Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 2010
Source: Daily Times-Call, The (Longmont, CO)
Copyright: 2010, The Daily Times-Call
Contact:  http://www.timescall.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1475
Author: Scott Rochat

PRO-POT CROWD MEETS IN LONGMONT

LONGMONT -- There were T-shirts, vendors, live music.  In that
respect, it could have been like a thousand  other events at the
Radisson Conference Center.

Of course, those thousand other events might not have  been promoting
the use of medical marijuana.

"Free un-medicated cookie samples," one booth's sign
proclaimed.

"Run THC," a T-shirt displayed, thrown slightly into  shadow by a
purple grow light in the next booth over.

"Get your medical marijuana license today," read  another sign, this
one for Mile High Meds.

Sunday marked the first-ever Colorado Medical Marijuana  Festival,
billed as "celebrating the sacred herb." For  patients with their
paperwork in order -- marked among  the crowd by their pink wristbands
- -- that celebration  could include acquiring medical marijuana, but
not  consuming it. Not until they left the property, anyway.

"You can't smoke on the premises, man," a security  guard advised one
patient checking in. "I haven't heard  anything about medicating on
the premises."

It took about seven months for organizers to set up the  event,
including permissions from the Boulder County  Drug Task Force. The
convention might have been  impossible even a few years ago, organizer
Sean Bookman  acknowledged, and still would be unthinkable in many
parts of the nation.

"The whole industry is pretty fresh," Bookman said. "We  had to jump
in when we saw the opportunity."

It's an opportunity that's facing uncertain times.  Several Colorado
cities, including Longmont, have  placed a moratorium on new
dispensaries. A new state  law(HB 1284) waiting for Gov. Bill Ritter's
signature  would set up a licensing authority and allow cities and
towns to ban dispensaries entirely.

Several dispensary owners had lobbied for some sort of  regulation,
but some now fear the current bill will  shut most dispensaries down.

"I think there's people that see a gold mine in it,"  said Dan
Kastanek of MariTrust, a Denver dispensary  that opened its doors
April 20. "Regulations need to be  made, but it's unclear if they need
to be so  stringent."

Eulalio Rodriguez Jr., one of the day's speakers, said  dispensaries
should face similar rules as liquor stores  or bars -- no sales to
minors, no operating near a  school or church, and so on.

"We need real regulations, not hypotheticals," he said.  "All that tax
revenue is going to go back into the  community. We may have the
majority of cardholders in  Boulder -- why not capitalize on it?"

Others were capitalizing in different ways. On the main  convention
floor (separated from the patients-only  room), one could find pipes,
bowls, stickers, even  security systems. One booth even promoted a
candidate  for Congress.

At its heart, Bookman said, the event was meant to be
educational.

"This is not a 'pot rally' or a 'pot festival,'" he  said. "This is an
event for patients, for the industry  and for people in general to
come together." 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D