Whoa there, Shelley. I’m not your dad: You don’t have to ask my permission. I’m also not a lawyer, so don鈥檛 take my words as rock-solid legal advice.
That said, no, you can’t. Buying pot in Colorado is not yet safe or legal. Thanks to Amendment 64, passed by voters in the state in November, it鈥檚 now legal under Colorado law for people over 21 to smoke pot, possess one ounce or less of it, or grow as many as six plants.
But there are strings attached鈥攁nd while President Obama says the feds , the legal issues around Amendment 64 are as hazy as the air at a Phish concert.
Buying or selling non-medical marijuana will still be illegal for nearly another year. The state needs that time to set up a system to regulate who can sell pot, and ensure the quality of the stuff being sold. That means that buying weed from a dealer is still a crime by Colorado laws, and鈥攁s before鈥攜ou have no guarantee of the safety of what you鈥檙e getting.
However, you won鈥檛 get busted by the police for possession of an ounce or less. The only way to get it legally, other than for medical reasons, is to grow it yourself or have someone give it to you for free (lucky you!).
There鈥檚 also the matter of where you can smoke it. Anyone who doesn鈥檛 want you toking up on their property has the right to forbid you from doing it鈥攊ncluding colleges and universities. To be safe, consider it forbidden everywhere you go until the property owner gives you clear permission to do it. You also can鈥檛 smoke in public parks, schools, or walking down the street (kind of like open container laws) or on national park, national forest, or other federally-managed land. And driving while high is still just as illegal as it鈥檚 ever been.
As of now, pot is still an illegal drug under federal law. But the Justice Department has been almost completely silent on how it鈥檚 going to enforce marijuana sales in the two states, Colorado and Washington, that have recently legalized it. It appears that the federal government has the legal authority to regulate this kind of commerce, and the Drug Enforcement Agency can also arrest someone for possessing weed. Whether they will is another question.
To sum it up, Colorado isn’t a pothead’s haven quite yet. If you buy some weed during your backcountry ski trip there, you鈥檙e taking the same legal and as before. But like I said, I鈥檓 not your dad, and I鈥檓 writing this with a cup of coffee filled with highly addictive caffeine sitting next to my laptop, so I鈥檓 really not one to preach.