Pubdate: Wed, 13 Nov 2013
Source: Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Daily Camera.
Contact:  http://www.dailycamera.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/103
Author: Erica Meltzer

BOULDER COUNCIL CLEARS WAY FOR POT SALES IN EARLY 2014

Consultant: Test of New Ordinance Will Be How Many Medical Businesses 
Convert

Boulder-area customers should be able to buy recreational marijuana
starting early next year -- perhaps as soon as January, but more
likely in February -- under an expedited process worked out by city
officials in response to industry concerns.

The date when the city intends to accept applications for conversions
from existing medical marijuana businesses has gone from June to
January to March and now back to January. During the contentious
process in recent weeks, city officials said they needed more time to
manage the conversions, and business owners said they would lose
customers -- perhaps permanently -- to Denver and to the black market
if they were not allowed to convert.

Under regulations adopted unanimously by the Boulder City Council on
Tuesday night, the city will accept requests for conversions starting
Jan. 2.

The city says it will hire a deputy licensing clerk and a marijuana
coordinator to expedite the processing of applications.

If a medical marijuana business is keeping the same ownership and
management, it should be able to get a recreational marijuana license
from the city after a short meeting to make sure all the paperwork is
in order.

However, those businesses will only be able to open to the general
public if they also have a state license. So far, Boulder businesses
have not been able to apply for state licenses because the city has a
moratorium in place.

Kathy Haddock, Boulder's senior deputy city attorney, said she spoke
Tuesday to state officials and believes the state will start
processing license applications from Boulder businesses now that the
City Council has said it intends to issue local licenses.

But Shawn Coleman, a consultant for the marijuana industry, said the
state could take up to 90 days to process licenses, pushing the
opening of Boulder marijuana businesses into February.

Businesses that want to "co-locate" a medical and a recreational
business in the same location could apply for conversion Jan. 21, and
if the co-location involves an expansion, they can apply Feb. 3.

That process will take longer because it will involve renovations to
create physically distinct businesses within the same location and
require building permits and inspections.

Many business owners asked the city to allow "virtual separation" with
no customers younger than 21 allowed on the premises, but the City
Council did not agree.

Recreational marijuana will be subject to much higher taxes, and
customers 21 and older can buy up to 1 ounce at a time.

Medical marijuana will remain subject only to standard sales taxes,
and customers 18 and older who have a card will be able to buy up to 2
ounces.

Coleman said the real test of the city's ordinance will be how many
businesses choose to convert.

The premise of Amendment 64 was that the existing medical marijuana
industry would be the mechanism for providing for recreational pot
sales.

Coleman said Boulder's ordinance is imperfect, but it is a
start.

"The level of imperfection will be borne out by how many businesses
choose to participate," he said. "I hope that every business finds a
way to participate."

Two businesses that will not be able to participate, at least for now,
are The Dandelion and North Boulder Wellness Center, both of which are
located in mixed-use developments.

Those are the only two currently operating medical marijuana
businesses that will not be allowed to convert if they so choose.
Nearby residents objected to the increased foot traffic and perceived
danger if the businesses were allowed to expand into the new market.

Existing businesses and those that submitted applications before Oct.
22 will be given preference in converting and in being allowed to stay
in their current location, even if new zoning regulations would not
allow a new marijuana business to locate there.

New marijuana businesses can apply for licenses starting in
June.

Councilman Ken Wilson said the city needs strict regulations to
prevent abuses.

"If there is one thing I've learned on council, it's that we have to
legislate for the worst among us and not the best," Wilson said.

But Councilman Macon Cowles said Boulder residents voted for Amendment
64 in overwhelming numbers, and the city should not try to stop the
industry from meeting that demand. Amendment 64, allowing the sale of
recreational marijuana to adults 21 and older in Colorado, passed in
2012.

"This is not coming out the way everybody wants," Cowles said. "Not
just the businesses, but we have got a lot of email traffic from our
citizens, including from a Nobel laureate, saying we want to see
recreational marijuana available Jan. 1, not in Denver, not in
Nederland, but in Boulder. I think we've got something we can live
with."
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MAP posted-by: Matt