COUNTY DECIDES MONDAY WHETHER MEDICAL POT GOES TO VOTERS

Mesa County commissioners will decide Monday whether to put a question
on the November ballot asking voters if they want to ban medical
marijuana centers in unincorporated areas of the county.

New state law gives local governments the leeway to prohibit medical
marijuana centers, grow operations and the manufacture of
marijuana-infused products or let voters decide those issues.

The board voted 2-1 in July to reserve a spot on the ballot. Polled by
The Daily Sentinel on Friday, commissioners sounded as though they
could split again when they hold a public hearing and vote Monday.
Individual citizens are welcome to comment during Monday's hearing,
which begins at 9 a.m. in the public hearing room of the county
courthouse, 544 Rood Ave., the county said in a news release.

Commissioner Janet Rowland, who voted against the place-holder last
month, said she doesn't believe there should be a ballot question.

Rowland said she didn't vote for Amendment 20, the measure approved in
2000 that permitted marijuana use for medicinal purposes, because she
believed that right would be abused. But she said elected officials
can't pick and choose which parts of the constitution they want to
support.

"I don't support allowing small parts of the state in various counties
to kind of mob rule, where if you live in our area, you're not going
to have the ability to exercise your constitutional right to use
(medical marijuana)," Rowland said.

She said the county would be better off waiting to see how new
regulations adopted by state lawmakers pan out.

"I would rather have a half-dozen, large facilities in commercial
areas operate during business hours rather than having 75 or 100
little grow projects in various neighborhoods," she said.

Commissioner Steve Acquafresca, on the other hand, said he sees no
risk to placing a question on the ballot.

He said he made a concerted effort in the last month to talk to a
variety of community members to gauge their opinions on the issue. He
said some people want medical marijuana dispensaries to continue to
operate as they do now with little or no change. More people prefer
for commissioners to ban dispensaries, he said.

But Acquafresca, who voted in favor of the place-holder, said the
greatest number of citizens he talked to want the opportunity to
decide the matter themselves.

"The great majority of folks that provided feedback are making it very
clear that they believe the community should be able to determine its
own destiny and what this community is going to look like in the
future," he said.

Commissioner Craig Meis, who sided with Acquafresca in approving the
place-holder, said he hasn't made up his mind.

"Quite frankly, I'm still looking into it," Meis said.