DENVER CITY COUNCIL WEIGHS RULES FOR MEDICAL-MARIJUANA OUTLETS

Denver City Council members suggested Wednesday that they would bar
people convicted of recent felonies from getting into the business of
dispensing medical marijuana.

The council held no formal vote on a package of proposed regulations
for dispensaries from Councilman Charlie Brown and agreed to meet in
committee again Dec. 16.

City Attorney David Fine said Mayor John Hickenlooper's
administration is reviewing the issue and would weigh in at the
committee meeting in two weeks.

A full set of regulations likely will go before the council in January.

Brown originally had submitted a proposal that required applicants
for marijuana dispensaries to state whether they had "ever been
convicted of a felony, or of violating any federal, state or local
law governing the manufacture, distribution, possession or use of
controlled substances."

Sensitive that the issue would be debated, Brown noted on his draft
proposal that the issue was subject to further discussion on just
what should be a disqualifying conviction.

The broad language struck a few council members as too onerous.

Council members settled on felony convictions as the place to draw
the line and decided a disqualifying felony conviction would be
within five years of completion of a sentence.

Councilman Chris Nevitt said he thought using recent felonies as a
disqualification was a compromise that would work, but he cautioned
against overregulating the industry.

Nevitt said the city doesn't do criminal background checks for those
who want to open doughnut shops or jewelry stores. He noted medical
marijuana once was deemed illegal by state officials, so it wouldn't
be a surprise if some of those getting into the business might have
had brushes with the law.

"Joe Nacchio might want to open a medical-marijuana dispensary as a
way to rehabilitate himself, and I would say more power to him,"
Nevitt said, alluding to the former Qwest chief executive, convicted
of insider trading. "I might advise his employees to keep an eye on
the books, though."

Brown also wants to bar on-site smoking or consumption of marijuana
at dispensaries, a stance he said probably will be hotly debated at
the next meeting. Some dispensary operators have said on-site smoking
provides a therapeutic benefit, but Brown worries about people
driving impaired.

He also wants to require licensing of dispensaries and installation
of security cameras at dispensaries. Brown also would bar
dispensaries that commence operation on or after Dec. 1 from locating
within 500 feet of any school or child-care establishment and from
locating within 1,000 feet of another dispensary.

Councilman Doug Linkhart said he might have a problem with banning
dispensaries from locating within 1,000 feet of each other, pointing
out that bars don't have the same prohibition.