Could pot clubs in Denver be a way to deal with increasing public consumption in the city's parks and on the 16th Street Mall?

Amazingly, that's what Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is asking — a dramatic shift in his stance from only three years ago.

In 2013, as the city was crafting its retail marijuana regulatory framework, Hancock directed the City Council to explicitly ban pot clubs.

"I propose and advocate for the most restrictive regulatory environment for marijuana," Hancock said then. "And I believe that by allowing private clubs, it doesn't speak to that value."

The city fiercely has defended this position over the years.

NORMAL — Bloomington-Normal residents will have the opportunity to buy medical marijuana close to home as soon as this spring.

The Green Solution, a Denver, Colo.-based marijuana developer and retailer, is "expecting to be open by the third week of April" at 501 Northtown Road in Normal, said Vice President of Local Expansion Tanya Griffin.

"We’re going to start building out that site immediately," Griffin said of the former Curves building in north Normal. “We just got through permitting.”

The company bought the half-acre lot in October, according to property records. Griffin declined to talk about the purchase price. 

For a seasoned cannabis user, it might seem a little strange that people are traveling to the emergency room for issues related to marijuana.

Unlike alcohol or pharmaceuticals — which bring hundreds of thousands to the ER each year — no one has ever died from cannabis use alone, a fact the federal government backs up. Overdosing on an edible or hash-dab can be a truly miserable experience, but currently the primary remedy in most cannabis cases is time and relaxation.

So why go to the hospital?

I arrived at my hotel, the Crowne Plaza, Denver, having just bought some “Grandpa” pot at LiveGreen Cannabis on Sheridan Boulevard. I was excited to get back to the hotel and smoke my old-guy weed by the pool, having read about the cool scene there. I imagined myself chilling under the stars, getting high with fellow travelers who were there to do the same.

As I walked into the lobby, I saw an employee; I pulled him aside and politely asked about the (wink wink) smoking situation. “Everyone smokes in the parking garage,” the employee told me. “The pool thing is a just a rumor.”

The gym rats who join the still-under-construction recreation centre in central Denver, Colo., will owe their workouts to weed smokers.

In Pueblo County, south of Denver, students will soon be able to walk to school on a sidewalk paid for by marijuana tax revenue, or apply to the world's first cannabis-funded scholarship program.

"We're taking dollars that were previously going to drug cartels in Mexico and using them to provide opportunity and education to the next generation," says Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace. Elected officials there recently approved the use of $2.5 million U.S. in pot taxes to fund a mix of community projects.

A group of developers have selected Trinidad, Colorado as the site for their green dream, the world's first marijuana mini mall.

Developers Sean Sheridan and Chris Elkins said Trinidad's laws and tourism make it a friendly place for their newest venture. 

"This town has a zero-foot setback, which allows us to put five dispensaries here right next to one another. As far as we know, we are the only town in Colorado that we can do this in," said Elkins.

The group recently purchased a building on Commercial Street in downtown Trinidad. The developers have received permits from the city and are waiting on final approval from the City Council.

After getting arrested on suspicion of driving while high, some Colorado suspects are also being asked by select Colorado State Patrol troopers, “Would you like to be a volunteer in our DUI marijuana pilot program?”

“Sometimes people are glad to participate, and sometimes they want nothing to do with us,” said Major Steve Garcia, who is with the State Patrol training branch.

The State Patrol is testing technology that could more accurately determine whether someone was driving while high.

Colorado parents Raymond and Amelia Schwab lost custody of their kids but say they've done nothing wrong

Veteran Raymond Schwab and his wife Amelia are pictured on January 13, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. Raymond, who suffers PTSD, came to Colorado to use medical marijuana to help treat his PTSD. Because of this the state of Kansas, where he lived, took away his kids. He is fighting to get them back. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

Raymond Schwab, an honorably discharged veteran, moved to Colorado last year to get treated for post-traumatic stress and chronic pain with medical marijuana.

He didn't expect Kansas would take his children in return.

When we first tallied Colorado pot sales for 2014, the first full year of legal cannabis sales in the world mind you, $699,198,805 seemed like such a large number at the time.

DENVER — Standing in a retail marijuana dispensary Tuesday, amid cannabis-infused candy and big jars of “Sour Diesel” and “Bazooka Joe,” eight Massachusetts senators had some questions.

“If I were to buy this, what would I do with it? Do I crush it? Roll it? Do I —” asked Senator John F. Keenan, pointing to a jar with a potent-smelling strain, his voice trailing off as if he weren’t sure of the other options.

“Is this medicinal?” asked Senator Michael O. Moore, who then lifted up a jar filled with Purple Alien OG, smiling and posing for a photo on his phone.

Later Keenan, a 51-year-old Quincy Democrat who opposes legalization and says he has never used the drug, had another query for a store employee: “Do you sell” — he paused — “the balm?”