In one of the oddest moments of my military career, I was “nose certified.” (I was going to make a Jimmy Durante joke, but then I remembered that I’m in my 60’s and the kids out there wouldn’t get the joke.) (Ed: then why did you? I mean, if you… oh, never mind.)

Anyway, early in my career, while an ICBM launch officer, all the crewmembers got certified to detect and identify marijuana smoke. The idea was that if we detected the smell of pot out at a missile site, we would have probable cause to call the cops and the drug dogs. So, they burned pot in front of us, had us sniff it, and ka-plam! – we were nose certified! I did ask they guy why we needed this certification, given that we’d all smelled it before. He said that if it ever came to a trial, we’d have to testify that the smell was identical to our certification smell, and not just “burning rope” or some other smell. Makes sense, and I’m proud of my certification. Well, not so much, but it was an interesting day.

I thought of that certification when I read a Colorado Politics story about Gov. Polis signing into law a bill that then-Gov. Hickenlooper had declined to sign, regarding what is euphemistically called “marijuana hospitality.” There were actually six different laws related to pot that were signed by the governor, including the aforementioned hospitality bill and one other bill that Hickenlooper had vetoed. Now, regular readers of my columns (Hi, Dan the Editor!) may recall that one thing that really irritates me is hypocrisy. And the other regular reader (Hi Uncle Bob!) may recall that I am a champion of elected leaders when they truly take on challenging issues and work cooperatively for the good of all Colorado.

I think we can take some heart in the cluster of pot bills (what would be a good term for a group of pot bills? Like a “flock of birds”? … Maybe a “munchie” of pot?) now signed into law. The hospitality law noted above would allow marijuana hospitality businesses to open their doors, to create a safe and regulated place in which to consume. It seems to me that if we are going to have legal weed, we should also provide for responsible consumption, so this law seems like a good idea to me. Safe and licensed pot rooms are better for the smokers and for the general public than the current situation, in which people smoke at home, or all to often in parks and on the sidewalk.

A second measure signed into law will allow pot delivery, mostly to medical marijuana patients, and that makes sense to me too. If it’s legal, you should be able to get it delivered. With the various phone apps out there, I can get pizza, burgers, and most likely a bag of Doritos delivered, so why not the pot itself?

Finally, I want to draw your attention to something that merits high praise – bipartisanship on pot. The governor also signed into law House Bill 1090, which is likely the most technical, but also most important of any of the bills. HB 1090 makes it legal to make capital investments in publicly licensed marijuana companies. This law seeks to at least begin the “normalizing” of marijuana sales. We need significant reform in this area, and this new law is an important step. So, congrats to bill sponsors Dem Sen. Julie Gonzales and Republican Sen. Owen Hill. Sucking money out of the black market and making pot more easily sold, taxed and regulated is an important step forward, and a terrific example of cooperation across the aisle. 

In my role as a military cop, I dealt with drunk people and people high on pot. I can honestly say I’d rather deal with a dozen pot smokers than one drunk. I myself have never been drunk and I’ve never been high. I don’t say that to claim any special status, but only to point out that good legislation often has positive ripples beyond those directly targeted by a new law. 

I’ve written before about the libertarian streak we all possess, in terms of thinking that government should mostly stay out of our private lives, unless we are doing something illegal. This sextet of new laws recognizes the will of the people as well as being a gentle shove of the government away from our private lives. I only wish that same libertarian streak would also find its way into the GOP-ers’ views on LGBTQ issues, social welfare issue, and, well, I could go on. But congrats on at least an important first step.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.