Dear Editor: Somebody has to do the job Aspen law enforcement officials here are afraid to do, so why not the DEA? Several years ago the Aspen Police Department tried to step on the drug culture here and the sheriff's department -- under Bob Braudis - -- squelched it. Now they're saying the DEA doesn't understand "small-town drug problems." What's the difference in small-town drugs and big-city drugs except a sheriff's department which doesn't think drugs are a problem? Keep up the good work, DEA officials. Somebody has to do something about Aspen's drug problem -- and soon. I endorse Paul Cherrett's stance on the DEA and its efforts to deal with the Aspen drug problem. Etna Tauscher Aspen [end]
Town Plans to See Seven Current Dispensaries Reduced Through Attrition BRECKENRIDGE -- The Town of Breckenridge will move forward in the next few weeks with a measure to cap the number of medical marijuana dispensary permits that will be allowed in the town limits. The ordinance, which has not yet been presented to council, is expected to begin to resolve for the town an issue state and local governments have grappled with for the last few years. Breckenridge currently has seven dispensaries doing business in town, but will look to reduce that number to no more than three in the coming years through attrition, allowing market forces to narrow the number of operations and not approving any new licenses. Existing dispensaries will not be allowed to change locations or ownership under the new ordinance, town officials said. [continues 373 words]
Cause Without a Rebel The weather in Seminole, Fla., this Saturday should be in the high 80s with isolated thunderstorms. Mary McNeely can't wait. "I've always wanted to live on the beach," she says, with a laugh. A mainstay of the Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council, McNeely, 31, and her husband are heading for Southern waters this weekend to help Florida pursue its own medical marijuana initiative, recently proposed by a state representative. So with the Peak in the rearview, any lessons for the folks at home? [continues 363 words]
ASPEN - The seemingly fragile relationship between the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and local-law enforcement departments was addressed in a private meeting Wednesday in the office of Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo, with little headway being made. A special agent with the DEA, along with DiSalvo and Aspen Police Chief Richard Pryor, said they failed to find any common ground, other than re-affirming that their long-standing drug-enforcement philosophies are starkly opposed. In other words, the next time the DEA penetrates Pitkin County to make an arrest, the Sheriff's Office likely won't be called on to help because the federal agency doesn't trust it. [continues 1334 words]
Aspen and Pitkin County's top lawmen met with federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents on Wednesday in an attempt to shed light on why they weren't notified beforehand of last week's arrests of six local residents on suspicion of alleged cocaine distribution. After meeting for an hour and a half, Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo and Aspen Police Chief Richard Pryor said the relationship with federal drug enforcement officials remains strained. "We don't feel we have taken any great strides forward," Pryor said, adding he is disappointed that no concrete agreement was reached. [continues 883 words]
City Might Extend Moratorium on Medical Pot Sites Cortez City Council members might decide to hold their ground as the tectonic plates of state and federal medical marijuana policy continually shift underfoot. Up for first reading tonight is a proposed ordinance to extend a moratorium preventing any further grow facilities and medical marijuana retailers - now known as "medical centers" - from opening in Cortez. City Attorney Mike Green and City Manager Jay Harrington suggested the moratorium extension until July 2012 to the council at a May 10 workshop meeting, saying the city should wait to take further action until state and federal policy settle into place and a licensing system is established. [continues 633 words]
Medical marijuana seems to be a moving target, with new laws, new regulations, new business strategies and new warnings from the federal government all contributing to a confusing playing field. Employers having to deal with employees who may have medical marijuana cards, however, just want to know what they're supposed to do. Grant Butterfield, legal counsel for Pinnacol Assurance, the worker's compensation insurer, attempted to answer that question for local business owners and human resource managers Tuesday morning. The explosion in recent years in both patients and providers has made it an issue for a growing number of employers, he said. [continues 398 words]
Norwood Town Board Still Undecided While almost 20 citizens turned out to comment on=20 the issue, it became clear rather quickly at last=20 Thursday's work session that members of the Town=20 Board of Trustees were concerned about being put=20 in legal jeopardy if the board chose to allow the=20 operation of medical marijuana businesses. Recent memorandums from the Federal Government=20 warn that officials "would consider civil and=20 criminal penalties for large-scale operations," said Town Attorney Herb= McHarg. [continues 692 words]
A homeless woman from Denver faces child abuse and drug charges after Boulder police stopped her in the Alfalfa's Market parking lot and noticed an odor of marijuana inside her vehicle while her baby was in the back seat. Officers had been called to the grocery store at 909 Arapahoe Ave. around 9:45 p.m. Friday on a report of an unrelated assault, according to a police report, and they noticed a car backing out of a space with fogged-up windows. [continues 488 words]
The Larimer County commissioners on Monday denied an application from Caring Touch Network to establish a medical marijuana grow and delivery service in an area outside Fort Collins city limits. The applicant, Dallas Bell, did not appear for the hearing. The county planning commission and staff member recommended denial of the business proposed at 1708 E. Lincoln Ave., citing incompatibility with the neighborhood including its distance from a church and a child care facility. The denial marks the end of the county's review of applications for medical marijuana businesses. The commissioners voted to ban marijuana businesses last year but agreed to review applications of businesses that were already into the planning process when the ban was approved. Only two businesses were approved. Both are in industrial areas outside Fort Collins city limits. [end]
