SUPERIOR LIKELY TO PASS POT DISPENSARY MORATORIUM, REPLACING OUTRIGHT BAN

SUPERIOR -- The town board is poised to reverse a ban on medical
marijuana dispensaries and replace it with a moratorium.

At a work session Monday night, Superior town lawyer Kendra Carberry
urged the board to replace the ban with a moratorium, citing the
potential for a legal challenge and future state legislation.

The trustees agreed to vote on a six-month moratorium at their Jan.
25 meeting. The trustees also plan to direct the Planning Commission
to develop dispensary zoning restrictions over the next six months,
which could include keeping dispensaries out of residential areas
and away from schools.

"The moratorium and the discussion about zoning make sense," said
Mayor Andrew Muckle.

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

Boulder leaders approved an emergency ordinance in November outlining
where newly licensed dispensaries can operate for four months while
officials draft long-term regulations. Many area communities,
including Lafayette, Louisville and Erie, have enacted moratoriums
to give them time to decide how to deal with dispensaries.

Superior and Broomfield, though, banned dispensaries altogether in
September.

At the time, Superior trustees said federal statutes against
marijuana distribution supersede the state law that Colorado voters
passed in 2000 allowing patients with chronic pain to medicate
themselves with pot.

On Monday, Carberry said moratoriums are less likely to face legal
challenges than bans. She said she also expects that legislation will
be approved this session that requires Superior to allow
dispensaries. Superior, as a statutory town, is governed by statutes
written by Colorado legislators.

"We're waiting for the state to tell us how to do it," Carberry said.
"Law enforcement is now lobbying very hard on the Legislature to be
more restrictive."

The attorney general, sheriffs' organizations and police groups want
a five-person limit on the number of patients a pot provider can
serve. A bill reflecting that cap is expected to be introduced in the
session that starts Wednesday.

In July, the Colorado Board of Health rejected a proposal to limit
marijuana caregivers to five patients each.

Cannabis advocates have said that if the new bill passes as proposed,
it will snuff out the burgeoning medical marijuana industry, but they
remained hopeful that they can successfully argue for changes that
will allow many of them to continue operating.