MARIJUANA GROUP

Cortez Medical Marijuana Ad Hoc Committee starts

After more than an hour of deliberations Tuesday, the new Cortez
Medical Marijuana Ad Hoc Committee made a vote -- deciding where to start.

The committee is charged with the daunting task of determining the
best medical marijuana policy for Cortez to recommend to the city
council. With federal and state policies toward medical marijuana
continually shifting underfoot, the committee must determine what, if
any, municipal regulations to throw into the mix.

Although other Colorado municipalities have taken their own
approaches to the issue, it is plausible the committee could enter
uncharted waters for public policy.

In their first meeting, held Tuesday at City Hall, committee members
established a leadership and procedural structure, electing Mayor
Pro-Tem Matt Keefauver to chair the board and have Beacon Wellness
Group center Owner Paul Coffey serve as vice-chair.

The committee determined to limit their scope by not debating the
medical benefits of medical marijuana or "parenting" issues
surrounding the drug, but focusing instead on the limited abilities
of the city government to regulate, or not regulate, the industry.
Although the city could ban dispensaries in Cortez, individual
caregivers could continue to operate in the city under the blessing
of state law.

"A lot of this committee isn't going to have any input at all,"
committee member Garth Greenlee said, admitting he is against medical
marijuana. "I want to be working on the real stuff."

As the end of the two-hour meeting approached, the committee
ultimately decided to start small at the next meeting by exploring
land-use issues regarding the location and operation of medical
marijuana centers as well as the possibility of a licensing system.

The more challenging issue is individual medical marijuana
caregivers, which went largely unregulated in the state until House
Bill 1043 was signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper in June. The
bill requires caregivers to register cultivation sites and patients
with the state and adhere to all zoning and building codes -- opening
the door for potential municipal regulations.

Committee member Jeb Boyd said he fears that if caregivers are
overregulated, they will simply go black market.

Travis Pollock, committee member and owner of Natures Own Wellness
Center, said he believes the committee has three options when it
comes to medical marijuana centers: allow the city council to decide
their fate, put the issue on the ballot for voters or leave them
alone entirely.

Keefauver said as a city councilor, he had previously been concerned
that if centers were banned, more caregivers would emerge. Caregivers
are more difficult to regulate than centers, which can be inspected
by police or state regulators at any time.

Medical marijuana remains illegal under federal law. However, U.S.
Attorney General John Walsh's bark has thus far proven worse than his
bite when it comes to enforcement of the federal law in Colorado. In
2010, federal prosecutors pursued only four criminal marijuana cases
in the state, The Denver Post reported in May.

Meanwhile, the state is establishing it's own regulatory agency: the
Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division under the Department of Revenue.

Moratoriums are in place on the state and city level, prohibiting
additional medical marijuana centers from opening. Five centers
already operate in Cortez. City land use code regulations are in
place limiting signage and locations of centers.

The city council appointed three industry representatives to the
committee in August: center owners Coffey and Pollock, as well as
Boyd, a caregiver and medical marijuana patient.

Cortez residents-at-large selected for the committee are Greenlee,
Karen Sheek, Patricia Grant and Fred Blackburn.

City Councilors Keefauver, Tom Butler and Bob Archibeque also serve
on the committee.

The committee is scheduled to meet again Oct. 4. The committee is set
to be dissolved after making its recommendations to the council.