COUNCIL REJECTS BLACK MARKET POT

City Says No To Radical MMJ Restrictions

The Colorado Springs City Council deserves enormous accolades for
resisting the temptation to politically grandstand by sending a phony
anti-drug message and casting votes to "save the children" from that
which doesn't threaten them.

The council rejected a Byzantine list of proposed medical marijuana
retail recommendations that came from its own planning commission. The
commission invited special interests - including churches, colleges
and preschools - to push for a 1,000-foot buffer zone that would
exclude medical marijuana businesses. It was a proposal that made
proponents appear anti-drug on the surface, but in truth it was
anything but an anti-drug idea. It was a proposal that stood to
benefit the images of commission members while jeopardizing those it
was purported to protect.

The buffer and other proposals of the planning commission would have
immediately put 60 medical marijuana businesses out of business, thus
causing financial ruin for owners and investors and putting employees
out of work. It would have deprived City Hall of substantial revenues
in the form of fees and sales taxes paid by legal and regulated
marijuana stores.

Far worse, it would have once again empowered black market marijuana
dealers who have absolutely no compunction with selling marijuana to
children. Licensed, taxpaying, regulated medical marijuana businesses
have hurt underground street dealers, and the above-ground retailers
do not sell marijuana to kids. They would be caught, and they have
everything to lose. They are the people who are invested in obeying
the law.

Furthermore, the planning commission's back-door effort to close legal
medical marijuana stores was completely contrary to the will of the
public. In November's election, residents of Colorado Springs were
responsible for defeating a county-wide ballot measure that would have
banned medical marijuana businesses. A majority of the general public
is not pro-drug. But it is clear the general public prefers lawful,
regulated, tax-paying marijuana dispensaries over illegal, underground
dealers who pay nothing to fund the common good and obey nobody's rules.

"The community has voted on this, and I absolutely will support the
will of the voters," said councilman Darryl Glenn, the most
conservative member of the council and a crusader against marijuana.

Along with rejecting the radical buffer zones, the planning commission
wanted to limit the amount of space used for a grow operation. That
was a proposal to make it impossible to sustain a grow operation and
would give back the monopoly the criminal black market long enjoyed.

"I am not inclined to put any restrictions on how you configure and
use your facility. That's a business decision you have to make," said
councilman Larry Small, the vice mayor. "I'm not aware of any other
business where we have said, 'You must use your floor area in this
particular fashion."

The City Council, at least for now, has proven it's ability to act
with sanity, bravery and sharp intellect. Council members did what was
right, not what would create dishonest anti-drug "do it for the
children" facade.

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