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City leaders Tuesday night gave strong support to a future that includes recreational marijuana shops, citing overwhelming voter approval in Louisville for Amendment 64.
The Louisville City Council decided against pursuing a moratorium on pot businesses -- as most neighboring municipalities have done -- except when it comes to the establishment of controversial marijuana "clubs."
Council members asked the staff to draw up a temporary ban on clubs until the state Legislature hammers out a bill for dealing with all aspects of Colorado's nascent legal marijuana environment. The council also agreed that it would hold off on creating local rules until the state has issued its regulations, expected sometime this summer.
"The clubs, to me, are public in nature, and their intent is very different from Amendment 64 and how I interpret it," Councilwoman Emily Jasiak said. "But where we sit listening to our constituents, I would say we move forward with regulatory action."
Amendment 64, passed by Colorado voters in November, makes it legal for adults in the state to possess and use small amounts of marijuana and to grow half a dozen plants. Louisville residents voted in favor of the amendment 63 to 37 percent.
The council recognized the lopsided vote of the people on the issue throughout the evening Tuesday. Both Mayor Pro Tem Hank Dalton and Councilman Jay Keany said that any distance buffers that might be established between pot shops and schools or daycare centers should mirror state regulations, rather than the city setting more restrictive buffers as it did with medical marijuana dispensaries.
Several members of the council expressed concerns about whether the city should permit the grow operations or testing and manufacturing facilities that Amendment 64 allows. Louisville does not now permit such facilities under its regulations for medical marijuana.
Police Chief Bruce Goodman said welcoming marijuana's industrial side to town could attract criminals who see warehouses full of valuable pot plants and edibles as potential gold mines.
"It's a target for crime," he said. "I'd be concerned about it."
Louisville has two medical marijuana dispensaries, both of which would likely convert their current licenses into ones that would allow them to sell recreational pot.
Shaun Gindi, owner of Compassionate Pain Management in the Colony Square Shopping Center, said not allowing businesses like his to convert to a retail pot use would put him at a competitive disadvantage to shops that open in nearby towns and cities that allow them.
"Someone doesn't have to be on a (medical marijuana) list with the state, someone doesn't have to go to a doctor first," he said of the disadvantages to buying pot as a patient. "They're going to go somewhere else."
And banning retail marijuana stores, Gindi said, would simply have the effect of keeping the black market for the drug alive and well in the city.
Much of Tuesday's discussion centered on marijuana clubs and what the city should do about them. City Attorney Sam Light said recent headlines about clubs have brought up salient legal disputes over what constitutes private consumption, which is protected by Amendment 64, and public consumption, which isn't.
"You can have a private activity that is infused with a public presence," he said. "I think the operators feel they found a loophole where they can create a space where people can gather privately."
Lafayette was sued earlier this month by the owner of The Front Tea & Art Shop after the city passed an ordinance placing a moratorium on the use of marijuana inside businesses. The shop used to invite people to consume their own cannabis inside the shop during the evenings, and its owner claimed the activity is protected under Amendment 64.
The shop has since shut down.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: dailycamera.com
Author: John Aguilar
Contact: Contact Us - Boulder Daily Camera
Website: Louisville comfortable with recreational pot shops in its future - Boulder Daily Camera
The Louisville City Council decided against pursuing a moratorium on pot businesses -- as most neighboring municipalities have done -- except when it comes to the establishment of controversial marijuana "clubs."
Council members asked the staff to draw up a temporary ban on clubs until the state Legislature hammers out a bill for dealing with all aspects of Colorado's nascent legal marijuana environment. The council also agreed that it would hold off on creating local rules until the state has issued its regulations, expected sometime this summer.
"The clubs, to me, are public in nature, and their intent is very different from Amendment 64 and how I interpret it," Councilwoman Emily Jasiak said. "But where we sit listening to our constituents, I would say we move forward with regulatory action."
Amendment 64, passed by Colorado voters in November, makes it legal for adults in the state to possess and use small amounts of marijuana and to grow half a dozen plants. Louisville residents voted in favor of the amendment 63 to 37 percent.
The council recognized the lopsided vote of the people on the issue throughout the evening Tuesday. Both Mayor Pro Tem Hank Dalton and Councilman Jay Keany said that any distance buffers that might be established between pot shops and schools or daycare centers should mirror state regulations, rather than the city setting more restrictive buffers as it did with medical marijuana dispensaries.
Several members of the council expressed concerns about whether the city should permit the grow operations or testing and manufacturing facilities that Amendment 64 allows. Louisville does not now permit such facilities under its regulations for medical marijuana.
Police Chief Bruce Goodman said welcoming marijuana's industrial side to town could attract criminals who see warehouses full of valuable pot plants and edibles as potential gold mines.
"It's a target for crime," he said. "I'd be concerned about it."
Louisville has two medical marijuana dispensaries, both of which would likely convert their current licenses into ones that would allow them to sell recreational pot.
Shaun Gindi, owner of Compassionate Pain Management in the Colony Square Shopping Center, said not allowing businesses like his to convert to a retail pot use would put him at a competitive disadvantage to shops that open in nearby towns and cities that allow them.
"Someone doesn't have to be on a (medical marijuana) list with the state, someone doesn't have to go to a doctor first," he said of the disadvantages to buying pot as a patient. "They're going to go somewhere else."
And banning retail marijuana stores, Gindi said, would simply have the effect of keeping the black market for the drug alive and well in the city.
Much of Tuesday's discussion centered on marijuana clubs and what the city should do about them. City Attorney Sam Light said recent headlines about clubs have brought up salient legal disputes over what constitutes private consumption, which is protected by Amendment 64, and public consumption, which isn't.
"You can have a private activity that is infused with a public presence," he said. "I think the operators feel they found a loophole where they can create a space where people can gather privately."
Lafayette was sued earlier this month by the owner of The Front Tea & Art Shop after the city passed an ordinance placing a moratorium on the use of marijuana inside businesses. The shop used to invite people to consume their own cannabis inside the shop during the evenings, and its owner claimed the activity is protected under Amendment 64.
The shop has since shut down.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: dailycamera.com
Author: John Aguilar
Contact: Contact Us - Boulder Daily Camera
Website: Louisville comfortable with recreational pot shops in its future - Boulder Daily Camera
