MedicalNeed
New Member
LOVELAND - While the Loveland City Council voted Tuesday on official ballot language to put the issue of medical marijuana dispensaries in voters' hands, shop owners were busy drafting suggested regulations and making their way to shops around town to help tame some of the more outrageous slogans and signs on dispensaries.
During Tuesday's meeting, the council unanimously approved official language to place the issue on the Nov. 2 ballot.
After some discussion, the ballot question was finally worded so that a "yes" vote means the voter wishes to allow the city to permit and license the dispensaries.
A "no" vote means voters want to ban the licensing of dispensaries within the city.
The Loveland Association for Wellness, or LAW, a recently developed group headed by members of the medical marijuana business community, met with two City Council members last week and decided to start developing rules for shops that could take effect sooner than Nov. 2, when Lovelanders will decide if they want the shops in town at all.
Councilwoman Cathleen McEwen said Tuesday that LAW group members she met were very willing to work with the council to create laws that would eliminate some of the less-favorable advertisements and decorations on some shops in town.
"They have a desire to stay in business, and I think that they realize that in order to do that, they have to treat it like a bona fide business," McEwen said.
Large images of marijuana leaves and references to getting high or stoned need to go, she said.
During a July 20 City Council meeting, many medical marijuana shop owners and proponents nodded their heads when council members mentioned creating some regulations for the businesses that would take effect quickly.
"What we're trying to do is address some of these needs in the immediate," McEwen said Tuesday morning.
Eric Aragon, who is helping organize the movement, said regulation proponents made their way around the city Tuesday, asking businesses with offensive or over-the-top signage to take it down.
LAW planned to meet this week to create a resolution that it will later present to the City Council.
Some of the LAW members McEwen and council member Joan Shaffer met with last week said they already had begun working to create and implement some regulations on shops.
Whatever ideas the group comes up with will most likely be made stricter after council looks over them, McEwen said.
"They're doing well without us having to get heavy-handed," McEwen said. "There seems to be some middle ground that we've reached."
McEwen said she thinks the current agreement and balance between the shops and the city will eliminate any concerns the public might have about the shops and their operations.
At her meeting with LAW members, McEwen brought a copy of Fort Collins' medical marijuana charter to help LAW draft some guidelines and have an idea of what kind of specificity would be needed in an agreement between the businesses and the city.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source:Coloradoan.com
Author: MARIA SCHMITT
Contact: coloradoan.com | Fort Collins Contact Us | The Coloradoan
Copyright:2010 The Coloradoan
Website:Loveland council OKs medical marijuana ballot language | coloradoan.com | The Coloradoan
During Tuesday's meeting, the council unanimously approved official language to place the issue on the Nov. 2 ballot.
After some discussion, the ballot question was finally worded so that a "yes" vote means the voter wishes to allow the city to permit and license the dispensaries.
A "no" vote means voters want to ban the licensing of dispensaries within the city.
The Loveland Association for Wellness, or LAW, a recently developed group headed by members of the medical marijuana business community, met with two City Council members last week and decided to start developing rules for shops that could take effect sooner than Nov. 2, when Lovelanders will decide if they want the shops in town at all.
Councilwoman Cathleen McEwen said Tuesday that LAW group members she met were very willing to work with the council to create laws that would eliminate some of the less-favorable advertisements and decorations on some shops in town.
"They have a desire to stay in business, and I think that they realize that in order to do that, they have to treat it like a bona fide business," McEwen said.
Large images of marijuana leaves and references to getting high or stoned need to go, she said.
During a July 20 City Council meeting, many medical marijuana shop owners and proponents nodded their heads when council members mentioned creating some regulations for the businesses that would take effect quickly.
"What we're trying to do is address some of these needs in the immediate," McEwen said Tuesday morning.
Eric Aragon, who is helping organize the movement, said regulation proponents made their way around the city Tuesday, asking businesses with offensive or over-the-top signage to take it down.
LAW planned to meet this week to create a resolution that it will later present to the City Council.
Some of the LAW members McEwen and council member Joan Shaffer met with last week said they already had begun working to create and implement some regulations on shops.
Whatever ideas the group comes up with will most likely be made stricter after council looks over them, McEwen said.
"They're doing well without us having to get heavy-handed," McEwen said. "There seems to be some middle ground that we've reached."
McEwen said she thinks the current agreement and balance between the shops and the city will eliminate any concerns the public might have about the shops and their operations.
At her meeting with LAW members, McEwen brought a copy of Fort Collins' medical marijuana charter to help LAW draft some guidelines and have an idea of what kind of specificity would be needed in an agreement between the businesses and the city.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source:Coloradoan.com
Author: MARIA SCHMITT
Contact: coloradoan.com | Fort Collins Contact Us | The Coloradoan
Copyright:2010 The Coloradoan
Website:Loveland council OKs medical marijuana ballot language | coloradoan.com | The Coloradoan
