OURAY BOCC HOLDS WORKSHOP TO DISCUSS MEDICAL MARIJUANA
OPTIONS

RIDGWAY -- The Ouray Board of County Commissioners met in Ridgway
Tuesday, Aug. 3, to discuss the county's options on medical marijuana.

County Attorney Mary Deganhart told the two commissioners present,
Keith Meinert and Heidi Albritton, that the county can pursue one of
several alternatives, from an outright ban on dispensaries and
marijuana growing operations to undertaking the regulation of these
potential new businesses to putting the question to the voters in November.

Commissioners stressed that they were dealing only with unincorporated
areas of the county. Their decisions and actions would not effect the
decisions of the towns of Ridgway (which has moved ahead with
regulation, including zoning and future licensing) and Ouray (which is
still in the midst of heated debate on the subject).

Nor would the county's decision-making effect the status of any
medical marijuana care provider or legitimate card-holder patient.

Something needs to be done, Meinert said, before a state-mandated
deadline of July 1, 2011, when, absent any county action, state law
will become county law.

Questions remained in both commissioners' minds about the state's
ability to inspect, tax, and regulate medical marijuana, its grow-ops,
and its food-infused products. "I sell mind-altering substances,"
Albritton said of her restaurant and bar. "But the quality issues, the
health issues of the products are strictly regulated, inspected by the
state." Will the state similarly monitor and inspect marijuana operations?

The idea of placing medical marijuana regulation on the ballot didn't
sit well with Meinert. "In a representative democracy," he said, "if
it's about regulation, I don't think it should go to a ballot
initiative. If it's a moral question or a political question, that
would be OK, yes. But if it's a practical concern, like regulation,
no." He added, "A ballot-initiative ban does not give us the option to
change it."

Albritton's primary concern was the time and resources it would take
for the county to draft potential regulation when they are already
involved in revisions to the land use code on visual impacts, among
other projects. The potential for controversial code revisions in
light of the county's "right to farm" statute also concerned her.
"Does the public want us to take this on as a priority?" she asked.

Attorney Deganhart passed around a chart showing that only two of
Colorado's counties, San Miguel and Boulder, had started down the
regulation path. All others had either gone with a moratorium or an
outright ban.

The commissioners concluded that a wait-and-see approach was probably
best and that a BOCC ban on applications for any medical marijuana
business, to be revisited in two years, say, when things at the sate
level had settled, would be a good approach.

They agreed to put the topic on the agenda for the Aug. 23 regular
board meeting with all options, including a ballot measure and an
outright ban, on the table.

One audience member, Nick Sanchez, said that he had recently paid the
state application fee of $7,500 for a potential marijuana grow-op in
Ouray County. "That fee is non-refundable, if you don't get approved,"
Sanchez said.

"It is only fair for us," Albritton concluded, "to come to some sort
of resolution."