MEDICAL MARIJUANA BAN ON BALLOT

County Commissioners Put Medical Pot Ban On Ballot

El Paso County residents will get to vote in November whether medical
marijuana dispensaries, grow operations and manufacturers of
marijuana-infused products should be banned in unincorporated areas.

After a lengthy discussion and more public testimony, the
commissioners voted 4-1 Thursday to place the question to the ballot.

"This is an issue that goes to the heart of legalized marijuana in El
Paso County," said Commissioner Amy Lathen. "I support going to the
people and abiding by their will in this matter."

Commissioner Jim Bensberg cast the lone dissenting vote, saying that
county commissioners should decide the issue.

"It won't affect my life one bit if we ban marijuana," he said. "But
we ought to have the political courage to decide this issue in one
way or another."

In an unusual twist, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa spoke in
support of grandfathering in the existing 76 businesses.

Having spent most of his career putting drug dealers in jail, Maketa
acknowledged that he found himself in an "odd" position by advocating
for existing marijuana businesses.

"I think there needs to be fairness here. Individuals who have made
investments should not be lumped with those who sell marijuana out
the back door."

Maketa was also concerned that a ban would push the county's
marijuana businesses, now mostly located in business parks, into
neighborhoods and create greater difficulties for law enforcement.

"I hate to hear myself say this, but it could create a bigger problem
and more unintended consequences," Maketa said.

Commissioner Sallie Clark, who has seen an explosion of medical
marijuana facilities in her west-side district, also supported a
grandfather clause.

"If we put something on the ballot that doesn't allow the grandfather
provision, we'll push these dispensaries into the cities," she said.

Clark introduced a substitute motion that would have added the
grandfather clause to the ballot question, but the vote was 4 to 1 against her.

Commissioner Wayne Williams, who sided with Lathen on the issue, said
he had done a lot of research on the question, including field visits
to some "professional and not so professional" facilities.

Williams said operators of dispensaries and grow operations had been
warned last December when the county adopted land-use regulations
that there were no guarantees that they would be allowed to remain open.

If voters approve the ban, medical marijuana facilities in the
unincorporated parts of the county will have until May 31, 2011, to close shop.

Williams said that date was selected in the event that a similar ban
gets on the city ballot next April.

"We don't want someone to have to move their business twice," he explained.

Medical Marijuana Ballot Question

"Shall medical marijuana centers, medical marijuana-infused products
manufacturers, and optional premises cultivation operations be
prohibited in unincorporated El Paso County, and shall medical
marijuana land uses legally existing under the El Paso County land
development code be required to cease operation on or before May 31,
2011, leaving intact the constitutional protection for medical
marijuana patients and primary caregivers provided by Article XVIII,
Section 14, of the Colorado Constitution?