Weed is not "small potato(e)s."

In 2017, dope sales hit $1.5 billion in Colorado alone:

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/02/10/colorado-pot-sales-2017-border-towns/

That Trinidad sign? I used to see that on the bluff overlooking the town about 800 yards north of the upstairs labs in the gunsmithing department.  The idea of Trinidad becoming a booming dope sales mecca for out-of-staters is both hilarious and depressing. First the sex-change capitol of the US, then a meth hub, now a pot dispensary hub for stoners from NM and TX.

There are now times when my wife and I are travelling in Colorado that when we check into a hotel, they demand to see our driver's licenses. There are signs behind the desks that say "No local guests!"

The first time this happened to us, I was completely flummoxed. What was this, someone trying to crack down on the lunchtime nookie trade? Someone enforcing morality by making sure that people having affairs don't rent the room for the night, but stay only 90 minutes and leave a mess? I told the proprietor "We're married - and from out of town. Is that OK?"

Turns out he wasn't trying to stop the nooners or cheaters. He considers them some of his best customers - if they leave before 7pm, he can sometimes clean up the room and still book it for that night. Nooo... the proprietor of the first hotel where we saw this said that "lots of people want to smoke dope, but they don't want that 'pot funk' in their houses," so they go to a hotel, rent a room for a weekend, get royally stoned - and leave the pot-smoke funk in the hotel room. It is apparently very difficult to get the pot funk out of the walls, furniture, etc. Once it's in there, non-dopers don't want to stay in the room - even if they smoke cigarettes.

Hence the prohibition against local guests. If you're legit and from out of town, hey, welcome to Colorado, here's your room key.

Here in Wyoming, we're seeing a big uptick in the number of people thinking they're terribly clever drug kingpins, driving through our state, hauling a couple kilo's of pot in their Prius. They get stopped, the highway patrolman smells dope on their breath, a search ensues and bingo! We have a new resident in the state pen in Rawlins. The people with "personal use" amounts usually get off with a warning and their dope dumped on the ground; the WHP has their hands full with the people who are buying pounds (NB the plural) to take back home to their buddies for sale.