FREEZE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES EXTENDED

LONGMONT -- No new medical marijuana dispensaries will open in
Longmont through the end of June.

The Longmont City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to extend
the city's moratorium on pot shops. Councilwoman Sarah Levison was
absent. Last month, the council approved a 90-day moratorium
effective Oct. 2 on new dispensaries in the city. The council agreed
Tuesday night to tack on another 180 days to the moratorium, which
was set to expire Dec. 31.

The council is scheduled to have a public hearing and final vote on
the moratorium extension Dec. 8.

City leaders originally enacted the moratorium to give themselves
time to figure out what licensing, permitting and zoning regulations
should apply to medical marijuana shops.

Extending the moratorium will give city officials more time: Time to
gather input from the community and time to see what measures state
legislators take to regulate the industry.

But it will take time away from those waiting to open
dispensaries.

While the moratorium does not affect the medical marijuana
dispensaries already open in the city, it does prohibit new ones from
opening. There are seven dispensaries open in the city, according to
the most-current list compiled by city planners. Three more
dispensaries were planned, but two fell under the moratorium, and the
city didn't approve the third because it was proposed in a
residential area.

But the Green Belly Co-op is not on that list, even though Dallas
Pierce and his partners weren't allowed to open their dispensary
because of the city's moratorium.

Pierce asked the council Tuesday night to consider either not
extending the moratorium or allowing city staff to process Green
Belly's business license. Pierce said they submitted their paperwork
to the city on Oct. 1. The council approved the moratorium on Oct. 6,
making it retroactive to Oct. 2.

He and his business partners decided to be patient because they
understood the city's desire to have regulations in place. But they
signed a lease agreement on a storefront more than three months ago,
he told the council, and they would like the opportunity to move
forward as a "legit, tax-paying business, and we're not allowed to do
that right now."

He added, "We do not want to go outside the city. We want to be part
of Longmont, and we want to be part of the solution."

Councilwoman Katie Witt said she struggles with the fact that city
leaders have never even had the discussion about whether medical
marijuana is right for Longmont. Dispensaries started opening without
anyone fully realizing it, Witt said, and the city had several open
"before most people even knew that was legal."

"I don't immediately want to jump over the (question) of: Do we have
dispensaries here in Longmont?" Witt said.

"I'm not sure I want Longmont to be on the leading edge of
dispensaries; I would like to have somebody else to have that job,
and we can learn from their experiences, and we can follow behind."

Mayor Bryan Baum pointed out that having seven dispensaries operating
in the city will give officials an idea of how they are working in
the community.

"We'll be able to see take a look at their record and them showing us
how responsible they are or how irresponsible they are," Baum said.

Council members Sean McCoy and Gabe Santos urged city staff to gather
as much information as possible about the issue to be prepared when
state lawmakers take it up. That includes talking with police, human
services, code enforcement and even the city's liquor licensing
board, McCoy said.

In the past month, city officials have been researching how other
cities regulate dispensaries and have met with a panel of dispensary
owners and operators, a physician, a medical marijuana patient and a
youth advocate. The city plans to have larger community meetings
about the issue in early 2010 to get input from residents.