Long Lines Greet Colorado Pot Buyers

As 2014 began, so did the sale of legalized marijuana in Colorado. It was greeted by a ton on media coverage and a bunch of happy consumers who waited in long lines. But all was mellow, as the Denver Post reported, as "government officials marveled at the calm."

One buyer in Pueblo, Colorado was thrilled almost beyond words as he was the first in line with the store opened for business.

Another buyer said it was a historic occasion.

Although consumers might be paying a little more for their pot through the new legal outlets, at least one didn't seem to mind.

While the sale of pot is now legal in Colorado, smoking it in public remains against the law. Some consumers got around that law by buying edible pot products that they could consume in public.

The satire site The Daily Currant posted an article titled "Marijuana Overdoses Kill 37 in Colorado on First Day of Legalization"  that surprisingly, despite being a satire site, drew thousands of believers posting and re-posting as if it were a legitimate news site (and real story!)

It probably will take a decade (or more) for all the states to follow Colorado, but once governments realize the monetary gains that can be made in taxes rather than imprisonment, we may all look back at 2014 as the true end of marijuana prohibition.

Here's your chance to sound off. Should the United States follow Colorado's lead and legalize marijuana for recreational use while taxing it heavily? Should it be a state by state decision? Should marijuana continue to be illegal and recreational users jailed?