This U.S. city just made it a lot easier to get high

Colorado was the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana (though Washington voted it in the same year), and now its capital city is pushing the bar once again.

Basically, cannabis consumers will no longer have to hide in their own home when they want to get high.

The people of Denver passed ballot initiative 300, which would let businesses apply for permits that would allow the consumption of marijuana within their premises.

According to the Denver Post the initiative will create a four-year pilot program whereby certain business could apply. However, applicants will need backing from a registered neighborhood group, such as a business improvement district. Those groups will be able to set up their own conditions for their support, such as limiting hours and other restrictions.

UPDATE: Nov. 21, 2016, 12:35 p.m. EST According to the The Cannabist, state licensing officials have decided to not allow businesses with liquor licenses to obtain a permit for cannabis use on the premises.

Now, before you start to image a dive bar filled with ash trays and plumes of skunky pot smoke filling the air, the initiative will only allow people to vape and consume edibles indoors, while smoking will only be allowed outdoors under certain conditions. Vaping and dabbing concentrates as well as pot edibles have become increasingly popular since legalization, so banning smoking indoors isn't a total buzzkill to stoners looking to smoke in a social setting.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

But don't just think of this new initiative as a cannabis club, it will also give places like yoga studios the ability to hold a cannabis class, or let a comedy club have a cannabis night.

So why do cannabis enthusiasts want this?

Although weed is legal in the state of Colorado, actually consuming it can be quite the challenge for some, especially tourists. Visitors looking to test out some of the local green are basically forced to stay in a pro-marijuana hotel or Airbnb because public consumption is illegal. Additionally, some condo associations and landlord-controlled buildings have banned the smoking the sticky icky inside their buildings. If you don't own your property, you're not allowed to even smoke outside your residence.

"This is a groundbreaking law that reflects the shift taking place in the public attitudes toward marijuana," Mason Tvert, Director of Communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, told Mashable.

"By allowing adults to use marijuana in certain private establishments, we can reduce the chances that they are going to use it in public, like on the street or in the park. This is a community-focused measure that ensures neighborhoods will have the final say over what is and is not allowed," Tvert said.

Why is the opposition against it?

Protect Denver’s Atmosphere, one of the groups opposing the initiative conceded Tuesday, but not without a message from campaign manager Rachel O’Bryan, urging officials to to tread carefully.

“Back in 2012, marijuana legalization passed with a strong majority in Denver. Four years later, Initiative 300 has passed by a much slimmer margin,” she said in a statement. “It appears that many Denver voters who originally supported marijuana legalization do not want to see marijuana consumption everywhere in Denver."

According to the group's website, they believe the initiative will expand public consumption, endanger the health of the public and sends the wrong message to children. Additionally, the group warns of the dangers of allowing people to mix marijuana and alcohol, which is pretty fair considering that marijuana-related hospital visits for Colorado tourists are up since legalization.

So when is this all going down?

"City officials will need to create some rules and I think they'll do that quickly. It's really something the city has a lot of experience with with alcohol," Tvert told Mashable. Tvert is hopeful that the city will start to roll out permits in the beginning of next year, but no there is no official date yet.

While it's unclear how smoothly this will all go down, the city of Denver and Colorado has handled marijuana issues on a trial basis and they'll continue to do that for Initiative 300.

See what works, change what doesn't.

"We believe this will allow communities and businesses to test the waters to see what works, then move forward with the best plans possible. We are hopeful this will produce a system that can serve as a model for other cities and towns in Colorado and throughout the nation," Tvert told Mashable.