MINTURN MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW STILL IN THE WORKS

The Soonest a Shop Could Open Would Be Next Year, in One Spot In
Town

MINTURN, Colorado -- Voters last year essentially asked the Minturn
Town Council to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in town. Nearly
nine months later, the council hasn't yet voted on a measure that
would allow those businesses, for a number of reasons.

The main stumbling block has been the evolution of Colorado's medical
marijuana regulations. While Colorado voters approved a medical
marijuana law in 2000, it took a 2009 edict from the U.S. Department
of Justice that it wouldn't prosecute medical marijuana businesses
under federal law for business in the state to take off.

Since then, the business picked up significantly, and state and local
lawmakers have been working to catch up with the growth in the
industry ever since. The Colorado Legislature has spent time the last
two years creating and refining medical marijuana regulations. The
2010 legislature passed regulations that allow towns and counties to
ban the businesses. Put on the local ballot last fall, a majority of
both county and Minturn voters told local governments they wanted
dispensaries.

So town staff has been working for the past several months on a
proposed ordinance, using models from other communities and waiting to
see how state law evolves. But there are other complications. First,
the town has an ordinance on the books that requires all businesses in
town to comply with both state and federal law. Since marijuana
possession and sale for any reason remains a federal crime, the Town
Council will have to resolve that conflict.

Then there's the fact that the council was narrowly split on putting
the issue on the ballot last year, putting the question to voters by a
4-3 margin.

Minturn Town Council member George Brodin said he believes the town
should have banned dispensaries outright, as state law permitted,
without going to the voters first. Brodin was clear that he opposes
the idea of medical marijuana in Minturn. But if an ordinance passes,
he wants it to be as tightly-crafted as possible.

"For the people who use it and benefit from it -- God bless - Brodin
said. "But they can buy it somewhere else."

Council member Earle Bidez said he also wants any town ordinance to
well-written, and very restrictive about licensing and location. But,
he said, he believes that given the result of last fall's ballot
measure, the Town Council is obligated to not just draft, but pass, an
ordinance.

"It's expected of us, so we should allow it," Bidez said. "And this is
an ordinace for medical marijuana, not recreational marijuana."

And, while the town's taking its time creating a legal framework for
dispensaries, there's currently a state moratorium on any new
applications for dispensary licenses, so the earliest the town could
even receive an application is July of next year.

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FOUR QUESTIONS

Why is the council debating medical marijuana? Town voters last year
rejected a ballot measure that would have banned dispensaries in town.

Was the vote close? Not particularly. The vote was 191-125 in favor of
allowing dispensaries in town.

Where might a shop be located? The ordinance being crafted now would
limit a dispensary business to the Meadow Mountain Businss Center
between downtown and Dowd Junction.

Could a dispensary open soon? No. In a perfect world, a business
couldn't even apply for a license until July of next year.