Pot sales have begun as the first day of legal recreational marijuana sales commence in Colorado.

A former Marine, Sean Azzariti, walked into a big store at 8 o’clock in the morning, just a few miles from the downtown Denver area, and bought a bag of pot. And it was legal. He bought it for fun – to smoke when he wants to get high and whenever he chooses.

Azzariti’s transaction — 3.5 grams of Bubba Kush for $40 and 50 mg of Truffles for an additional $9.28 — was the first in the state’s grand experiment in legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

The first-in-the-nation law was greeted with long lines at retailers and a lot of “Rocky Mountain High” jokes.

Although it is a reality in Colorado, backers are hoping it sets a precedent for other states to follow. If it works, without too much social adversity, and people are able to keep it together and not go off the deep end, other states might just jump on board – after all, think of the tourism this has created for Colorado – not to mention the tax benefits to the state.

It appears that the backers have enough signatures to put legalizing the green to voters in Alaska this year. Next to follow suit could be Oregon, and to follow, hopefully – Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana and Nevada. (Montana?)

On the hopeful list for this legalization measure are Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Washington State has legalized pot, but sales there won’t begin for at least a few months. So users will have to stick with Colorado for now, if you want to buy it legally.

But if people start getting out of hand – and the straight people get really sick of the stoners, or it creates pot related crimes, it could stop this movement in its tracks.

So – if you live in Colorado and plan to get high – just lay low for a while.

Image via Wikimedia Commons