* From The Cannabist via NCSL…

Colorado marijuana shops in September reeled in $127.8 million in sales of medical and recreational cannabis, notching a new revenue record for the third consecutive month, according to newly released data from the Colorado Department of Revenue.

So far this year, sales have topped $974.3 million in nine months, about $22 million shy of the $996.2 million revenue totaled for the entirety of 2015. This time last year, September monthly sales were $94.7 million — $38.3 million from medical marijuana and $56.44 million from recreational marijuana — and year-to-date sales were nearly $733.8 million.

The sales jump this time around can be attributable to soaring recreational marijuana sales. In September, medical marijuana sales were $39.6 million while the portion of sales coming from recreational purchases was $88.2 million — the highest-ever monthly total for adult-use sales.

The September 2016 sales generated about $19.2 million in tax revenue for the state, bringing the year-to-date total for taxes and licensing fees to $144.2 million.

* I went to Denver last weekend on a spur of the moment break just to get the heck outta here for a bit. The flight was cheap, the hotel wasn’t bad and the steaks were awesome. Denver is not a very walkable city, but I liked it.

And unless you went to a couple of different “hipster” strips, the pot shops were practically invisible. Yeah, I smelled it walking down the street a couple of times, but I’ve smelled pot in Bucktown, too. So, really, if you weren’t looking for it you didn’t notice it.

One reason for that is people aren’t legally allowed to consume the product in public places. You have to smoke it in your home. So, if you don’t live in Denver or live in a building that forbids smoking, you have to smoke it on the sly. My hotel, for instance, imposed $500 fines and immediate evictions if caught smoking weed in your room or even on your room’s balcony. Of course, regulating the public consumption of “edibles” is a lot tougher.

* But Denver’s voters just approved a public consumption ordinance by a 53-47 margin. So things are about to change…

Just about any kind of business other than a dispensary could apply for a cannabis consumption permit so that people could use marijuana in a designated consumption area within that business. Participating locations must follow the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act, which means tobacco businesses could allow smoking indoors, but other businesses could only allow smoking on patios that aren’t near the main entrance or visible from the street.

The business will need the support of a neighborhood organization or business district to obtain a license. The city doesn’t currently have a mechanism in place for getting that type of neighborhood approval for an application, [Dan Rowland, city spokesman] said.

Rowland said he’s unsure when the city will start issuing licenses, but he doesn’t have any reason to think it won’t be sometime in 2017.

Once in place, pot-friendly locations will give tourists, people who live in federally subsidized housing, people whose landlords or HOAs don’t allow smoking and people who just want to consume somewhere other than the comfort of their living room a legal place to do so.

Even with the restrictions, pot tourism is already a big thing out there. Every waiter I had assumed that’s why I was in town (maybe it’s the beard). But public consumption will surely attract more people, as long as they work to keep everything reasonable.

* A legalized, regulated and taxed production, distribution and consumption chain is the ideal way of doing things. If you buy weed in Denver you’re not supporting criminals. Thumbs up!