Jacob Bell
New Member
LONGMONT, CO – A petition to end the city's ban on medical marijuana businesses fell well short on Tuesday, meaning there will be no referendum this November.
City Clerk Valeria Skitt reported Tuesday evening that only 2,040 of the petition's 6,180 signatures could be validated. At least 5,315 had to get the clerk's OK to put the issue on the ballot.
Skitt said some of the signatures were crossed off because a notary failed to either sign or date the affected pages, but that a large number were simply not from eligible local voters.
"Even if I had counted all signatures from qualified electors on all petition sections, the total number of validated signatures would have reached only 3,129, which is still significantly short of the 5,315 required," Skitt said in her statement of insufficiency.
Representatives of the city's dispensaries turned in the petition July 13. The clerk's office had until July 28 to either certify or reject the petition.
State law allowed cities to either regulate or ban medical marijuana-related businesses – such as dispensaries and grow operations – so long as they did so by July 1. After that, any cities that had not taken those steps would come under the state's regulatory rules.
The Longmont City Council voted in May to ban those businesses, effective July 1. The ban was suspended during the petition drive and would have remained in limbo if the ban had gone to the voters.
Marijuana use and possession by patients and their caregivers remains permissable under Amendment 20 of the Colorado Constitution. Federal laws against marijuana remain on the books, but in 2009, federal authorities said that card-carrying patients would not be a priority for drug enforcement. In a letter this year, U.S. Attorney John Walsh said federal authorities would still enforce laws against making, distributing and marketing marijuana, even in states where its medical use is permitted.
Of the city's seven dispensaries, five would be closed by a ban. A sixth, The Blueberry Twist, had already closed before the petition was submitted while a seventh, Nature's Medicine, has moved outside Longmont city limits and renamed itself Green Tree Medicinals.
Four dispensaries – Blueberry Twist, Colorado Patients First, The Longmont Apothecary and New Age Wellness – had planned a lawsuit prior to the ban's suspension. It is not yet known whether the suit will resume. The state's medical marijuana regulations are already being challenged in court.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: timescall.com
Author: Scott Rochat
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Media News group
Website: Petition drive to save Longmont medical marijuana dispensaries fails
City Clerk Valeria Skitt reported Tuesday evening that only 2,040 of the petition's 6,180 signatures could be validated. At least 5,315 had to get the clerk's OK to put the issue on the ballot.
Skitt said some of the signatures were crossed off because a notary failed to either sign or date the affected pages, but that a large number were simply not from eligible local voters.
"Even if I had counted all signatures from qualified electors on all petition sections, the total number of validated signatures would have reached only 3,129, which is still significantly short of the 5,315 required," Skitt said in her statement of insufficiency.
Representatives of the city's dispensaries turned in the petition July 13. The clerk's office had until July 28 to either certify or reject the petition.
State law allowed cities to either regulate or ban medical marijuana-related businesses – such as dispensaries and grow operations – so long as they did so by July 1. After that, any cities that had not taken those steps would come under the state's regulatory rules.
The Longmont City Council voted in May to ban those businesses, effective July 1. The ban was suspended during the petition drive and would have remained in limbo if the ban had gone to the voters.
Marijuana use and possession by patients and their caregivers remains permissable under Amendment 20 of the Colorado Constitution. Federal laws against marijuana remain on the books, but in 2009, federal authorities said that card-carrying patients would not be a priority for drug enforcement. In a letter this year, U.S. Attorney John Walsh said federal authorities would still enforce laws against making, distributing and marketing marijuana, even in states where its medical use is permitted.
Of the city's seven dispensaries, five would be closed by a ban. A sixth, The Blueberry Twist, had already closed before the petition was submitted while a seventh, Nature's Medicine, has moved outside Longmont city limits and renamed itself Green Tree Medicinals.
Four dispensaries – Blueberry Twist, Colorado Patients First, The Longmont Apothecary and New Age Wellness – had planned a lawsuit prior to the ban's suspension. It is not yet known whether the suit will resume. The state's medical marijuana regulations are already being challenged in court.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: timescall.com
Author: Scott Rochat
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Media News group
Website: Petition drive to save Longmont medical marijuana dispensaries fails
