LOUISVILLE, LAFAYETTE GIVE FINAL APPROVAL TO POT DISPENSARY
BANS

LOUISVILLE -- No new medical marijuana dispensaries can open in
Louisville until the spring, but the City Council agreed Tuesday night
that two existing dispensaries can continue.

The council unanimously approved a moratorium on new medical marijuana
dispensaries, citing a growing debate and rumblings of potential state
legislation to regulate such businesses.

The city plans to lift the temporary ban at the end of the state's
legislative session on May 15.

"Action this evening is not an outright ban forever or an outright
approval," said Louisville City Attorney Sam Light. "It gives you a
period of time to study the issue."

The Lafayette City Council also gave final approval to a six-month
moratorium Tuesday.

In Louisville, medical marijuana advocates urged the City Council to
consider regulating dispensaries now instead of imposing a moratorium.
But council members said they want "breathing room" to develop
regulations. None indicated support for an outright ban.

"We're saying, 'Give us some time to look at best-case scenarios and
see how those fit in the city of Louisville,'" said Mayor Chuck Sisk.

Louisville's two existing dispensaries, located in the Colony Square
Shopping Center, were approved for city business licenses but didn't
have certificates of occupancy before the moratorium first came before
the City Council last week.

That had raised concerns that the moratorium, which specifically bans
certificates of occupancy for dispensaries, would force them to close.
Laurel Alterman, who recently opened AlterMeds in Colony Square, said
at Tuesday's meeting that she has a "model dispensary."

"It's the kind of business you can be proud of," she said. "I'm doing
everything I can do to be compliant with the law, as vague as it is."

Both Broomfield and Superior have banned dispensaries outright, while
Erie and Longmont have given initial approval to moratoriums.

Colorado voters passed a law in 2000 allowing patients with chronic
pain to medicate themselves with marijuana.

The language in the state statute -- which specifies that "caregivers"
can provide marijuana to a patient but says nothing about dispensaries
- -- has caused confusion among prosecutors, law enforcement agencies,
dispensary owners and patients.