RIDGWAY ADOPTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA REGS

RIDGWAY -- Despite the brainstorming efforts of the Ridgway Town
Council and its passage of municipal regulations for medical
marijuana dispensaries at its June 9 meeting, anyone interested in
opening a medical marijuana facility in Ridgway may have to wait up
to one year to do so.

As the muddy and complicated details continue to unfold concerning
the State of Colorado's newly passed regulations on dispensaries,
members of council unanimously approved (Councilmember Paul Hebert
absent) the second and final reading of Ordinance 7-2010, which will
allow licensed medical marijuana facilities in the town's Industrial
1, and Industrial 2 zones as well as the General Commercial Zone east
of Liddell Street. The ordinance is intended to dovetail with the
Colorado House Bill 1284, recently signed by Gov. Bill Ritter, that
requires dispensaries to be licensed and monitored statewide, in a
process similar to the state process for liquor licensing.

The approved ordinance will lift the town's moratorium on
dispensaries, once the state's regulations are in place and
functional -- although just when that will be is unclear.

"Sooner or later the Department of Revenue will be adopting its
regulations," Kappa told council. "It's not clear how fast that will
happen, but it will establish the details of the license program."

As the Colorado Department of Revenue starts work on its license
regulations, only dispensaries has been locally approved and licensed
before June 30 will be given the green light. New proprietors will
have to wait until July 2011 to receive a license under the new
state regulations. In essence, because the town's moratorium isn't
officially lifted until the state regulations are functional and
because of the looming June 30 deadline for licensed facilities, it
is unlikely that any new dispensaries will be opening in Ridgway for
the next year.

Jeanne Robertson, owner of Ridgway Apothecary, a medical marijuana
delivery service, told council she would like to open a facility in
Ridgway, if council to work out a way to lift the moratorium and
provide local licensing regulations before the June 30 deadline.

"I am requesting that you lift it as soon as possible," Robertson
said, "and put in [licensing scheme] so we can do something here
before July 1. It would have to be really fast and it would have to
be done quickly." Robertson also suggested that in the ordinance
allowing dispensaries, the Historic Business District be one zone
that would allow for dispensaries.

Kappa told council that it would take a unanimous vote on council to
approve an emergency ordinance that would detail the town's licensing
scheme that night in order for Robertson or any other potential
proprietor to apply that new town license and subsequently be
approved before June 30.

"I am sure I could cook something up," Kappa told council. "If I was
going to do it, I would make it the same or close to the state
statute," which is, she pointed out, 290 pages long. "It would be
big. It would take an emergency ordinance to put it into effect and
that would take six votes agreeing on the details of it."

Kappa reminded council that its reason for originally enacting a
moratorium on dispensaries was to make sure they were on terra firma
before formalizing binding regulations.

"If we do this, the ground becomes less solid," Kappa said. "For any
kind of comprehensive licensing scheme, to expect to draft, adopt and
administer it by the end of this month, is, I think, unrealistic. If
we follow the state scheme, we would be drafting our own application
forms and background investigations."

And while drafting and approving an emergency ordinance at
approximately 7 p.m. that evening seemed unlikely, several
councilmembers expressed a wiliness to work out a plan that would
allow for potential dispensaries to be locally approved before June
30.

"The thing I have the hardest time with is the way the state is
taking its approach with this," Mayor Pro Tem John Clark said. "It
seems really odd that it is essentially putting another year limit on
anyone going into business with a dispensary. In the big picture, my
take is that that a state constitutional amendment legalized medical
marijuana. I believe there are people that have a legitimate value
for medical marijuana. I don't think it is fair to make it more
difficult for people to get that. And from what I am hearing here,
[Robertson] can't continue unless we get something together prior to
the June 30 deadline.

"I don't think that is right," Clark said.

"I agree," Councilmember Rick Weaver said.

The council discussion continued at length into the evening, trying
to find some way for potential businesses to be licensed before the
June 30 deadline. One possibility considered was the creation of an
interim licensing scheme, but in the end, council decided that it
could not pass such an important set of regulations with an emergency
ordinance.

"I suggest that we do two things," Mayor Pat Willits said. "That we
do not move rapidly at this time on an interim licensing procedure,
but we do lift the moratorium to allow home delivery within town limits."

Councilmember Rich Durnan agreed that council should not rush to
create licensing regulations.

As part of the approval of the ordinance, council did approve lifting
the moratorium on deliveries to registered patients by businesses
pursuant to state statues.