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A Lafayette tea shop owner has sued the city over an ordinance passed earlier this month that temporarily bans any recreational marijuana-related businesses in the city, including those that provide for or allow "the use of marijuana" on site.
The Front Tea & Art Shop's owner, Veronica Carpio, claims in her suit that Lafayette's moratorium flouts state law, which permits adults 21 and older to possess and use up to an ounce of pot and grow up to six marijuana plants. Colorado voters passed Amendment 64, the marijuana-legalization measure, in November.
The suit, which was filed in Boulder District Court, also claims that Lafayette is violating Carpio's property rights by not permitting her to assist adults with the consumption of marijuana inside her business and behind closed doors as guaranteed by Amendment 64.
Carpio, who used to own a medical marijuana dispensary in Lafayette and is serving a year of probation after pleading guilty to a felony marijuana possession charge last year, is requesting a preliminary injunction to stop the city from enforcing the ordinance in full. A hearing on the case has not yet been set.
The lawsuit has the potential to set a precedent in the burgeoning legal universe of recreational marijuana, where other disputes have arisen over how far local governments can go in regulating pot-related enterprises, like cannabis clubs.
Tommy West, Carpio's Boulder-based lawyer, said The Front's lawsuit is "absolutely groundbreaking."
"We want to settle this matter now -- not wait until there are 20 other cities that have passed an ordinance like this," he said.
The Front, until recently, permitted people to bring in their own marijuana and consume it during the evenings. Carpio said her store in Old Town Lafayette does not sell or grow pot or collect an entrance fee and thus is not a marijuana-related business as envisioned by Amendment 64, which specifically grants municipal governments the power to regulate "the operation of marijuana cultivation facilities, marijuana product manufacturing facilities, marijuana testing facilities, or retail marijuana stores."
Lafayette, her suit claims, overstepped its home rule authority by getting involved in a matter of "statewide concern" -- namely the right of adults in Colorado to consume marijuana in private.
"A local ban ordinance or interpretation that conflicts with state law in an overlapping field of regulation, i.e. the Colorado Constitution, is subject to preemption by state law," the suit reads. "Furthermore, local governments may not forbid that which the state has explicitly authorized."
Lafayette argues that its land use authority, and its status as a home rule city, gives it the power to pass the ordinance it passed on Feb. 5. City officials declined on Friday to comment on the suit.
But the city attorney has said that The Front Tea & Art Shop can reasonably be seen as a business that falls under the city's powers to regulate. And, the city has argued, it hasn't been established whether a gathering of marijuana smokers in a licensed business constitutes public or private consumption of the drug. Amendment 64 does allow open and public consumption of cannabis.
State officials are in the midst of crafting an extensive set of recreational marijuana regulations that will likely put to rest a lot of the legal disagreements that have cropped up. Most communities in Boulder County have enacted moratoria on pot-related businesses while they wait for the state to act.
West said a ban on marijuana-related businesses as permitted by Amendment 64 is one thing, but that doesn't give municipalities the right to try and stop private consumption of marijuana by adults.
"They're allowed to ban marijuana establishments, but they're not allowed to go further," he said.
West said Carpio has discontinued marijuana consumption at The Front Tea & Art Shop pending the outcome of the case. Lafayette, he said, has yet to serve a cease and desist order on her business.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: coloradohometownweekly.com
Author: John Aguilar
Contact: Contact Us - Colorado Hometown Weekly
Website: Lafayette tea shop owner sues city over recreational marijuana moratorium - Colorado Hometown Weekly
The Front Tea & Art Shop's owner, Veronica Carpio, claims in her suit that Lafayette's moratorium flouts state law, which permits adults 21 and older to possess and use up to an ounce of pot and grow up to six marijuana plants. Colorado voters passed Amendment 64, the marijuana-legalization measure, in November.
The suit, which was filed in Boulder District Court, also claims that Lafayette is violating Carpio's property rights by not permitting her to assist adults with the consumption of marijuana inside her business and behind closed doors as guaranteed by Amendment 64.
Carpio, who used to own a medical marijuana dispensary in Lafayette and is serving a year of probation after pleading guilty to a felony marijuana possession charge last year, is requesting a preliminary injunction to stop the city from enforcing the ordinance in full. A hearing on the case has not yet been set.
The lawsuit has the potential to set a precedent in the burgeoning legal universe of recreational marijuana, where other disputes have arisen over how far local governments can go in regulating pot-related enterprises, like cannabis clubs.
Tommy West, Carpio's Boulder-based lawyer, said The Front's lawsuit is "absolutely groundbreaking."
"We want to settle this matter now -- not wait until there are 20 other cities that have passed an ordinance like this," he said.
The Front, until recently, permitted people to bring in their own marijuana and consume it during the evenings. Carpio said her store in Old Town Lafayette does not sell or grow pot or collect an entrance fee and thus is not a marijuana-related business as envisioned by Amendment 64, which specifically grants municipal governments the power to regulate "the operation of marijuana cultivation facilities, marijuana product manufacturing facilities, marijuana testing facilities, or retail marijuana stores."
Lafayette, her suit claims, overstepped its home rule authority by getting involved in a matter of "statewide concern" -- namely the right of adults in Colorado to consume marijuana in private.
"A local ban ordinance or interpretation that conflicts with state law in an overlapping field of regulation, i.e. the Colorado Constitution, is subject to preemption by state law," the suit reads. "Furthermore, local governments may not forbid that which the state has explicitly authorized."
Lafayette argues that its land use authority, and its status as a home rule city, gives it the power to pass the ordinance it passed on Feb. 5. City officials declined on Friday to comment on the suit.
But the city attorney has said that The Front Tea & Art Shop can reasonably be seen as a business that falls under the city's powers to regulate. And, the city has argued, it hasn't been established whether a gathering of marijuana smokers in a licensed business constitutes public or private consumption of the drug. Amendment 64 does allow open and public consumption of cannabis.
State officials are in the midst of crafting an extensive set of recreational marijuana regulations that will likely put to rest a lot of the legal disagreements that have cropped up. Most communities in Boulder County have enacted moratoria on pot-related businesses while they wait for the state to act.
West said a ban on marijuana-related businesses as permitted by Amendment 64 is one thing, but that doesn't give municipalities the right to try and stop private consumption of marijuana by adults.
"They're allowed to ban marijuana establishments, but they're not allowed to go further," he said.
West said Carpio has discontinued marijuana consumption at The Front Tea & Art Shop pending the outcome of the case. Lafayette, he said, has yet to serve a cease and desist order on her business.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: coloradohometownweekly.com
Author: John Aguilar
Contact: Contact Us - Colorado Hometown Weekly
Website: Lafayette tea shop owner sues city over recreational marijuana moratorium - Colorado Hometown Weekly
