Pubdate: Mon, 08 Feb 2010
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2010 Associated Press
Contact: http://apps.summitdaily.com/forms/letter/index.php
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/587
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/Topic/Dispensary

DENVER MEDICAL POT DISPENSARIES APPLY FOR LICENSES

DENVER (AP) - Medical marijuana dispensary owners lined up before 
7:30 a.m. Monday to apply for operating licenses.

Penny May, Denver's director of excise and licenses, said her office 
had processed 22 licenses by 11:30 a.m., with many more to go. May 
said as of a week ago, 477 sales tax licenses had been issued to 
medical marijuana dispensaries in Denver.

The application includes a background check with fingerprinting. 
Owners pay a $2,000 application fee, the cost of the background 
checks and a $3,000 annual license fee, and must not have have been 
convicted of a felony or served a felony sentence in the last five 
years. If the application is denied, the $3,000 license fee will be refunded.

Any person who manages or owns at least a 10 percent share of a 
dispensary must apply for the license in accordance with a City 
Council ordinance passed last month. All medical marijuana 
dispensaries in Denver must submit applications by March 1 to 
continue operating legally.

Olga Skuratovich, who owns the Metro Cannibis dispensary, said she 
thinks the fees are a little high. For comparison, it costs about 
$3,000 to $4,000 to obtain an alcohol license in Denver.

"I think a lot of people who are just starting out and who don't have 
really a lot of financial freedom are not going to be able to be in 
this business because of the cost," she said.

According to the ordinance, only those dispensaries that have been 
operating since before Dec. 15 and apply for a license by March 1 
will be allowed to operate in a residential area or within a 
1,000-foot vicinity of a school, child care establishment or other 
medical marijuana dispensary.

The ordinance also sets minimum requirements for security at the 
dispensaries and requires a floor plan to comply with other recent regulations.

"The regulations change daily, really, so you never know what to 
expect," Skuratovich said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom