Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on Wednesday helped owner DeWayne Benjamin celebrate the city’s first approved social equity marijuana hospitality operator, Tetra Lounge.

The lounge was approved for a hospitality license, meaning it will be a location where folks can legally consume marijuana in a public place. While it is not yet open for business, it is expected to be up and running by April 20, the marijuana holiday.

“I wouldn’t be here without the people that supported me, my friends, family, members that I’ve met over the years – it’s really a community,” Benjamin said. “We want to cultivate a community here that’s very diverse and inclusive, where you can come here and meet anyone from the age of 21 to 84 and all different ethnicities and backgrounds. That was very important to me and it showed today.”

Polis said at the ribbon cutting that he sees Tetra being a model for the rest of the industry as the first licensed cannabis consumption lounge in the country.

“I’m so excited about innovation and entrepreneurship in this exciting sector improving public safety and making sure that people can recreate in a legal way in safety and enjoy one another’s company,” Polis said Wednesday afternoon. “It’s really exciting to see that spirit of entrepreneurship across our state, that can-do attitude, that frontier spirit where you say, ‘Just because it hasn’t been done, that’s not going to stop me from doing it.'”

The social equity aspect of the program is to make sure there’s equitable access to the cannabis industry, because there are many communities disproportionately and negatively impacted by marijuana prohibition who have not benefited from legalization. For the first six years of the new licensing program, only people designated as social equity applicants will be considered for new marijuana establishments.

“Unfortunately, because of the war on drugs, we still have African Americans in particular who were burdened by possession charges on their records of marijuana while the industry has taken off and has generated billions of dollars for people,” Hancock said at the ribbon cutting.

James Mitchell said he was the second member after Tetra initially opened in 2018 and said everyone at the lounge quickly became his family.

“You’re supposed to feel like you’re at home no matter what,” Mitchell said. “Whatever your version of sitting down and having a joint with friends, you’re in a safe environment.”

Denver’s Department of Excise and Licenses also issued final approval for the Patterson Inn to get its marijuana hospitality license, which will allow the hotel to open a cannabis consumption lounge for its guests.