Clarity and the Law

POT, NUDITY AND TAXES THE TALK OF THE TOWN

We've been beset recently with confusion over certain laws, how they
are -- or should be -- applied and whom they impact.

The answer to the latter: All of us. Which may be surprising, since
the laws in question only apply to a small percentage of the community.

Pot: Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett said this week that the
state's medical marijuana laws need more clarity, and he's not
interested in prosecuting cases that fall in the gray areas between
legalization and prohibition of the drug. We think he's right on
target, on both.

Clarity is needed. The law wasn't crafted in such a way to make
dispensaries fully protected, and municipalities as diverse as Summit
County and Superior are moving to ban marijuana businesses from
setting up shop. Meanwhile, sick people who use marijuana --
frequently to relieve extreme pain -- are sometimes swept up by the
disconnect between state and federal laws.

And while we seek clarity, we shouldn't be prosecuting those who fall
into the gray area, either.

Nudity: Despite the frequency of really cold Halloween nights here,
many people strip down nude and run about downtown. The "Naked
Pumpkin Run" -- as well as other events like the "Naked Bike Ride" or
streaking at a football game -- is technically covered by the state's
"indecent exposure" laws. Which require the nude dashers to register
as sex offenders, a horrible overreaction that dangerously waters
down that important registry. Boulder is now crafting a local public
nudity ordinance that could come in handy when dealing with events
that may spiral out of control, while keeping such bare pranksters
off the sex offender registry.

But be warned: It will not be crafted to cover this year's pumpkin
run, and the police said they will arrest people this year, instead of
issuing tickets.

Taxes: A construction use tax has been on the books in Boulder for
about 25 years. An audit showed that nearly 1,000 contractors had not
paid it, and owed the city millions of dollars. Millions of dollars
they would have charged their clients, had they known that the tax existed.

It should be noted that some builders did know about it and have been
paying it. Thankfully, the city manager's office backed off their
original plan of collecting the back taxes for now. The city is now
reviewing how it notifies contractors about the tax -- one builder
owed as much as $5.2 million -- and has hired an outside firm to
review the code and enforce it equitably. A review is expected in 60
days.

The fact is, defining the laws and communicating how they are applied
in our community affects all of us. Which may sound a little crazy,
since the vast majority of people are not medical marijuana patients.
And the vast majority of us are not builders or contractors, and most
of us don't want to run outside, naked, with a pumpkin on our heads.

But having the police, the district attorney and the city staff offer
clarity on any law as it applies to society -- and say, yes, this is
the law and it applies to everyone, fairly and equally -- is the only
way to run a society. If we have haphazard definitions, or slapdash
applications, then who can know when the next ill-defined or
little-known law may catch up with any one of us.