You’ve never seen a spa like this. Rebecca Marroquin’s Pure Elevations Spa and Garden aims to bring the soothing power of topical cannabis to the massage world, breaking ground in Denver, Colorado.
Marroquin entered the world of cannabis-infused spa services through her own personal experiences with the healing power of cannabis. She told The Denver Post that in 2011, her plan to finish school and become a massage therapist was put on hold when she got into a car crash and broke her neck.
She began using salves and lotions containing CBD and THC to ease her neck pain, and within only four months, she was back on target to graduate. From this emerged Marroquin’s dream to open Pure Elevations and bring the benefits she experienced to the world.
Beyond helping to treat physical ailments, however, Marroquin also hopes that Pure Elevations will be educational for consumers who may have a limited or misinformed understanding of cannabis.
In a September 2023 interview with Denver 7 News, Marroquin said, “The vision for Pure Elevations Spa and Garden is really to educate our consumers about the benefits of medicinal marijuana.” She further explained that she hopes to disprove stereotypes and false notions of cannabis use: “I’m trying to get rid of the stigma around marijuana. Everybody is like, oh, ‘it’s reefer madness, kind of Cheech and Chong, there.’ Everybody’s marketing towards the same person. I want to market towards everybody.”
But Marroquin has been met by a fair amount of blockades in her quest to bring the health benefits of cannabis to the masses.
Because of the local regulations dictating the sale and usage of marijuana, Pure Elevations was among other businesses in Colorado that were stifled by the city. In 2023, several small businesses in Denver were issued warning letters for their usage of cannabis without business licenses. One was even given a criminal citation.
Eric Escudero, the Director of Communications for the city, told Denver 7 News, “Any time there is commerce being conducted … you have to get a license.”
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The specifics of the city’s regulations have been especially troubling for Marroquin because of the nature of her business. The city has dictated that there must be video surveillance in cannabis consumption areas, a rule that would be a major issue within a spa setting. The regulations have also challenged Pure Elevations and other local businesses through the daily consumer sales limits of cannabis, a cap that would hinder topical usage.
Fortunately, the tides are now changing for Pure Elevations.
In November 2023, the Marijuana Enforcement Division finalized new rules for Denver that have now gone into effect as of January 2024, allowing Pure Elevations to break major ground. As per these new rules, there are now no amount limitations on the usage of topicals.
The video surveillance rule has also been adjusted to exempt spa settings, granting Pure Elevations the ability to offer massages, scrubs, and other services with non-psychoactive topical cannabis.
On January 9, 2024, Pure Elevations posted on their Instagram, “Pure Elevations played a pivotal role in helping Colorado make history as the first state to fully regulate, legalize, and allow the use of marijuana topicals in a spa setting … As of January 8, 2024, Pure Elevations stands proud as the first and only place in the world where individuals will be able to experience the transformative benefits of cannabis-infused spa services.”
The space for Pure Elevations is in the Baker neighborhood of Denver, and while the spa is the business’s focal point, Marroquin dreams of Pure Elevations going even further. In addition to the spa, Marroquin hopes to add a garden, a hair studio, an outdoor patio, a cafe shop with snacks and coffee beverages, and even an indoor dispensary.
With the strides cannabis businesses have already made and the development of regulations in Denver that allow for their growth, Pure Elevations’ sky is the limit. “It’s really a dream come true; I never thought this would be my reality,” Marroquin said.
Pure Elevations will open in April of this year at 185 S. Santa Fe Drive in Denver, CO.
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