MED POT DISPENSARY BANS

Aurora City Council To Ask Voters, Denver City Council In No
Rush

While some Colorado municipalities are wasting no time in trying to
ban medical marijuana dispensaries from operating within city limits,
Denver is in no hurry to follow suit, according to several Denver
City Council members interviewed yesterday.

The Aurora City Council announced over the weekend that it would let
voters decide whether they want to allow medical marijuana
dispensaries to operate within city limits. Giving local
municipalities the power to ban medical marijuana dispensaries was
one of the most controversial parts of House Bill 1284, the
comprehensive medical marijuana regulatory bill that was approved by
lawmakers and has been sent to Gov. Bill Ritter for a signature.

Meanwhile, a group of 10 medical marijuana attorneys met yesterday at
an event sponsored by the Cannabis Therapy Institute to in part
discuss possible ways that they could block local municipalities from
banning dispensaries.

"These dispensaries areEalmost always the most cost effective, safest
and most transparent vehicle for patients to be able to obtain their
constitutionally protected medicine," said Jessica Corry, an attorney
who was a member on yesterday's panel and is part of a group of
lawyers looking to challenge HB 1284 in court.

Denver City Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz said she wants to wait until
any possible lawsuits against the local medical marijuana ban are out
of the way until city council even considers bringing a measure to
the ballot that would let voters weigh in on banning medical
marijuana dispensaries from Denver.

"I know that there are strong objections about being able to ban it,
and I'm not anxious for us to have us spend our dollars litigating it
at this point," she said. "But once it has been clear whether we can,
I've never minded reaffirming things with the voters."

But Denver City Councilman Doug Linkhart doesn't support taking the
issue to the voters because he believes Denverites have been pretty
clear that they not only support medical marijuana, but also are in
favor of legalizing marijuana for all adults. In 2006, Denverites
voted 55.5 percent in favor of legalizing marijuana. The statewide
measure, however, was killed after Coloradans overall rejected the
initiative on a 60-40-percent vote.

Mason Tvert of SAFER said support for legalizing, taxing and
regulating marijuana has only increased in Denver and Colorado since
his group got the measure on the 2006 ballot. A Rasmussen poll issued
this month found that 49 percent of the state's voters now favor
legalizing marijuana for adults, and Tvert said his polls show that
68 percent of Denverites now want to legalize, tax and regulate the
drug.

However, Denver City Council President Jeanne Robb said she has
started to hear from constituents who are concerned about the
proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries. Robb yesterday was
undecided on whether she supports letting voters decide on allowing
dispensaries in Denver.

Potential lawsuit

HB 1284 would create a medical marijuana licensing authority within
the Department of Revenue. Along with allowing local municipalities
to ban dispensaries, the bill would require people opening a medical
marijuana center to be a Colorado resident for two years and only
allow caregivers to provide marijuana to five patients or less.

Corry's law firm, her husband, Robert's, law firm and several
activist groups like Sensible Colorado are currently figuring out how
to challenge the bill in the court of law. Possible approaches would
be to file multiple lawsuits, filing a lawsuit in federal court or
state court, she said.

HB 1284 co-sponsor Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, said earlier this
month that he was confident the measure was constitutional and would
survive a challenge in court. Ritter is expected to sign the measure
into law by next month.