Divisions Within Industry Come into the Open Rifts between two different groups pushing for the legalization of marijuana in Colorado continued to grow last week after one coalition went ahead with a so-called "conservative" attempt to legalize marijuana in 2012. Legalize 2012, one of activist groups plotting a legalization ballot initiative, on Friday blasted another coalition for filing eight different versions of a legalization initiative that they say "appeals to law enforcement." Laura Kriho, a driving force behind Legalize 2012, was particularly upset with members of the coalition that includes the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), and Sensible Colorado for filing their initiative with the Secretary of State without giving them much time to review the initiative's language. [continues 554 words]
Joint Litigation The case of Volume Public Relations, LLC vs. Greenway University, Inc., filed in February in Denver County District Court, is a standard collections action. Marijuana-growing-school Greenway is accused of shorting Volume PR -- or, more specifically, the company's medical marijuana arm, Grow Room Communications -- some $131,000. What's interesting is that this might be the first case of major MMJ support players conflicting with each other, right down to their attorneys. Jessica Corry, who is representing Volume PR, is a major industry voice in Denver; the same could be said of Greenway's representation, Charles Houghton, in Colorado Springs. [continues 342 words]
A small group of citizens is proposing a ballot initiative to prohibit the sale of medical marijuana, or MMJ, in Fort Collins. Those who propose this ban must shoulder the burden of proof that there are good reasons to support such a ban rather than just making hysterical predictions of potential harm. The claim has been made that MMJ is being provided to individuals who "just want to get high." If MMJ is being inappropriately recommended by doctors to patients who are not really ill, then this practice should be stopped by amending the guidelines for doctors and providing sanctions against doctors who violate the guidelines. This is currently being addressed by the state Legislature. Banning MMJ dispensaries is thus unnecessary in order to prevent such abuses of the system. [continues 128 words]
Sheriff, Former Mayor ADD Elbow Grease to Petition Drive Medical marijuana dispensaries and grow operations would be banned from Fort Collins under an ordinance proposed by a group of city residents that includes Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith. Supporters of the ban are expected to start collecting signatures for petitions backing the proposal as soon as Friday, city officials say. Proponents would have 60 days to gather the signatures of 4,214 registered Fort Collins voters to get the proposed ordinance before the City Council. If the petitions are picked up Friday from the city clerk's office, the deadline would be July 19. [continues 677 words]
The medical marijuana era in Windsor is over. Both of the town's dispensaries, In Harmony Wellness Center and A New Dawn Wellness Clinic, closed their doors for good on Sunday, in keeping with an ordinance passed by the town board in January. "We checked for compliance this morning and both businesses did comply," said Windsor Police Chief John Michaels. Medical marijuana first became an issue in December 2009 when the town board learned that in addition to In Harmony Wellness Center, which had opened in June 2009, and A New Dawn Wellness Clinic, which opened earlier that December, there were six other dispensaries in the process of opening in Windsor. [continues 160 words]
And activists say, 'legalize it' The Town of Telluride will continue to refine its medical marijuana policies as the State of Colorado drags its feet in forging overarching rules. Last week, the Telluride Town Council gave direction to the town attorney to continue crafting local rules that will provide a blueprint for governing the industry, which has proven problematic across that state as it surged in popularity. As it stands now, the town's medical marijuana ordinance draft spans some 41 pages and, once passed, will take several key positions, regulating the age of dispensary workers and further regulating signage. [continues 609 words]
Is our federal government on the payroll of Mexican drug cartels? Locally grown medical marijuana generates tax revenue and, more important, takes marijuana distribution out of the hands of organized crime. The No. 1product of Mexican drug cartels is marijuana. An estimated 35,000 Mexicans have died in prohibition-related violence over the past few years. As long as cartels control distribution, marijuana consumers will be exposed to methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. Marijuana may be relatively harmless, but marijuana prohibition is deadly. Robert Sharpe, MPA, Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, DC [end]
CENTENNIAL (AP) - A Colorado doctor accused of writing a shoddy medical-marijuana recommendation has been cleared by a suburban Denver judge who said the physician didn't violate the law when he recommended pot to an undercover police officer who complained of back pain. Dr. Toribio Robert Mestas was cleared of charges including forgery and marijuana distribution. Arapahoe County District Judge Kurt Horton ordered the case thrown out last week after finding that Mestas complied with constitutional requirements about recommending medical marijuana. [continues 51 words]
The deadline to close the town's two medical marijuana selling operations has arrived. In Harmony Wellness Center and A New Dawn Wellness Clinic must cease selling marijuana on Sunday. "We'll check both businesses for compliance on Monday, and I fully expect they will comply," said Windsor Police Chief John Michaels. Medical marijuana first became an issue in December 2009 when the town board learned that in addition to In Harmony Wellness Center, which had opened in June 2009, and A New Dawn Wellness Clinic, which opened earlier that December, there were six other dispensaries in the process of opening in Windsor. [continues 211 words]
While the May 5 "Our View" covered many important points regarding medical marijuana and changing regulations by the federal government, it missed one important point. On April 20, 2001 GW Pharmaceutical announced the initiation of Phase III clinical trials for Sativex, a liquefied form of cannabis sativa. For years FDA said there were no medical benefits to marijuana. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the biggest contributors to politicians. This just proves that our government is run by big corporate money and unelected bureaucrats. Our elected officials, state and federal as well as leaders of political parties who give us these candidates, are only interested in job security and not working for small businesses or votes. Otherwise they would put their political careers on the line to represent us, per the U.S. Constitution and fight for states rights. We need to elect honest representatives, if they exist. Colorado fights federal health care; why not fight for our medical marijuana industry? Bill Moss Colorado Springs [end]
Inside Colorado
