COUNTY TAKES FIRST LOOK AT MEDICAL POT RULES

But officials still hope the Legislature deals with the
issue.

Pueblo County commissioners are beginning to cobble together
regulations for overseeing medical marijuana growers and
dispensaries, although much of the work will depend on what help city
and county governments get from the Legislature.

Two measures are being considered in the Legislature to address the
licensing medical marijuana stores, called dispensaries. But Pueblo
County, like Pueblo city government, has a moratorium on granting any
business or sales tax license to those businesses before the county
adopts its own regulations.

Kim Headley, the county's planning director, walked the commissioners
through the rough draft of a licensing plan Thursday morning. It
would limit locations for growing marijuana to agriculture zones in
the county and require they be indoor. Dispensaries would be limited
to B-4 business zones, but could not be closer than 1,000 feet from
schools, residential areas, churches, and other public uses.

Currently there are four known dispensaries in the county, and at
least two would not be in compliance with the proposed regulations,
Headley said.

"We've been clear all along that none of these dispensaries would be
grandfathered into compliance if they don't meet our final
regulations," Headley told the commissioners. He added that county
officials have notified the two dispensaries that have opened since
the moratorium that they are out of compliance.

The dispensaries are operating in a hazy legal realm. While it is
still against federal law to possess, grow or sell marijuana, state
voters approved Amendment 20 nine years ago to legalize the medical
use of marijuana.

County officials, including Sheriff Kirk Taylor, have taken a
wait-and-see approach to the fledgling businesses. As long as the
dispensaries do not cause other crime problems, county deputies and
city police have left the dispensaries alone for the time being --
acting on the assumption the Legislature would give local governments
regulations and guidelines for dealing with the marijuana businesses.

Commissioner Anthony Nunez said the county needs to be cautious and
not use county regulations as a defacto ban on the establishment of
any dispensaries.

"If these businesses are legal and we have the ability to tax them,
I'd hate to see us create such strict regulations that all of them go
over the border to El Paso or Fremont counties," Nunez said.

Headley said the Legislature is looking at measures that include
strict background reviews for dispensary owners and other limitations
on the businesses.

"From what I'm hearing, as many as 60 percent of all these
dispensaries could have to close up once the Legislature is done
adopting regulations," he said.

Commission Chairman Jeff Chostner warned that there was a chance the
Legislature would stall on the marijuana issue and not reach
agreement on how to regulate it.

"That would leave us in a situation where we wouldn't expect any
guidance until next January at the earliest, and I don't think we can
afford to wait that long," he said.

Headley said Thursday's discussion was a preliminary review of how
the county might regulate the marijuana stores and growers. The
commissioners are not likely to take any action on a policy until
after the Legislature adjourns in May.