Pot Prohibition?

It's been about a month since every single candidate for Boulder City
Council, including three incumbents, told the Boulder Weekly in an
election Q&A that they would oppose banning medical marijuana
dispensaries in the city.

Then we got a copy of a city staff memo this week that outlines
options for regulating the industry, one of which is to require all
businesses to adhere to federal laws.

Since the feds don't allow growing or purchasing marijuana, such a
move would effectively ban all dispensaries in town.

Curious. It seems to be a bit of an overreaction, especially
considering the somewhat more reasonable steps that have been taken
by other, more uptight cities and towns in the area, such as enacting
moratoriums until the legal landscape regarding dispensaries is clearer.

Why get ahead of the state legislation that is being drafted by Colorado Sen.

Chris Romer for the 2010 session? Why would a city begin adopting
regulations that could then be trumped by state law in a matter of
months? Why, when President Barack Obama recently handed down
guidance to his federal agents to leave this matter to the states,
would the city of Boulder turn around and defer to the feds? We trust
that cooler heads on the Boulder Planning Board - and, more
importantly, the newly elected members of City Council - will prevail
in finding a way to avoid penalizing a new, voter-approved industry
simply based on paranoia and misperceptions.

Everyone expects some degree of zoning and regulation to occur, but
this heavyhanded approach should never have been proposed by city
staff in a place like Boulder.