Pubdate: Sun, 28 Feb 2010
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2010 Summit Daily News
Contact: http://apps.summitdaily.com/forms/letter/index.php
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/587
Note: from the Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

KEY DEADLINE PASSES FOR POT DISPENSARIES LICENSES

DENVER - The deadline has come for Denver medical marijuana
dispensaries to apply for an operating license without an interruption
to their businesses, and city officials say the number is lower than
expected.

But the 235 applications received by Friday are still more than the
number of liquor stores in Denver. However, the number of applications
submitted is significantly lower than the nearly 500 sales tax
licenses issued to Denver dispensaries by the first week of February.

The City Council passed an ordinance this year requiring dispensaries
to get an operating license. The license application includes a
background check, onsite inspection and $5,000 in fees. The operating
license is separate from the sales-tax license.

Dispensary owners had to submit an application by Friday to continue
operating while they waited for their license. Applications are still
being accepted but those dispensaries will have to close while the
licensing process is pending.

The costs may have been too expensive and the requirements too onerous
for some dispensaries, said Rob Corry, an attorney who specializes in
medical marijuana law. One dispensary owner who did apply for a
license said the rules may have spooked some businesses.

"It really makes people choose between, 'Do I really want to be legal
or do I want to go back underground?"' said Andy Cookston, owner of
Cannabis Medical Technology.

Other dispensaries may have just misunderstood what was required of
them, and what the deadline was, said Jeff Gard, another medical
marijuana attorney.

Colorado lawmakers are also considering proposals to regulate the new
industry. One proposal would convert dispensaries to nonprofit
marijuana centers licensed by a state authority.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D