Denver may be Marijuana Capital of U.S.A.

Denver now appears to have more marijuana dispensaries than liquor stores, Starbucks coffee shops or public schools, according to city and corporate records.

A push by City Council members to regulate the medical marijuana industry and restrict where dispensaries can locate appears to have prompted a surge in sales-tax license applications, city officials say.
As of last week, Denver had issued more than 300 sales-tax licenses for dispensaries. That number slightly exceeds the number of Starbucks coffee shops in Denver and surrounding areas, calculated within a 50-mile radius. It is roughly twice the number of the city’s public schools. It exceeds the number of retail liquor stores in Denver by about a third.
The pace picked up, acting City Treasurer Steve Ellington said, after the council put the public on notice that restrictions are coming on where new dispensaries can set up shop. (The increase also followed an opinion from Attorney General John Suthers that medical marijuana was not exempt from sales-tax laws.)