FORT COLLINS AS A HUB FOR POT USERS? CITY OFFICIALS SAY NO

Fort Collins isn't trying to establish itself as a regional hub for
medical-marijuana users, the mayor and other officials insist.

But critics say that by allowing as many as 23 dispensaries to
continue operating, even though most violate distance requirements
from churches and schools, city leaders have done just that.

They also say the city should cap the number of medical-marijuana
businesses in town.

"My main concern is that we're saying this a medication with no
harmful side effects," said Scoot Crandall, executive director of Team
Fort Collins, which fights substance abuse among kids. "We're already
seeing use rates among young people go up, and pot is not compatible
with the healthy development of the brain."

Most of the restrictions Fort Collins is putting on medical-marijuana
businesses are tougher than what the state requires, said Mayor Doug
Hutchinson.

Hutchinson voted with the 5-2 majority last week to grandfather in
medical-cannabis businesses that are already operating in the city or
are in the process of getting a license.

"One of our main goals was that we were going to follow the law in a
way that helps avoid the possibility that Fort Collins would become a
growth-and-distribution center for medical marijuana," Hutchinson
said. "And I think we have been pretty faithful to that in many ways."

One ordinance limits any applicant to two medical-marijuana-center
licenses in the city. The city will also keep on the books rules
requiring medical-pot businesses to stay 1,000 feet from schools and
other marijuana businesses and 500 feet from colleges, parks and
places of worship.

Detractors point out, however, that only two existing
medical-marijuana businesses adhere to those distancing
requirements.

But Hutchinson said he and other council members toured several of the
businesses and found none was a threat to any of the facilities cited
in the ordinances.

"I think Fort Collins is taking this issue very seriously, and so far
I think we are in reasonably good shape," Hutchinson said.

Councilman Wade Troxell, who cast one of the dissenting votes, said
the existing medical-cannabis businesses are making a "mockery" of the
city's distancing requirements.

Because several neighboring communities have banned medical-marijuana
businesses, Troxell said, patients will stream into Fort Collins. A
district judge is scheduled to rule next week on Loveland's
voter-approved ban of medical-cannabis businesses.

"Frankly, this leaves the door wide open in Fort Collins," Troxell
said. "And I worry about the impact that will have on future
generations in this city."