COUNTY GIVES MEDICAL MARIJUANA CENTERS EASY ROUTE TO STAY OPEN

While City Council is divided over whether to allow medical marijuana
centers in the city, Pueblo County commissioners are making it easy
for those businesses already operating in the county to stay open
until zoning regulations for marijuana centers are completed.

The commissioners voted Tuesday morning to adopt a policy where
medical marijuana centers currently in the county can file a simple
pre-license application with the county planning department on or
before Thursday. According to Gary Raso, the county's attorney on land
use matters, that application will satisfy new state regulations that
say marijuana centers must have some form of local government approval
to continue to operate through July 2011, when state licenses will be
available.

The commissioners have expressed some concern that marijuana centers
that have obtained county business licenses not be shut down simply
because the Legislature decided not to make state licenses available
for a year.

"All we will do is accept the dated license application," Raso told
the commissioners. "That does not constitute any formal approval by
the county or waive any zoning restrictions to those businesses. But
it will satisfy the state's July 1 deadline."

The commissioners also extended their formal moratorium on approving
any marijuana centers until Aug. 16, when the county planning
department will present draft zoning regulations on where those
centers can be located.

Planning Director Kim Headley said he knows of four centers currently
operating in the county and two of them would probably have to move if
the commissioners adopt the "Our (future) land use regulations may
ultimately exclude these businesses at their current locations," Raso
emphasized to the commissioners.

Commission Chairman Jeff Chostner, who is running for re-election this
year, said he remained uncomfortable with the state authorizing
medical marijuana while the federal government continued to outlaw
it.

"I'm willing to go down this road a little further as we prepare our
regulations, but cities and counties are all over the place in trying
to figure out how to deal with this," Chostner said.

One of those cities that is divided on the question is Pueblo's City
Council, which will consider an ordinance on July 12 that would have
city voters decide the question of whether to allow marijuana centers
in the city limits.While a majority of council appears to want to push
ahead with adopting licensing and zoning regulations, Councilwomen
Judy Weaver and Vera Ortegon are pushing for city voters to have the
last word at the Nov. 2 election.

That idea -- of asking county voters to do the same -- did not appeal
to the commissioners Tuesday.

"I'm not in favor of another vote on this. State voters have already
had their say and another vote would only confuse the issue further,"
Chostner said, with agreement from Commissioners Anthony Nunez and
John Cordova.