Colorado marijuana vendors opened for business Wednesday and began making the first legal sales of pot for recreational use across the state minutes after Iraq war veteran Sean Azzariti’s ceremonial first buy.

The 32-year-old former Marine, who had lobbied for a change in state legislation, ushered in the new era in the regulation of marijuana sales with his purchase of 3.5 grams of Bubba Kush and an edible Dixie Elixir truffle at 3-D Cannabis Center in Denver at 8 am (1500 GMT).

The historic sale was not only the first in Colorado, but also in the United States.

Washington state has approved the sale of cannabis for recreational use, but has not yet completed licensing of the shops.

Azzariti said he was considering keeping the drugs and possibly framing them.

“It’s a huge honour to be here and be doing this,” he said. “It’s the most important thing I’ve ever done.” He paid $59.74, including tax, as about 100 photographers and reporters recorded the event and more than 100 buyers lined up outside the shop eager to follow Azzariti to the cash register.

“We really think we are charting a path for the rest of the world to follow,” Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, told a news conference prior to the first sale.

“Today people around the country will buy marijuana, but only in Colorado will they be buying it legally in a regulated environment.”

Under the law, cannabis can be sold for recreational use to people 21 and older. Reams of regulations covering everything from the type of packaging to the level of security had to be written, agreed upon and implemented before the sales could begin, activists said.

As of Wednesday, sale began not only across Denver, but also in the university town of Boulder, the skiers’ mecca of Aspen, and other towns and cities that embrace the change. At least 37 stores in Colorado began selling, according to the Denver Post.

Many of the Colorado shops operated previously as dispensaries of marijuana for medical use. Such sales have been legal in the state for about three years. About 20 other US states allow the sale of the drug to people who have prescriptions from a doctor.

“There isn’t a place in the world where prohibition is working,” said marijuana advocate Betty Aldworth. “Today in Colorado, we shift marijuana from the underground market to the regulated market.” She said during the November 2012 campaign for a ballot measure to set taxes on the recreational marijuana sales, she knew it was clinched when the conservative parents of a friend told her they were going to support the measure.

That measure set tax rates at 15 per cent on wholesale deals and 10 per cent tax on retail sales.

Aldworth, who is deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said $400 million worth of sales are expected in Colorado this year and the industry would create an estimated 1,000 jobs.

Philip Hand, 23, of Denver said the liberalisation of the law has attracted the attention of “legitimate business people” who want to make money.

He and Joshua Fink, 38, also of Denver, were at a party promoting their product, Incredibles, a range of marijuana-infused edibles in flavours from coconut to peanut butter.

“It’s finally here. We can run a company,” said Fink, who worked as a pastry chef before founding Incredibles with other partners. “This is going to make it a lot more simple to run a legitimate business.” Though trade in marijuana-based products is still heavily regulated, legalisation of sales to recreational users opens a lot of new avenues for business, Fink said. Eventually, he said he envisions his company selling across state lines and internationally, although such sales aren’t legal yet.

“Now the opportunity is there for this product,” Fink said.

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