For Cochrane Mayor Jeff Genung, "taking a break" in Boulder, Colorado while his wife Danielle competed in an Ironman triathlon became a learning experience on the retailing of cannabis products.

Genung gained first-hand experience in purchasing cannabis in the American State that legalized its recreational use in 2014. He found the controls impressive and believes it's a model worthy of following here in Cochrane.

"If we were to model after Boulder I would be happy," says Genung. "If in five years we could walk around Cochrane and have the same experience I'd be happy with that."

Boulder is a city of 100,000 people and has 98 cannabis dispensaries, but you wouldn't know it by its lack of visibility, says the Mayor, in the city as a full-on tourist travelling by foot and bike.

"I'm walking around and I'm looking for it, but I couldn't find it. It was nowhere to be seen. There was no smoking a joint on the street, there was no club somewhere, no hangout. That started to pique my interest."

He finally did locate one on Pearl St. in the city's historic downtown in a downstairs business called "Native Roots" that's not well signed nor visibly a cannabis shop.

He entered a plain small room with no windows and only a single window where a person is seated.

The first thing required was ID to prove he was over 21. The 50-year-old Genung said, "C'mon," but the rule is firmly enforced.

She said, "No, it's the law and we're very strict with that and you're on camera right now. If they go back and look at the footage and see I didn't get ID I could be fired."

He came back the next day with his driver's licence but that wasn't enough. Because he was from out-of-state, he was required to bring a passport and went back to get it.

Finally, he gets into a second security tier where they once again ask him to produce identification.

Now he's in and sees the product and wants to take a selfie. Not a chance.

"Please put your phone away, sir. No phones are allowed in here. You do not take a picture of anything," he was told.

"So," Genung explains, "They do not want that to be on the internet, they do not want it to be in the faces of kids."

There's a wide variety of cannabis products available, all labelled with information on their different impacts. Genung picked one and purchased it (and later disposed of it untouched).

He explains it comes in a childproof container, like a prescription, and there's a print out of what was purchased. All that goes into another bag with a childproof zip seal and a receipt for you to take to your residence (it's legal to smoke in hotel rooms).

"If you get stopped by enforcement between there and your residence you need to be able to produce a receipt with what you bought to ensure you are not selling it, you're not out publicly enjoying it and you're going to your private residence. They have zero tolerance for using cannabis openly; it's only for private consumption."

All dispensaries are closed at 10 p.m. in the city and surrounding county, well before bars are closed.

Also, he was warned not to take it to the airport because they do have drug dogs there. Cannabis remains illegal federally in the States.

"When they told me this, I instantly started to feel paranoid. As mayor, the last thing I need is to get tagged for possession in the airport."

Unless you were looking for it, you wouldn't know cannabis was legal, says Genung. He only saw it used publically twice in the week he was there.

"I saw one guy in a back alley once by a dumpster, which you could probably find in Cochrane and definitely in Calgary, and when I went for a run I saw another guy sitting on his own by a creek indulging."

"I was surprised, quite surprised. I went there thinking it would be everywhere and people walking down the street smoking pot. But that wasn't the case at all."

Genung later met with city officials to learn more about their rules and their Marijuana Enforcement team.

He was told their motto is: "We are going to make cannabis fit into Boulder, not Boulder fit into Cannabis."

They also immediately establish zero-tolerance for public use and aggressively fined people to make it clear it would not be tolerated.

Boulder has a large tourism industry and they don't want it impacted by the legalization of cannabis.

The only unforeseen glitch faced by the city was an increase in explosions and fires from poorly operated illegal grow ops.

"I went there thinking it would be everywhere and it was nowhere. I think what they have done they've done well and they're controlling it."

Now, they just treat it like another business, Genung was told.

Genung says there has been a lot of hype around the issue and some fear-mongering. But the town's role is to make sure it's handled as best as possible.

"The people who don't want it never wanted it. But I think people understand this isn't something I'm doing or the Town of Cochrane is doing, it's the Canadian government. It's coming, whether you like it or not, and you'd better be prepared. Now it's all about how you unfold it."