TARGETING DISPENSARIES

Pot Rules Spark Fierce Debate

Local and state officials are crafting new legislation aimed at the
medical marijuana industry, and regulation efforts are close to
passing at both levels.

The Boulder City Council approved a set of regulations including
requiring a $5,000 up-front licensing fee with a $2,000 renewal fee,
barring dispensaries from opening within 500 feet of a school, making
owners go through a background check and requiring the purchase of
renewable energy credits if they are growing marijuana on-site. Though
council members approved the measure, they plan to discuss the rules
again at a later date.

Two bills are finishing the bloody march through the state legislature
and are close to becoming law. One bill, SB 109, would regulate the
doctors who recommend marijuana to patients and has breezed through
the legislature virtually unopposed. The bill has passed the House and
the Senate, and at press time, the two chambers were hashing out the
differences in committee.

The second bill, HB 1284, would give the state power to regulate
medical marijuana dispensaries. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle
have thrown a dizzying array of amendments towards the bill at all
stops, swelling the bill from a husky 45 pages to an obese 72. As of
press time, the bill was scheduled for a second reading on the Senate
floor. The bill would create a state agency to license and oversee
dispensaries and require that all dispensaries purchase a license to
do business in the state. It would also ban anyone under the age of 21
from working at a dispensary and establish a list of requirements for
anyone wishing to own one - new owners, for example, would have to
have Colorado residency for two years as well as pass a federal and
state background check.

Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, voted against HB 1284.

"I didn't really see the rush," Levy says. "The local governments were
dealing with the issue themselves. ... I didn't think we needed this
elaborate twotiered system."

Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, who sponsors both bills, said that he
expects HB 1284 to force about 50 percent of dispensaries to close.
The real number, says Laura Criho of the Cannabis Therapy Institute,
is higher.

"Once we actually saw the bill and read it, we realized it would be
targeting more like 80 percent of the dispensaries of the state. And
once Romer mentioned the licensing fees, we upped that number to 95
percent," she says.

Romer did not respond to repeated attempts to contact him about the
bill over the past two weeks.

Another part of the bill would require dispensaries to grow 70 percent
of their marijuana, either on site or in a separate building.
Amendment 20 allows one patient or his or her caregiver to grow six
plants at a time and possess up to two ounces of usable marijuana.
Most dispensary owners are caregivers for dozens or even hundreds of
patients, and if they were forced to grow enough marijuana to supply
70 percent of their patients, the number of plants could grow quite
high. Kathleen Chippi, owner of Nederland dispensary One Brown Mouse,
says she serves 1,500 patients and thinks that requirement will expose
her to federal raids, which tend to target grows with more than 100
plants.

"They're forcing us to have enough plants to supply 1,500 patients,"
Chippi says. "I'm frightened of the fact that I'm going to be forced
to grow. I personally have less than 99 plants. I'm not going to go
above 99 plants, because the federal government is going to come bust
me. ... They're setting us all up to be out of federal
compliance."

Included in HB 1284 is a licensing fee for opening a dispensary. The
proposed cost has fluctuated but has settled on $35,000 for a new
dispensary. Add that to the proposed $5,000 fee required by the city,
and many dispensaries fear they might be priced out of the industry.

Pierre Werner, owner of the DrReefer.com dispensary on the Hill, says
the impending bill is forcing him to put his business up for sale. He
has a felony drug conviction on his record, and he would not be able
to pass the staterequired background check. Plus, he wouldn't have the
cash to pay both the state and the city fees.

"It's their fees that are outrageous that bother me," Werner says.
"It's going to put my employees out of a job."