NOREEN: Medicinal pot blossoms in Springs
Don’t look now, but Colorado Springs is progressively out in front of most of the state on medicinal marijuana.
This week the City Council signaled its general approval of an ad hoc panel’s effort to write regulations for the nascent medicinal marijuana industry, including dispensaries where it is being sold. There are many medicinal pot stores now; no one knows exactly how many, and more are being planned.
On Monday the council gave a conditional nod to the stores, agreeing that annual business fees, security measures and limits on hours of operation. Whether all the operations will be allowed in residential zones has yet to be decided and the council still wants to hear from neighborhood groups and the district attorney, the police and the city attorney’s office. On Feb.1, the Colorado Senate approved a bill that would allow pot stores but would tighten doctor-patient guidelines.
While most local governments await the Legislature’s action, Colorado Springs is going ahead — aware that no matter what the General Assembly approves, local governments still will have plenty to do. The Statehouse is not going to resolve all local issues, and we don’t want it to, either.
Councilmen Sean Paige and Tom Gallagher have led the city on this issue.
“We’re a city that has engaged the community, brought them in,” Paige said. “We can be a leader in Colorado in doing it the right way.”
When the Colorado Senate approved the medicinal pot bill, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers wrote an open letter to the General Assembly, (see my blog) withdrawing his support. Suthers wrote that Amendment 20, which provides for medicinal marijuana, does “not allow for the commercial sale of marijuana and certainly did not provide for commercial dispensaries or clinics.”
It’s been popular for some to make the point that the amendment never mentions dispensaries. But the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms, contains no mention of gun stores or shooting ranges, which are the natural result of gun rights.
We won’t hold our collective breath waiting for Suthers to argue for the closure of gun stores, will we?
Councilman Darryl Glenn wants a moratorium on new dispensaries. That’s the wrong (and probably unconstitutional) approach.
When there are regulations, the marketplace will decide how many of the stores can make it, just as it did with casinos in the 1990s.
Colorado Springs is trying to address this mess the right way. Any ordinance probably will have to be amended later.
Then we can discuss full-blown legalization of pot — but that is a column for another day.
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