DENVER - The bill to regulate medical marijuana shops has passed the Senate.
The 26-9 vote Thursday sends House Bill 1284 back to the House to approve Senate changes. After that, it will head to Gov. Bill Ritter to be signed into law. Sen. Bruce Whitehead, D-Hesperus, voted yes.
The bill sets up a state and local licensing system for medical marijuana dispensaries. It would allow cities and counties to ban the shops.
Even some of the senators who voted yes sounded uncomfortable with the tight regulations.
"This bill is not a medical model, and I think we should have looked at a medical model. This bill is for law-enforcement authorities," said Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, who voted yes.
The sponsor, Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, lauded the bipartisan effort to deal with marijuana shops, which sprang up in the last year.
The bill will "put a little toothpaste back in the tube, because it definitely has come out," Romer said.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The Durango Herald
Author: Joe Hanel
Copyright: 2010 The Durango Herald
The 26-9 vote Thursday sends House Bill 1284 back to the House to approve Senate changes. After that, it will head to Gov. Bill Ritter to be signed into law. Sen. Bruce Whitehead, D-Hesperus, voted yes.
The bill sets up a state and local licensing system for medical marijuana dispensaries. It would allow cities and counties to ban the shops.
Even some of the senators who voted yes sounded uncomfortable with the tight regulations.
"This bill is not a medical model, and I think we should have looked at a medical model. This bill is for law-enforcement authorities," said Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, who voted yes.
The sponsor, Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, lauded the bipartisan effort to deal with marijuana shops, which sprang up in the last year.
The bill will "put a little toothpaste back in the tube, because it definitely has come out," Romer said.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: The Durango Herald
Author: Joe Hanel
Copyright: 2010 The Durango Herald
