Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jul 2013
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Erica Meltzer, Daily Camera
Page: 2A

MAN HOPING TO PLANT SEED FOR A POT FARMERS MARKET

Mulling Street-Legal Marijuana in Boulder

A Denver-based marijuana entrepreneur wants to start a specialized
farmers market for pot in Boulder, but the proposal faces significant
legal and political hurdles.

Justin Hartfield, CEO of weedmaps.com and managing partner of Ghost
Group, a marijuana venture capital group, sees the potential in giving
vendors access to consumers and consumers a greater level of choice.

He said the Boulder County Farmers' Market is a model for similar
institutions around the country, and an organic cannabis farmers
market would build on that tradition. "It would be the perfect place
to have a proposal go through," he said.

Hartfield said he's trying to get a sense of how Boulder politicians
and planning officials would view such a proposal.

Daria Serna, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Revenue, which
oversees marijuana regulation, said state law defines premises in such
a way that licensing a farmers market would be challenging.

"We're going to get a lot of different proposals about what retail
marijuana might look like, and we can't say this is possible or that
is possible without a specific proposal," she said.

Boulder attorney Jeff Gard, who represents many marijuana businesses,
was blunt. "There's not going to be a farmers market. You're not going
to be able to buy weed off the street. That's drug dealing. They've
made a very clear distinction (in state law)."

If the supporters of the idea make a formal proposal, it could become
part of the discussion as the city develops its retail marijuana
regulations, said David Driskell, the city's community planning director.

"It's an interesting idea, but we haven't even started looking at
retail sales regulations," he said.

That discussion is expected to pick up later this fall.
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MAP posted-by: Matt