Sweet Leaf owners: HAPPY AND RELIEVED TO STAY OPEN

The owners of the Sweet Leaf Pioneer, Dieneka and Dave Manzanares,
were very happy late Tuesday night.

Eagle election judges had just finished counting the votes to see if
the town's lone medical marijuana dispensary would be able to stay
open. There were 634 votes in favor and 491 opposed.

A total of 1,125 ballots were cast in Tuesday's special election. The
winning margin was 56 percent in favor and 43 percent opposed.

"We're very excited," said Dieneka Manzanares. "It's a great swell of
relief. After two years (of struggling to stay open), it's finally over."

Sweet Leaf Pioneer has been permitted by the town and open for
business at a location on Chambers Avenue since 2009. In February
2011, the Eagle Town Board decided to ban medical marijuana
dispensary and stipulated that the town's lone dispensary would have
to close down by November.

By the end of October, the Sweet Leaf collected petition signatures
and won the right to have the special election as well as stay open
through the election despite the town's deadline to close.

"The help from the community was really overwhelming. We are feeling
the love," Manzanares said.

Regarding future plans, the Sweet Leaf owners are simply looking
forward to routine.

"We just want to run our business," Manzanares said. "We're not
looking back. We're just going to move forward."

Besides the outcome of the election, some good things came out of the
Manzanares's ordeal.

"It opened up a lot of doors because we were able to meet a lot of
great people," Manzanares said.

The in-person voting was quiet Tuesday, but more than half of the
mail-in ballots sent out were returned.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 10 voters who were polled between 2 and 3
p.m. were mostly in favor of Sweet Leaf. Only one middle-aged woman
said, as she hurried out the door, that she had voted against the
business. Another man declined to say how he had voted but that he
was glad people were participating in the election.

The main reason for support generally centered around the fairness of
permitting a business for two years and then deciding to shut it down.

"I figure if (Eagle Town Board) can run them out of business, then
they can run me out of business," said an Eagle business owner.

A 51-year-old man basically agreed and said he thought the wording of
the ballot issue was confusing.

"If (ETB) gave approval in the first place, it's not right to take it
away," he said. "I also thought the language was confusing. I
wondered if checking 'No' meant I was voting in favor, or vice versa
- - and I have some legal training."

A 44-year-old woman said she voted yes, in favor of Sweet Leaf.

"I feel like the town should stand by what they said," she said.

Another woman agreed.

"I voted yes because the owner has complied with everything and (ETB)
told him yes, he could have that business, and it's unfair to say yes
and then say no," said the 47-year-old.

"There is no reason to shut down an operation that has been in
business and is succeeding and was allowed in the first place," said
a young man who declined to give his exact age.

"Having marijuana regulated is better than not," said a 57-year-old
man who said he does not use the drug but voted in support of the business.

"I think (medical marijuana) is a good thing and is a lot better than
being addicted to prescription pain-killers or alcohol," said a
47-year-old man.

"And why not benefit from the tax money the business brings in?"
added a 41-year-old woman.