Pueblo voters decide to keep their pot shops and grow operations
A southern Colorado community has voted to keep a burgeoning marijuana industry in a vote seen as an indication of whether communities with pot shops consider them good neighbors.
Marijuana at Verde Natural's grow facility, which is not in Pueblo. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)
Voters in the city and county of Pueblo rejected measures to close some 100 recreational marijuana businesses including dispensaries, cultivation facilities and businesses that make edible marijuana. One measure would have applied to the city, and the other would have applied to Pueblo County.
The votes came despite calls from prominent city business leaders and the local newspaper and hospital to kick out pot businesses.
Marijuana critics argued that the pot industry has hurt the community. Voters disagreed, meaning Pueblo will remain a major producer of recreational marijuana grown in the state.