” and the teenagers all crazy-eyed à la “Reefer Madness?” Not exactly.

Pot retail stores carried out business as usual today with their newfound 420 clientele. Customers were excited to have the ban lifted and feel the freedom to purchase marijuana in the same manner as alcohol. “It was as easy as buying a cup of coffee,” one customer at downtown Telluride’s Alpine Wellness, remarked.

“About half the IDs were from out-of-state,” one Denver store reported (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_24829090/scenes-from-day-1-colorados-recreational-marijuana-sales) indicating a national affinity for the plant.

Prices were a bit higher, but the demand was far greater. Before today, consumers had to be card-carrying “Medical Marijuana” members in order to purchase marijuana for their own personal use. Today, any adult over the age of twenty-one can choose to buy up to one ounce of recreational marijuana for personal use.

“Prohibition Ends At Last” reads one full-page ad in the Telluride Watch.

People feel like they are participating in a part of history. Some customers drove out from as far as New York to be a part of the landmark celebration; but they won’t be taking any of that pot home with them, not legally at least.

If you’re planning a Colorado road trip in the near future, be prepared: out-of-towners can only purchase a quarter of an ounce from retail stores in Colorado and then must consume it while within state lines. How do you drive home?

A driver can operate a motor vehicle with up to 5 nanograms or more of THC in your blood. Since there are no breathalyzers that can tell you how much THC is in your system, so it’s up to you to check your level of stoniness before operating a motor vehicle.

Mason Tvert, an advocate of Amendment 64 reminds us: “Tobacco kills about about 400,000 Americans per year, alcohol about 40,000 Americans and marijuana has never killed a single human being in history. That’s not to say it shouldn’t be regulated and controlled, it’s just to say that while this is new and some people might have knee-jerk reactions, we need to treat the product like it is, which is a relatively benign substance that millions of adults use responsibly.”(http://www.denverpost.com/marijuana/ci_24818431/colorado-pot-shops-debut-world-stage#ixzz2pBvtPEnr)

It’s a New Year and a brand new outlook for these Colorado trail blazers.