COMMERCIAL POT GROWERS EYE DELTA COUNTY

The county government has given its answer to a Denver lawyer trying
to help clients set up a commercial pot farm here: Don't bother.

The Board of County Commissioners, meeting with senior department
staff from law enforcement, health and social services, planning,
and the county attorney, agreed Monday that commercial pot farms are
not legal under current state law.

Therefore, the county planning department has told a Denver lawyer
that it will not accept a Specific Development application to set up
a commercial "medical marijuana" growing operation.

In addition, the BoCC intends to toughen its current moratorium on
new dispensaries and businesses that sell marijuana. The new
moratorium draft specifically prohibits commercial growing
operations. The current moratorium will probably be extended until July, 2011.

The inquiry about setting up a commercial pot growing operation is
only one of many the county planning department has received.

The Denver lawyer, who was not identified by the planning
department, wanted guidance on making application under the county's
Specific Development regulations to grow pot commercially in an
existing greenhouse south of Delta.

The greenhouse, formerly used to grow hydroponic lettuce, has gone
into foreclosure.

The discussion held by the BoCC and county staff Monday tried to
focus on whether, if, and how a commercial pot enterprise would be
regulated under current county rules and state law.

Delta County Sheriff Fred McKee put the discussion into perspective.
He stated that if such a commercial pot operation started up, he
would arrest whoever was doing it.

Large scale, commercial pot growing is not legal in Colorado, McKee
explained. Registered medical marijuana users can grow for
themselves, and their caregivers can grow a limited amount for their
own "patients," McKee explained. But commercial pot farming -- no
way. "It's still illegal," McKee said.

With that direction, the planning department called the Denver
lawyer and told him that the county would be unable to accept a
Specific Development application for a commercial-scale pot growing operation.

The county commissioners and administration are looking forward to a
meeting later this month where it is hoped the county and six
municipal governments will be able to reach a common policy on the
new state law, House Bill 1284. That law gives local governments
authority to allow, regulate, or ban altogether medical marijuana
"dispensaries" and growing operations.

There are some who see medical marijuana, and the organized effort
to legalize pot outright, as a way to generate new revenue sources
for cash-strapped local governments by imposing hefty taxes on pot
sales and stiff licensing fees on businesses that deal in it.

County officials also see a need to coordinate pot policies on a
regional basis. Already, the commissioners were told, a neighboring
county with stringent land use regs is referring the inquiries it
gets about pot farms to Delta County.

If Delta County, or any locality within it, ends up with the most
open door policy to marijuana production and sale in the region, it
will open a flood gate, officials fear.