MEDICAL POT FARMS NEED SOLID OVERSIGHT

Neighbors of the Szymanski Farm north of Longmont aren't happy about
the possibility the farm could in the future become home to a medical
marijuana growing operation. That's understandable.

Boulder County commissioners in early June restricted businesses that
sell, grow or distribute medical marijuana to commercial, industrial
and transitional zoning districts. That ruled out cultivating the
plant on agricultural land in the county.

But before that vote, one property owner and one prospective property
owner applied for permission for grow operations on ag lands. The
prospective owner of the Szymanski Farm, a city councilman in Laramie,
Wyo., says he doesn't have plans to grow medical marijuana on the
farm, but he wants to have the right to, which he says would protect
his potential investment by having the land available for that use.

The question is whether that's the best use for the land, which for
years housed an organic egg operation. The farm's neighbors are
understandably concerned about the negative effects on their property
and their lives, including worries about security.

Since the medical marijuana industry started mushrooming a year or so
ago, cities, counties and the state have wrestled with how to regulate
it. The state Legislature in its session earlier this year weighed in
with laws governing the industry, but much of the regulation has yet
to be determined.

The county commissioners were right to restrict grow operations. Those
that are approved should be done so only with provisions that protect
the security and rights of neighbors.