Colorado experiments with legalised cannabis

America’s first recreational cannabis industry opened in Colorado yesterday, kicking off an experiment that will be followed closely around the world and one that activists hope will prove that legalisation is a better alternative than the costly global drug war.

Business owners who threw their doors open for shoppers at 8am are looking for the fledgling industry to generate as much revenue as state officials hope it will. At least 24 pot shops in eight towns opened, after increasing staff and inventory and hiring security.

More than a dozen people waited outside one shop in Denver as snow fell around dawn. Musician James Aaron Ramsey, 28, was among them, having driven from Missouri. He played folk tunes with his guitar as he waited.