COUNTY LIFTS MARIJUANA MORATORIUM

Existing Medical Operations Get Opportunity For State
Sanction

La Plata County commissioners on Tuesday voted to temporarily lift a
moratorium on medical marijuana operations, giving existing operators
a shot at remaining open while state regulations are drafted.

Had commissioners left the temporary suspension on land-use
development in place, operators would have missed the July 1 deadline
when they must prove to the state that they have local approval or
have applied for it.

The county Planning Department will begin accepting applications at 8
a.m. today and will take them until 5 p.m. June 30, when the
moratorium goes back into place.

Commissioner Kellie Hotter voted against lifting the moratorium while
commissioners Wally White and Joelle Riddle voted for it.

Riddle's decision was informed by her position on the state Board of
Health, which has been heavily involved in the issue on a state
level, but also by her personal experience.

"I have a son who has cerebral palsy, and should he choose at some
point to become a member of the registry," he should have a safe
reliable way to access (medical marijuana), she said.

Colorado voters legalized medical marijuana in 2000, but marijuana
operations didn't start emerging in local communities until last year
when the Obama administration announced it would not seek to
prosecute individuals who are complying with state laws, although
medical marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

State lawmakers slammed together a law last session that sets new
rules for growing and selling medical marijuana. The law, signed by
the governor earlier this month, has the state and local governments
sharing regulatory authority.

On this new stage, state and local governments are rushing full tilt
to draft their rules - all of which could become moot if the federal
government changes its position.

Although for a limited time the county will accept applications for
land-use permits for medical marijuana operations, it does not yet
have a process for reviewing or approving them.

Over the coming months, those will be drafted - a process County
Attorney Sheryl Rogers said will likely take hundreds of hours of
attorney time.

Hotter noted the hefty expense it will represent in times of
shortage.

"This is no small venture," she said.

Riddle said it was nonetheless obligatory.

"That is our job as government to put these things in place," she
said.

Many medical marijuana entrepreneurs have pointed out the potential
economic benefits to communities in the form of jobs and tax revenue.

But Hotter said even economic development, of which she has been a
strong champion, doesn't always get a free pass.

"We wouldn't as a community allow a coal-fired power plant to plop
down in the middle of our community just because it was going to
bring us extensive revenues or hire a lot of people," she said.

Hotter said she would like to see county residents vote on whether
commercial medical marijuana operations should be allowed.

The state law gives communities the power to prohibit centers in
their boundaries - Bayfield trustees did just that - but communities
cannot ban the use of medical marijuana or its administration by
"caregivers," which require no local license so long as they provide
medical marijuana to no more than five patients.

Riddle, however, said the voters had spoken.

"The positive, responsible behavior I think at this juncture would be
to regulate and to own up to the fact that medical marijuana has been
legalized for use by patients, and we have at least 1,500 registered
in La Plata County," she said.

Riddle said Congress needs to weigh in and clarify matters at the
federal level.

"We need to stress that those who are in federal office get off their
heinies and make some good decisions," she said to applause.

Before voting, commissioners heard about two hours of public
testimony from people for and against lifting the moratorium.

Ann Mooney, who ran an Ignacio motorcycle shop with her husband,
Steve, strongly opposed lifting the moratorium, saying the operations
drive down property values and attract crime.

She cited an ad she recently saw in The Durango Herald touting a
property with a secure site for growing medical marijuana.

"How cavalier is that? It's an atmosphere of anything goes," she
said.

Victor Figueroa, executive director of student support services for
Durango School District 9-R, said school officials are wary.

"We are concerned when anything comes across that may increase our
youths' ability to access drugs," he said.

But grower Jocko McGregor argued that maintaining the moratorium
would only fuel a black market.

"I may have to go out of business. The guy who takes my place may not
be as good-footed as me. And someone will take my place," he said.

Currently, most growers in the county are operating as home-based
businesses, which does not require a county permit.

Grower Paul Coffey said regulations would move those businesses out
of homes and onto farms or into commercial space.

"Growing in a home is just ridiculous. No one wants to do that," he
said.

By creating a local permitting process, the county makes it possible
for operators to get the state's blessing to remain in business until
the final state regulations are in place in July 2011. At that time,
all centers - existing and aspiring - will have to apply under the
same process.

County officials said they expect to revamp their rules once the
state regulations are in place.

"It wouldn't be a complete do over probably," Rogers
said.

White said state lawmakers likely had urban areas in mind in crafting
the new medical marijuana law.

"I don't know that they considered the impact on a rural community
like this," he said.

Despite the rushed and imperfect process, he said he supported
commercial operations in the county, but with limits.

"I think it's incumbent on us to try to get some guidelines," he
said.