Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Grass Is Greener
Colorado voted to legalize the recreational use
of marijuana in November 2012, and became
the first jurisdiction in the world (alongside
Washington state) to do so. Attitudes toward
ganja had been lightening up around the coun-
try for some time, but this trailblazing act
failed to take into account one detail:
marijuana is still illegal on a national level.
But the times they are a changin', and US
attorney general Eric Holder recently decided
not to block the law. This approach may be the
wave of the future, though it isn't as hands off
as it appears. The feds seem to be betting that
taxing and tightly regulating legal pot growing
will be more efficient in the long run than
chasing and prosecuting growers and small-
time dealers. It's also argued that creating a
legal system will help keep it out of the hands
of kids.
That's not to say that a future conservative
administration would be so lenient. But the
coming years will prove an interesting social
experiment, so many years after John Den-
ver's homage to the Rocky Mountain high.
Best in Print
On the Road (Jack Kerouac) The Denver
doldrums and the origins of road-tripper cul-
ture.
House of Rain (Craig Childs) Tracks the
Anasazi in the Southwest.
Plainsong (Kent Haruf) Examines a Colorado
farming community.
Best on Film
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (1969)
The seminal cliff-jumping scene was shot on
the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Rail-
road.
True Grit (1969) Set in Arkansas but filmed in
the San Juan Mountains.
The Shining (1980) Inspired by the Stanley
Hotel in Estes Park.
Dear Eleanor (2014) Leonardo DiCaprio pro-
duced this Sundance flick, which was filmed on
the Front Range.
Etiquette
Do dress like a Tour de France competitor on
casual training rides about town.
Don't try to keep up with active locals. They're
already acclimatised.
Do drink lots of water, or the high altitude and
the high-gravity beers will do you in.
The Young & the Restless
Once a mining, ranching and farming strong-
hold, today's Colorado is a young state getting
younger, with 24% of the 5.2 million residents under the age of 18.
Most live in and around Denver. Development in Denver suburbs on what was farm-
land fueled real estate and technology booms. Some of those jobs were lost in tech busts
in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but the area weathered the storm. Growth not only
sparked suburban sprawl but also urban gentrification.
Don't compare anything to California. Sore
spot.
 
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