VAIL BANS MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Town Leaders Say Shops Don't Belong in Family Resort Community

VAIL - The town of Vail doesn't want pot shops in its resort
community. The Vail Town Council voted Tuesday night to ban medical
marijuana dispensaries effective immediately- a move made possible by
a bill Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law last month.

The bill gives local governments the right to regulate and allow
dispensaries - to put the measure on the November ballot for voters to
decide or ban them all together.

Vail Town Council members said at a June 1 meeting they would ban the
businesses once Ritter signed the law allowing it, citing the shops
have no business operating in a destination ski resort town.

The town approved a 180-day moratorium on dispensaries on Jan. 19 in
order to wait for the Colorado General Assembly to decide on how the
state would regulate the medical-marijuana industry. The moratorium
prevented any dispensaries from opening within the town.

Councilwoman Margaret Rogers was the only dissenting council member.
She said the town could regulate the dispensaries, keep them in
certain parts of town and, more importantly, collect tax revenues from
the businesses.

Rogers spoke with city of Boulder officials last week who expect to
have an additional $250,000 in sales tax revenues from dispensaries
within one year, Rogers said.

"That's a lot of money," Rogers said. "We are always looking to
generate revenue without having to increase sales taxes and lodging
taxes and real estate taxes."

Mayor Dick Cleveland said that the 546 current medical marijuana
cardholders in Eagle County make up less than one percent of the
population - not compelling enough to see the need for dispensaries
within Vail.

He said if people in town have to drive to Walmart to buy necessities
such as underwear, it shouldn't be that inconvenient for marijuana
cardholders to drive downvalley, too.

"This shouldn't be seen as a referendum on medical marijuana (in
general)," Cleveland said. "That's not what this is about."