BROOMFIELD COUNCIL FAVORS BANNING MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Broomfield is a step closer to banning medical marijuana dispensaries
after City Council on Tuesday supported a potential ordinance that
would keep dispensaries from operating in the city. Six council
members voiced support for a ban, which could go before council on
July 13 for a preliminary vote, City and County Attorney Bill Tuthill
said.

The decision came after an hour-long debate during a City Council
study session about which policies Broomfield could pursue.

Council members were presented with several options, including
extending the current moratorium on dispensaries through June 2011,
creating local regulations and an oversight board or putting the issue
before voters as a ballot measure.

A majority of council members said the City and County Attorney's
Office should begin drafting a ban.

Supporters of the ban said it still would allow patients to receive
medical marijuana under the terms of Amendment 20, which state voters
approved in 2000. Caregivers would be able to grow a limited amount of
marijuana for up to five patients.

Council members believe a proposed ban will survive legal tests and
comply with voters' wishes.

"Given what I understood Amendment 20 to be about, it didn't have
anything to do with medical marijuana dispensaries or creating a new
business model," Mayor Pro Tem Walt Spader said.

Some council members viewed the ban as a stance against crime and
underage drug use, which they believe would increase around
dispensaries.

"I would not sleep at night if I had any part in making medical
marijuana any more available to the youth of this county,"
Councilwoman Lori Cox said.

With two council votes and public hearings remaining, the ban is not a
fait accompli, and even if it passes, Broomfield residents could
suspend it if they launch a successful petition effort. It would take
about 1,000 signatures to do so, Tuthill said. The signatures would
have to be gathered within weeks of council approving the ordinance,
so a deadline for opponents has not been set.

The option of asking voters if they supported a ban was met with tepid
support. Councilman Sam Taylor, who was the only council member to
support regulating dispensaries like liquor stores, said it would be
abdicating responsibility if council didn't take a stand.

"This is our decision, for good or ill. We need to deal with it,"
Taylor said.

Broomfield's current moratorium on dispensaries will run out Aug.
21.

Whether the measure will shut down Broomfield's only known medical
marijuana provider is unclear.

Chuck Teeples runs North Metro Caregivers out of his home in the Front
Range mobile home park. He grows pot for 15 to 16 clients who have
been prescribed marijuana by doctors and have registered with the state.

Teeples does not believe the ban would apply to him because he is a
nonprofit caregiver, not a for-profit dispensary, he said.

"I lose money every time I turn around. I've never made a penny off
this," Teeples said.

North Metro Caregivers came to City Council's attention in December,
after Teeples' home was robbed.

Teeples has continued operating despite the moratorium. He said he has
been visited by police and code enforcement officers and has remodeled
his home to comply with city codes. Teeples also said he no longer
grows marijuana at his home.

"I've done everything they've been asking me to," he
said.

Tuthill said he was not aware North Metro Caregivers remained in
operation, but he believes it violates the dispensary moratorium and
municipal code.

WHAT'S NEXT

City Council will vote on the proposed medical marijuana dispensary
ban at its July 13 meeting. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in City
Council Chambers at the City and County Building, 1 DesCombes Drive.