COUNCIL PONDERS MARIJ

City Might Extend Moratorium on Medical Pot Sites

Cortez City Council members might decide to hold their ground as the
tectonic plates of state and federal medical marijuana policy
continually shift underfoot.

Up for first reading tonight is a proposed ordinance to extend a
moratorium preventing any further grow facilities and medical
marijuana retailers - now known as "medical centers" - from opening in
Cortez.

City Attorney Mike Green and City Manager Jay Harrington suggested the
moratorium extension until July 2012 to the council at a May 10
workshop meeting, saying the city should wait to take further action
until state and federal policy settle into place and a licensing
system is established.

In addition, Harrington suggested the city of Cortez wait to see what
policies other municipalities put in place and how those play out. He
said there are often unintended consequences.

"I think we're in a good place by kind of watching and waiting to see
what some of the other municipalities are doing," he told the council
at the workshop.

A handful of centers already existing in Cortez, as well as
caregivers, will not be directly impacted by the proposed city ordinance.

Paul Coffey, owner of Beacon Wellness Group in Cortez, told the
council he supported the moratorium extension. He said his business
has been pro-active and has gone above and beyond the requirements in
security measures at the center.

Since medical marijuana centers came to Cortez last year, there have
been three medical marijuana center burglaries reported - one of which
the alleged suspects were caught. No violent crimes have been
attributed to presence of the centers.

In May of last year, the council issued an emergency ordinance
declaring a moratorium on the issuance of further sales tax licenses
on medical marijuana centers. The moratorium was extended by another
emergency ordinance in July, at which time the council voted 5-2
against a motion by councilor Tom Butler to send to voters the issue
of allowing medical marijuana centers within the city limits.

A concern at the time, Harrington said, was that if centers were not
allowed in the city, more product would be distributed by caregivers -
which are currently more difficult to regulate.

However, caregivers might be targeted under pending state legislation,
which would require them to register with the state.

In a telephone interview Friday, Coffey said if the moratorium were
not to pass, he would not mind competition from new businesses.

"In the end, competition is good for any industry," he
said.

Coffey pointed out that the approximately 123,000 medical marijuana
patients in the state are approved by the Colorado Department of
Public Health, which reviews patient medical history. Patients are not
approved by physicians or center owners, he said.

The state of Colorado has taken the most active role on medical
marijuana policy. In a March 18 article, The Denver Post reported the
state is forming an entire new agency to enforce medical marijuana
policy, which could rival the size and budget of the Colorado Bureau
of Investigation.

The Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division hopes to have 27
investigators and has already collected $8.9 million in revenues from
growers, sellers and makers of edible products.

A study by financial firm See Change Strategies projected medical
marijuana will become a $1.7 billion market this year.

Although U.S. Attorney John F. Walsh said in April medical marijuana
may be distributed by caregivers without fear of prosecution from the
federal government, medical marijuana centers may be prosecuted for
trafficking under federal law.

"It is states' rights versus the federal government," Green told the
council. "So it's the 150th anniversary of the Civil War; we're
revisiting these same kinds of issues."

However, the federal government's bark seems to have been greater than
its bite when it comes to prosecuting marijuana crimes of any kind in
the state.

In a Wednesday article, The Denver Post reported that between 2008 and
2010, fewer than 10 marijuana-specific cases were pursued by federal
prosecutors in the state.

In Oct. of 2009, the U.S. Justice Department issued a memorandum
urging prosecutors to not expend resources targeting individuals in
clear compliance of state medical marijuana laws, which was seen as a
green light for the development of the industry.

As it currently stands, the proposed city ordinance is set for final
reading June 14 and would extend the moratorium until June 30. 2012.