Travis Simpson is our go-to law man for sticky situations, but he's also Colorado's most well-versed weed lawyer. We let him school us on the ins and outs of legal weed, what to do if you get pulled over high, and even got him to tell us about that one time his client shot down a Black Hawk helicopter in his yard. You know, casual lawyer stuff.

Travis Simpson is our go-to law man for sticky situations, but he's also Colorado's most well-versed weed lawyer. We let him school us on the ins and outs of legal weed, what to do if you get pulled over high, and even got him to tell us about that one time his client shot down a Black Hawk helicopter in his yard. You know, casual lawyer stuff.

Weed’s obviously legal now, but what does that mean we can do? What are our rights?

If you are twenty-one years old or older, you have the right to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. You can display it and use it. You can also cultivate up to six marijuana plants at any given time. Once you harvest, you can keep any of the marijuana produced, even if it’s a couple pounds, as long as it is located at the place where the marijuana was grown.

You can also assist anyone else who is 21 or older with the same rights to possess, use, and cultivate marijuana. Also, you can walk into any retail marijuana center and pick up an ounce of Colorado kind buds with just your ID. Pretty cool, huh?

Okay, we know this interview is about weed, but what should you do if you get pulled over by a cop, and you’re kind of drunk?

Don’t make any incriminating statements. You have a right to remain silent. Exercise it and shut the hell up!

Also, don’t do any roadside maneuvers, even if the officer orders you out of the car to do them. Even if you are dead sober, the officer might determine that you didn’t adequately perform the roadsides. You can also refuse a blood test, but this will get your driver’s license yanked for a year, automatically. You won’t lose your license for refusing a roadside test though.

How do pot DUIs work? How can they tell you're high?

Generally, the smell of burnt marijuana is the most common clue to an officer that the driver of a vehicle might be high. Police officers are also trained to detect red blood-shot and glassy eyes. The officer will use slow reaction times and questioning regarding any recent use of marijuana to determine if a driver is impaired. All of these “clues” are subjective. Basically, if the officer thinks you’re high, you are at risk of a DUID.

Officers will request that you perform VOLUNTARY roadside maneuvers that further bolster their claim that you are high. Officers will also request that you submit to a blood-draw to measure the level of active THC in your system. This is the hardest piece of evidence to overcome in a pot-DUI case if you have active THC in your system.

If you get pulled over and are suspected for a DUI while high, what should you do? Can you refuse a blood test? Is the protocol any different from alcohol?

Don't submit to voluntary roadside maneuvers! Also, stay calm and be respectful. Don’t admit anything and remember that you have a right to remain silent. You can refuse a blood test, but if you refuse the blood test, you immediately lose your driver’s license for a year and you still may get charged with a DUID, depending on the evidence. Currently, pot-DUIs are treated very similarly to alcohol DUIs, but the blood-test can be challenged in pot cases, whereas a .08 alcohol level is conclusive of an alcohol DUI and doesn’t leave much room for a defense.

How do we smoke weed in public? Wait, is that even possible?

You could vaporize, if you’re trying to be on the down low… However, smoking in public is still technically illegal, even after the passage of Amendment 64. Bummer, I know.

What’s the best way to sneak drugs into a jail? We um, have a friend…

Well, the best way, I suppose, is the way in which you don’t get caught. That’s not legal advice, for the record.

Are there any weird nuances of the recreational weed laws that could come back and fuck us over if you don’t tell us about them right now?

Marijuana is still illegal under federal law. So, if the DEA shows up at your house, and you are growing for yourself and thirty of your friends, and you have a couple hundred pounds stockpiled, and you’ve been mailing it back home to Arkansas… you’re probably about to get fucked over.

If you live in a state where medical marijuana is legal, can you transport medical marijuana from Colorado to that state? What about recreational? Can you bring legal weed from Colorado to Washington?

Not yet… Unfortunately, Colorado is surrounded by hater-states that haven’t jumped on the marijuana bandwagon. So, if you transport medical or recreational marijuana through these states, you are risking arrest and prosecution under those states’ draconian marijuana laws. Also, transporting marijuana across state lines remains a federal offense.

As for flying, Denver International Airport recently issued guidelines banning marijuana from its facility and the TSA lists marijuana as a prohibited item. Boring.

How much can a non-resident buy – is that per dispensary? For example, can they get a 1/4 at four different dispensaries?

Yep, a non-resident is limited to purchasing a ¼ ounce of marijuana per transaction. However, the non-resident could just purchase their half-ounce in two separate transactions, or go to another dispensary and buy another ¼ ounce there. The only limit is that residents and non-residents are limited to possessing up to one-ounce of marijuana at any given time. Residents can buy the whole ounce in one transaction.

Why aren't there smoking clubs and cafes everywhere now?

They are coming… Already, Colorado Springs has maintained a couple of successful private clubs for puffing the cheeba, the Lazy Lion and 710 Club. Club Ned is about to open in Nederland. I predict a surge of private marijuana clubs following in these clubs’ footsteps. Party on!

What’s the single best piece of advice you could possibly give us?

Don’t get fucked over. If you do, hire a good lawyer.

What’s the craziest case you’ve ever worked on?

I worked on a case where the government sent a Black Hawk helicopter to do surveillance on a client’s marijuana grow in his backyard. But he didn’t know it was a government helicopter, and he pointed his .50 caliber Barrett rifle at the helicopter before being arrested at gunpoint. We got the case dismissed because we established that the helicopter was flying too close to his property. We got the gun back and even got to do some shooting to celebrate. That was a pretty wild one!

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I’m a pretty good lawyer.

Travis B. Simpson, Esq. is the founder and managing partner of Simpson Defense Firm, LLC, specializing in criminal and civil defense. Need legal defense? Contact Travis at 303-356-9902 or at SimpsonDefense.com.