OPINIONS DIFFER ON DISPENSARIES IN MINTURN

Some Say The Time Is Right To Allow Pot Shops In Minturn; Others Say
They Don't Belong In Town

MINTURN, Colorado -- Legalize it.

That's how some people feel about pot shops in Minturn.

"We need the tax revenue in Minturn," resident Bill Horak he said. "It
would probably get more tax revenue than any other business in Minturn."

That's one reason why Horak, 48, plans to vote in favor of allowing
medical marijuana dispensaries in town. Minturn residents will see the
issue on the November ballot.

Horak thinks medical marijuana has a place in Minturn as long as the
shop is discrete.

"You don't want to have a flashing sign out there," Horak said. "You
don't want the storefront to be such that it's promoting it
(marijuana) to children."

Some people in town aren't sold on the idea.

Resident Dan Matney, 56, said he's aware of situations where people
are abusing medical marijuana.

"I want to be open minded to medical uses but I think it's not being
regulated well enough yet," he said.

Matney, a pastor for New Life Assembly of God Church in Avon, plans to
vote against the dispensaries. He questions whether the town has the
resources to regulate them.

"Do we have enough law enforcement and enough manpower for code
inspections to make sure it's being used only for legitimate
purposes?" he said.

Other people are worried about the customers dispensaries could
attract.

"Scuzbags," Lewis Neskimen said.

Neskimen, 68, owns a janitorial company in the Meadow Mountain
Business Park. He's heard about armed robberies at dispensaries in
Denver and doesn't want that kind of trouble in the business park.

"I think it would bring in too many elements I don't want here," he
said.

Elsewhere in the business park, Nicole Dais welcomes the idea of pot
shops. She owns The Sole Man shoe repair.

"I think everybody would end up getting a lot more business from the
foot traffic that would come through," she said.

In fact, Dais said her store is for sale and she would be open to
selling it to a dispensary.

"They can open it right here and I'll even work here," she
said.

Likewise, a number of Minturn residents are comfortable with the idea
of dispensaries in town.

"It's ridiculous that it's still illegal to smoke marijuana," Matte
Owls said.

The 27-year-old bartender said some people in town think the
dispensaries will draw seedy people, but they have the wrong idea
about the market.

"I think pretty much everybody smokes weed," he said. "It's not that
big of a deal anymore."

Fellow Minturn resident Curtis Groth, 51, said he has a medical
marijuana card for pain in his knee and shoulder. He currently drives
to a dispensary in Eagle-Vail.

"It's not that far but it would be a lot more convenient just having
one in town," he said.

Minturn could become the second town in Eagle County to approve
dispensaries. The town of Eagle OK'd them while Avon, Gypsum and Vail
banned them. Eagle County plans to put the issue to a citizens' vote
in November.

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Ballot question

"Shall the operation and licensing of medical marijuana centers,
optional premises cultivation operations, and medical
marijuana-infused products manufacturers be prohibited in the town of
Minturn, Colorado?"

One Minturn councilman wants to repeal the ballot question.

Jerry Bumgarner says pot dispensaries conflict with federal laws that
say marijuana is illegal.

"I'm opposed to putting it on the ballot because we're asking the
citizens to do something that's illegal," he said.

He plans to air his concerns at the Oct. 6 council
meeting.

Bumgarner says council members take an oath vowing to uphold all laws,
including federal laws.

"Why make a pledge if you don't honor the pledge?" he said. "We are
supposed to support the laws of the high flying flag of the United
States, whether we like it or not."

Councilwoman Shelley Bellm stands by her vote to put the matter on the
ballot.

"The Colorado voters approved legalizing the sale of medical marijuana
and I thought it would only be fair to have the Minturn residents also
decide whether or not they want it in the community," she said.