SHERIFF TAKES AN HONORABLE STAND

Maketa Says Pot Moratorium Would Do Harm

Monument Police Chief Jacob Shirk is a respectable, qualified lawman
and a person of integrity. He would have made a good sheriff. But he
didn't stand a chance in his recent primary race against Sheriff Terry
Maketa.

Maketa won by a landslide because he serves with honor and there was
no reason to throw him out. Maketa has been honest with the public,
letting people know they are their best first-line of defense against
crime. He has encouraged law-abiding individuals to learn about guns
and consider obtaining concealed handgun permits. He has stated his
refusal to jail anyone who violates a campus weapons ban, thus placing
priority on the rights of students to protect themselves against
predators. As others whined about resources, Maketa stepped up to
resolve the region's seemingly intractable need for a detoxification
facility.

Maketa's integrity was on display again Thursday, in front of the El
Paso County Board of Commissioners. The board voted 4-1 to indulge
political opportunism by placing a moratorium on medical marijuana
stores on the November ballot. By doing so, commissioners probably
hoped to establish their anti-drug credentials. Only Commissioner Jim
Bensberg declined to support the measure.

All over Colorado, leading cops and prosecutors have done their best
to close medical marijuana stores. None has explained how banning
taxpaying, regulated dispensaries will prevent the enrichment of the
old black market trade that devours public resources and despises
medical marijuana stores. Most just know that opposing the stores may
appear anti-drug to the electorate.

Despite the fact that nearly everyone else in top law enforcement
publicly hates marijuana stores, Maketa spoke truth. He said a ban
would push the trade out of business parks and into neighborhoods,
creating difficulties for law enforcement.

"It could create a bigger problem and more unintended consequences,"
Maketa said.

He told commissioners that any ballot issue seeking a ban on stores
should come with a grandfather clause.

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

Commissioner Sallie Clark proposed Maketa's suggested grandfather
clause, but her motion was defeated.

Fortunately, it's hard to imagine voters approving a county
moratorium. It would be in their own worst interest to create more
criminal, underground drug dealing by outlawing taxpaying, regulated,
store-front sellers.

Sheriff Maketa could have stood with most ranking law enforcers in
Colorado and a majority of his own county's politicians. Instead, he
took a genuinely anti-drug stance by defending a lawful trade - one
that's destroying a criminal black market that has long enjoyed a
government-protected monopoly. Other politicians should learn from
Sheriff Maketa. Few have won primaries by 3-to-1 margins. Voters crave
politicians with integrity and honor.

- - Wayne Laugesen , editorial page editor, for the editorial board.