COUNTY PREPARES BAN ON MARIJUANA CENTERS

The Board of County Commissioners would have to set a special meeting
before Sept. 3 if they want to put retail medical marijuana
businesses before county voters in November.

Sept. 3 is the deadline for getting ballot questions to the county
elections department for inclusion on the November ballot.

But there are zero chances of commissioners doing that following the
BoCC meeting on Aug. 16.

After a discussion at that meeting of the "medical marijuana" issues
raised by the recently passed Colorado House Bill 1284, the Delta
County Commissioners are prepared to ban retail sales of medical
marijuana and also growing of the substance for commercial sale.

Under HB1284, which went into effect July 1, units of local
government including towns, cities, and counties may make their own
decisions about having retail marijuana businesses operate within
their jurisdictions.

The Delta BoCC in its discussions Aug. 16 was careful and specific on
making a clear distinction between HB 1284 and the state
constitutional Amendment 20. That amendment, approved by state voters
in 2000, gives legitimate medical patients the right of access to
marijuana for use to treat symptoms of a doctor verified medical
condition. The county commissioners expressed their full support of
Amendment 20. County commission chair Jan McCracken said, "As far as
Amendment 20 goes, we recognize that and respect that."

But in the commissioners' view, the types of retail businesses
authorized by HB1284 that would cater to a medical marijuana market
serve no purpose in the unincorporated areas of Delta County.

HB1284 has no bearing whatsoever on Colorado's Amendment 20, which
allows supervised use of marijuana by physician-certified medical patients.

Marijuana dispensaries (known as "medical marijuana centers") that
sell packaged marijuana for direct consumption, and businesses that
sell other products that contain marijuana, would be banned under a
resolution the commissioners directed the county attorney to draft.
Marijuana growing operations associated with dispensaries and other
retail marijuana businesses would also be banned.

The new state law has created a maze of complex interactions
involving Amendment 20, state voters' original intent in approving
Amendment 20. The current situation of dispensaries existing in legal
limbo while selling medical marijuana under a widely abused system of
patient certification is the result of lax federal enforcement of
federal laws. Marijuana is still a controlled substance under federal
law, but feds are not enforcing their own rules.

McCracken observed that the more someone tries to sort out the
interlocked and complex issues raised by HB1284, the more confusing
and difficult effective action by local authorities becomes.

She said that she is in favor of an outright ban on the medical
marijuana businesses dealt with under HB1284.

Commissioner Olen Lund agreed, but had his own reasons for doing so.
"My reasoning is that if it's illegal on the federal level, then
there are a lot of things that need to be sorted out between federal
and state," Lund said.

Commissioner Bruce Hovde saw serious law enforcement issues arising
from pot shops in the county and agreed saying, "Let's just ban it."

The BoCC acknowledged that an outright ban on medical marijuana
businesses in the unincorporated areas of the county would not affect
availability of the substance under Amendment 20 to legitimate
medical patients who are truly helped by its effects.

Listening in on the commissioners' discussion was county
administrator Susan Hansen. She asked, "Are you planning to adopt
your resolution anytime soon?"

The commissioners were prepared to do so the same afternoon, but the
county's legal staff was scheduled for court appearances all
afternoon and didn't have time to draft the necessary resolution.

So, the county attorney was instructed to proceed with drafting the
resolution for the commissioners to consider at their next meeting.
The resolution would apply only in the unincorporated areas of the
county. As discussed, it would impose a ban on dispensaries (also
known as medical marijuana centers); on businesses that sell
products, including soaps, lotions and food products that contain
marijuana; and on the growing of marijuana for commercial sale.

Imposing the ban would mean that any municipality in the county that
allows a retail marijuana business to open under the provisions of
HB1284 would also consider allowing within its boundaries a growing
operation to supply it. Otherwise, the dispensary would have to go to
a different town or county to grow its pot for sale, as required under HB1284.