Pubdate: Wed, 13 Apr 2016
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: CannaBiz
Copyright: 2016 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Nat Stein

MEET ONE OF THE WORKERS WHO COULD LOSE HER JOB IF BALLOT INITIATIVE 
TAKES DOWN PUEBLO POT SHOPS

"I wake up every day and I still can't believe I'm selling 
marijuana," Ieshia Jiron says, reflecting on the past year she's been 
working at Leaf on the Mesa, a medical and recreational dispensary in 
downtown Pueblo. She spent nearly two decades working at Target, then 
some time dabbling in real estate until some friends approached her 
to help get the new business off the ground.

"We were sitting on buckets then, but business really took off," she 
says. "It's been amazing."

But an existential threat looms over Jiron and her 13 co-workers. A 
ballot initiative is taking shape that, if successful, would have 
Pueblo County stop issuing new rec licenses by November and force the 
closure of all existing retail pot shops, cultivation facilities, 
infused product manufacturers and testing facilities by 2017. Filed 
on March 31 by local attorney Dan Oldenburg and tree company owner 
Kenny Gierhart, the petition was approved by the county clerk's 
office on April 8. The petition needs signatures from 5 percent of 
Pueblo's registered voters to make it onto the ballot.

Clerk Bo "Gilbert" Ortiz says his office hasn't nailed down that 
exact number yet, but at last count there's around 108,000 voters on 
the rolls (5 percent of which is 5,400.)

"When I first heard (about the initiative) I kind of shrugged it 
off," Jiron says. "But then I realized I need to take this very 
seriously because my job is at stake. And my staff, I worry for them 
too. They all have families to feed, car payments, mortgage payments, 
utilities, all these bills ... I'm trying not to let my mind go there."

According to the Marijuana Enforcement Division, Pueblo County has 20 
licensed recreational marijuana dispensaries. Compared to Denver's 
156, that may not be much. Pueblo's skin in the game comes mostly in 
the form of cultivation facilities and infused product manufacturing, 
of which the county has 69 and 27, respectively. The Southern 
Colorado Growers Association, a trade group for the industry, 
estimates 1,308 jobs would be affected should the initiative pass.

That's had a ripple effect in other industries, especially 
construction. Last year, nearly 40 percent of all new commercial 
building permits in Pueblo County were for marijuana-related 
projects. If you look at just the unincorporated areas, 
marijuana-related projects made up nearly 70 percent of commercial 
building permits.

Over the past two years, Pueblo County's coffers grew by nearly $3.4 
million thanks to retail marijuana tax revenue. An additional $3.5 
million is expected annually from a new excise tax voters approved 
last November.

County Commissioner Sal Pace points to that economic impact as a sign 
that legalization is working in Pueblo: "First voters spoke at the 
polls, then with their wallets."

He's more frustrated than worried about this new initiative to undo 
the industry.

"I hate seeing our community being split up into two camps," Pace 
says. "I think they'll run, they'll lose and they'll realize they're 
in the minority. But this obviously isn't a settled issue in our society."

Pace favors extending the current moratorium on recreational 
marijuana business licenses beyond its expiration in 2017.

"I believe in the free market, yeah," he says, "but I do think it'd 
be good to do while we're trying to navigate this hostile climate."

Kenny Gierhart, one of the petition's filers, declined to discuss his 
motives beyond saying the issue "has personal value to me as a member 
of the community with kids and a business here." The public can 
expect more information about the initiative at an upcoming press 
conference. "Once that's out of the way, then I'd be happy to address 
anything else after," Gierhart said.

Jiron knows first-hand that cannabis can be divisive. "I have this 
friend, a great friend, and she's on the totally opposite side of me. 
She has her opinion and I have mine. We just don't discuss it on a 
personal level," she says. "It's a small community here; everyone 
knows everyone. I don't want to see us divided over what I do for a living."

For now, Jiron says she'll keep organizing with other workers in the 
industry to ward off the initiative. "I feel good but I'm trying to 
stay humble because I'm not sure where this is going to go."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom