Pubdate: Thu, 26 Aug 2010
Source: Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)
Copyright: 2010 The Gazette
Contact: http://www.gazette.com/sections/opinion/submitletter/
Website: http://www.gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/165
Author: Eileen Welsome

MEDICAL MARIJUANA BAN ON BALLOT

County Commissioners Put Medical Pot Ban On Ballot

El Paso County residents will get to vote in November whether medical 
marijuana dispensaries, grow operations and manufacturers of 
marijuana-infused products should be banned in unincorporated areas.

After a lengthy discussion and more public testimony, the 
commissioners voted 4-1 Thursday to place the question to the ballot.

"This is an issue that goes to the heart of legalized marijuana in El 
Paso County," said Commissioner Amy Lathen. "I support going to the 
people and abiding by their will in this matter."

Commissioner Jim Bensberg cast the lone dissenting vote, saying that 
county commissioners should decide the issue.

"It won't affect my life one bit if we ban marijuana," he said. "But 
we ought to have the political courage to decide this issue in one 
way or another."

In an unusual twist, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa spoke in 
support of grandfathering in the existing 76 businesses.

Having spent most of his career putting drug dealers in jail, Maketa 
acknowledged that he found himself in an "odd" position by advocating 
for existing marijuana businesses.

"I think there needs to be fairness here. Individuals who have made 
investments should not be lumped with those who sell marijuana out 
the back door."

Maketa was also concerned that a ban would push the county's 
marijuana businesses, now mostly located in business parks, into 
neighborhoods and create greater difficulties for law enforcement.

"I hate to hear myself say this, but it could create a bigger problem 
and more unintended consequences," Maketa said.

Commissioner Sallie Clark, who has seen an explosion of medical 
marijuana facilities in her west-side district, also supported a 
grandfather clause.

"If we put something on the ballot that doesn't allow the grandfather 
provision, we'll push these dispensaries into the cities," she said.

Clark introduced a substitute motion that would have added the 
grandfather clause to the ballot question, but the vote was 4 to 1 against her.

Commissioner Wayne Williams, who sided with Lathen on the issue, said 
he had done a lot of research on the question, including field visits 
to some "professional and not so professional" facilities.

Williams said operators of dispensaries and grow operations had been 
warned last December when the county adopted land-use regulations 
that there were no guarantees that they would be allowed to remain open.

If voters approve the ban, medical marijuana facilities in the 
unincorporated parts of the county will have until May 31, 2011, to close shop.

Williams said that date was selected in the event that a similar ban 
gets on the city ballot next April.

"We don't want someone to have to move their business twice," he explained.

Medical Marijuana Ballot Question

"Shall medical marijuana centers, medical marijuana-infused products 
manufacturers, and optional premises cultivation operations be 
prohibited in unincorporated El Paso County, and shall medical 
marijuana land uses legally existing under the El Paso County land 
development code be required to cease operation on or before May 31, 
2011, leaving intact the constitutional protection for medical 
marijuana patients and primary caregivers provided by Article XVIII, 
Section 14, of the Colorado Constitution?
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart