Jacob Bell
New Member
LONGMONT, CO. -- Owners of local medical marijuana dispensaries facing a July 1 deadline to shut down because of a new city ordinance are hitting the streets with a petition aimed at asking the city's voters to overturn the council-approved law.
The Longmont City Council on May 24 adopted the ban. A moratorium dating back to October 2009 kept new dispensaries from setting up within the city limits, but the ban calls for the closure of existing dispensaries by July 1.
Henri Morin, owner of Colorado Patients First, said the ban means more than stopping patients from local access to medical pot. He said it will cost the city tax revenues and jobs.
He said a grass-roots group of volunteers should be fully organized and canvassing neighborhoods and camping out in front of grocery stores by week's end to collect the 5,315 signatures of registered Longmont voters needed to get the referendum on the Nov. 1 city ballot. Morin said petitions also are available at dispensaries, including his own.
Longmont City Clerk Valeria Skitt said the number of signatures needed for the referendum represents 10 percent of voters who cast ballots in the last regular election.
To get the referendum on the ballot, the petition must be turned in to the Longmont City Clerk's Office by June 27, or 30 days from the date the council's ban was published. Skitt said her office then has 15 days to verify the validity of the signatures.
Morin said the council was deaf to calls to put the question to voters in the first place.
"They did not want to do it because they are in a city where (a majority) of the people want the shops to stay," he said.
Skitt said she has worked for the city for 20 years and in that time a referendum has never made it to the ballot, although citizen initiatives have been taken to voters. A referendum asks the electorate to review a decision already made by a legislative body, while an initiative can force a public vote on a proposed law or ordinance.
Morin noted that collecting enough signatures would put on hold the July 1 shop closures. Skitt said the council is expected to consider extending the moratorium in case the ban is successfully challenged.
"There are many people in town who need the medicine," Morin said, adding that a ban could send some patients to illegally acquiring marijuana. "This is not a game like the City Council is trying to show."
The Longmont City Council unanimously adopted the ban last month, but delayed any decisions regarding regulation of "home grows" for medical marijuana patients and caregivers.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: timescall.com
Author: Pierrette J. Shields
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Media News group
Website: Longmont dispensaries seek referendum on ban
The Longmont City Council on May 24 adopted the ban. A moratorium dating back to October 2009 kept new dispensaries from setting up within the city limits, but the ban calls for the closure of existing dispensaries by July 1.
Henri Morin, owner of Colorado Patients First, said the ban means more than stopping patients from local access to medical pot. He said it will cost the city tax revenues and jobs.
He said a grass-roots group of volunteers should be fully organized and canvassing neighborhoods and camping out in front of grocery stores by week's end to collect the 5,315 signatures of registered Longmont voters needed to get the referendum on the Nov. 1 city ballot. Morin said petitions also are available at dispensaries, including his own.
Longmont City Clerk Valeria Skitt said the number of signatures needed for the referendum represents 10 percent of voters who cast ballots in the last regular election.
To get the referendum on the ballot, the petition must be turned in to the Longmont City Clerk's Office by June 27, or 30 days from the date the council's ban was published. Skitt said her office then has 15 days to verify the validity of the signatures.
Morin said the council was deaf to calls to put the question to voters in the first place.
"They did not want to do it because they are in a city where (a majority) of the people want the shops to stay," he said.
Skitt said she has worked for the city for 20 years and in that time a referendum has never made it to the ballot, although citizen initiatives have been taken to voters. A referendum asks the electorate to review a decision already made by a legislative body, while an initiative can force a public vote on a proposed law or ordinance.
Morin noted that collecting enough signatures would put on hold the July 1 shop closures. Skitt said the council is expected to consider extending the moratorium in case the ban is successfully challenged.
"There are many people in town who need the medicine," Morin said, adding that a ban could send some patients to illegally acquiring marijuana. "This is not a game like the City Council is trying to show."
The Longmont City Council unanimously adopted the ban last month, but delayed any decisions regarding regulation of "home grows" for medical marijuana patients and caregivers.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: timescall.com
Author: Pierrette J. Shields
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Media News group
Website: Longmont dispensaries seek referendum on ban
