Pubdate: Wed, 12 Aug 2009
Source: Aspen Times (CO)
Copyright: 2009 Aspen Times
Contact:  http://www.aspentimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3784
Author: Scott Condon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries

BASALT COUNCIL GUARDS AGAINST REEFER MADNESS

BASALT -- The Basalt Town Council took emergency action  Tuesday 
night to guard the town against receiving a  flood of applications 
for medical marijuana  dispensaries.

The council approved a 90-day moratorium on new pot  dispensaries to 
buy time for its planning staff to work  on regulations governing 
such facilities. A dispensary  was already approved for the WIN 
Health Institute, an  alternative health care cooperative on Valley 
Road. That dispensary was expected to open this week and will  not be 
affected by the council's action.

The council also approved first readings of two  ordinances which 
dictate where dispensaries can open  and rules of operation. Planning 
director Susan Philp  said the ordinances were crafted quickly, so 
she requested the moratorium to provide time for additional  research 
and possible refinements. The ordinances will  be finalized in a 
second reading at a later date.

One major component of the rules are that the pot  dispensaries must 
be located at or near medical  facilities.

Councilman Chris Seldin stressed that the council was  not endorsing 
medical marijuana dispensaries or  addressing the use of pot by 
voting on the proposed  ordinances. "We are not entering into the 
debate about  the legality of marijuana or its use whatsoever," he  said.

As an attorney who is sworn to uphold the law, Seldin  abstained from 
voting on the moratorium and the  ordinances. The moratorium and 
draft ordinances were  approved 5-0 by the council, with Councilwoman 
Amy Capron absent.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom