NO THANKS TO MEDICAL POT DISPENSARIES - FOR NOW

Town Could Run Afoul of State Constitution With Decision

DILLON - Dillon's town council is saying no to medical marijuana
dispensaries within town limits - for now. Council members cited
concerns about abuse and a need and lack of state regulations as
reasons for not moving forward on approving regulations in voting
against an ordinance setting out guidelines for dispensaries in Dillon
Tuesday.

Councilmembers Don Parsons, Mary Forsythe, Ron Holland and Johnny
Younger voted against it, and Mayor Barbara Davis and councilman Doug
Roessel voted for it. Councilwoman Lucinda Burns was absent.

"It definitely may not go through," Davis said. "We really need to sit
down with our attorney and come up with (the) next steps. ... From my
perspective, I certainly appreciate the position that our council
members took on it."

Because council members voted down the first reading of the medical
marijuana ordinance Tuesday, Dillon must now come up with a new
procedure for dealing with business applications if dispensaries
aren't deemed acceptable within town limits. The council also extended
the town's moratorium another 90 days - to Feb. 13.

"From my perspective, it's a legitimate and legal business," Davis
said. "And individuals have a constitutional right to set up a medical
marijuana dispensary. The issue isn't whether there is abuse or misuse
of the drug among users and doctors writing phony prescriptions. We
all know the answer to that. This isn't about the deleterious effects
of the drug. We all know it has significant psychotropic effects. ...
It was a spirited and intellectual discussion. It was good hearing
everyone's thoughts."

After voting for approving medical marijuana regulations, Roessel said
other council members had valid points about abuse and regulation
issues. He also said he has concerns about litigation if Dillon
doesn't uphold state constitution.

"From a business and legal standpoint, I voted for it on those grounds
that currently our state constitution allows medical marijuana,"
Roessel said. "Until the state Legislature decides to address this
issue, I think that we need to follow the guidelines of the Colorado
state constitution, which is very limited on what it says about
medical marijuana."

Yet Parsons said it's important to uphold the desires of Dillon
residents.

"I talked to a lot of Dillon residents and voters, and I found not a
single individual person who was enthusiastic about having a medical
marijuana dispensary in Dillon," he said.

Forsythe agreed: "In addition to a host of other reasons, the Dillon
residents that I have spoken to felt it was imprudent to fashion a
business license ordinance that is inconsistent with federal law," she
said

Other issues that council members had with approving dispensary
regulations for Dillon's town code included "a number of intrinsic
concerns about legality, unethical prescribing practices, and the
chaos around medical marijuana dispensary issues in the state,"
Parsons said. He also said he had worries about potential criminal
activity within dispensaries, questions about what it takes to be a
caregiver, a concern about a secondary market, and uneasiness about
other unknowns as reasons for Dillon to be cautious.

"We do not want to be identified as the pot capital of Colorado,"
Parsons added, pointing out that people actually needing medical
marijuana can go to dispensaries located elsewhere in the county.