BROOMFIELD MEDICAL POT BAN UP FOR FIRST VOTE ON TUESDAY

City Council will vote on the proposed medical marijuana dispensary
ban at its Tuesday meeting. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in City
Council Chambers at the City and County Building, 1 DesCombes Drive.
City Council on Tuesday is set to take its first vote on banning
medical marijuana dispensaries in Broomfield.

Last month, council members were presented with several options,
including extending a 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 draft a ban.

Supporters of the ban said it 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.

Tuesday's vote will be the first of two on the ban. 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, City and County Attorney Bill Tuthill said last month. The
signatures would have to be gathered within weeks of council
approving the ordinance, so a deadline for opponents has not been set.

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