DENVER - Bud is big business in Colorado. Medical marijuana may be the fastest-growing industry here.
And this week, the issue will come to a head in at least two metro cities.
Westminster will try to ban the businesses on Monday night. While on Wednesday, Denver will try to establish new laws regulating stores that sell pot.
It's this government intrusion that has patients of medicinal marijuana worried. They met Sunday at a cannabis holiday health fair in Denver. And joining them were two unlikely participants - lawmakers who are spearheading medical marijuana legislation.
"There has to be some standards. There no standards. This is the fastest-growing business in our city and we need to regulate it," says Denver city Councilman Charlie Brown.
He says Denver is considering: regulating how close dispensaries are to each other; banning on-site use; setting hours of operation; requiring dispensaries to have alarms, safes, and surveillance cameras that store captured video at different locations; annual fees and criminal background checks.
State Senator Chris Romer has also introduced a 62-page bill at the state legislature.
"I am going to shut down anybody who believes solely in a retail model, where they just got a couple of pots in a jar, and a lease, and they really have no intent of providing real care giving to their patients," he says.
Romer wants dispensaries to also provide real health care and plans for their sick and vulnerable patients.
"My concern is that the regulations are going to amount to strangulation. I'm against that. Patients are against that and Colorado voters are against that," says criminal attorney Rob Corry.
Corry says some of those proposed laws are illegal.
"Colorado voters created a Constitutional right to marijuana. So it is not a privilege. It is not like alcohol. It is a Constitutional right. It is a medicine. And there are people's lives that depend on this medicine," he says.
People like Anthony Joseph Marquez II, of Arvada, who has a brain tumor.
"Without marijuana as my medication, I am not functional as human. It would take one-and-a-half minutes to walk up 12 stairs," says Marquez.
"That's who I'm fighting for," says Romer.
It is helping these sick people - in which all sides can agree--but how they do that, is still hazy.
"We want the government off our backs so we can help sick people," says Corry.
If Denver's public safety panel approves new dispensary rules Wednesday, there will be a public hearing in January and then a city council vote.
Lawmakers say there are between 200 to 300 dispensaries statewide. But no one knows for sure because they're not regulated.
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: KDVR Denver
Author: Tammy Vigil
Contact: FOX 31 Denver - KDVR
Copyright: 2009, KDVR-TV
Website:Medical pot sellers facing new regulations proposed by lawmakers - KDVR
And this week, the issue will come to a head in at least two metro cities.
Westminster will try to ban the businesses on Monday night. While on Wednesday, Denver will try to establish new laws regulating stores that sell pot.
It's this government intrusion that has patients of medicinal marijuana worried. They met Sunday at a cannabis holiday health fair in Denver. And joining them were two unlikely participants - lawmakers who are spearheading medical marijuana legislation.
"There has to be some standards. There no standards. This is the fastest-growing business in our city and we need to regulate it," says Denver city Councilman Charlie Brown.
He says Denver is considering: regulating how close dispensaries are to each other; banning on-site use; setting hours of operation; requiring dispensaries to have alarms, safes, and surveillance cameras that store captured video at different locations; annual fees and criminal background checks.
State Senator Chris Romer has also introduced a 62-page bill at the state legislature.
"I am going to shut down anybody who believes solely in a retail model, where they just got a couple of pots in a jar, and a lease, and they really have no intent of providing real care giving to their patients," he says.
Romer wants dispensaries to also provide real health care and plans for their sick and vulnerable patients.
"My concern is that the regulations are going to amount to strangulation. I'm against that. Patients are against that and Colorado voters are against that," says criminal attorney Rob Corry.
Corry says some of those proposed laws are illegal.
"Colorado voters created a Constitutional right to marijuana. So it is not a privilege. It is not like alcohol. It is a Constitutional right. It is a medicine. And there are people's lives that depend on this medicine," he says.
People like Anthony Joseph Marquez II, of Arvada, who has a brain tumor.
"Without marijuana as my medication, I am not functional as human. It would take one-and-a-half minutes to walk up 12 stairs," says Marquez.
"That's who I'm fighting for," says Romer.
It is helping these sick people - in which all sides can agree--but how they do that, is still hazy.
"We want the government off our backs so we can help sick people," says Corry.
If Denver's public safety panel approves new dispensary rules Wednesday, there will be a public hearing in January and then a city council vote.
Lawmakers say there are between 200 to 300 dispensaries statewide. But no one knows for sure because they're not regulated.
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: KDVR Denver
Author: Tammy Vigil
Contact: FOX 31 Denver - KDVR
Copyright: 2009, KDVR-TV
Website:Medical pot sellers facing new regulations proposed by lawmakers - KDVR
