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Boulder Limits Where MMJ Centers Can Operate
Posted by CN Staff on June 08, 2010 at 15:59:01 PT
By Laura Snider, Camera Staff Writer
Source: Daily Camera
Colorado -- Medical marijuana dispensaries and growing operations that want to do business in rural Boulder County will now be restricted to a relatively small area where industrial and retail uses are already allowed. The county commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday morning to approve a new set of land use rules for “medical marijuana centers,” which limit the operations to districts in the unincorporated county that are zoned for business, transitional, commercial, light industrial and general industrial uses.
The regulations also ban medical marijuana centers from operating within 1000 feet of educational facilities — including daycare centers and schools with children younger than college age — and drug and alcohol treatment centers. The medical marijuana centers are also prohibited from being within 500 feet of each other, except in industrial zoning districts. Patients are still allowed to grow marijuana for personal use in their own homes. And caregivers can also grow marijuana for their patients — which is now limited to five people by state law — in their residences as an “accessory home occupation.” “In my mind, we should be directing this particular use — the medical marijuana centers — as much as we can toward the zones where they make the most sense,” said Commissioner Ben Pearlman. “In general, I’m pretty comfortable with where we ended up.” In 2000, Colorado voters passed an amendment to the state constitution that allowed people with “debilitating” conditions to use marijuana medicinally. The medical marijuana industry, however, didn’t explode in Colorado until last year when the U.S. Department of Justice issued a memo saying that the federal government would not prosecute medical marijuana caregivers operating in compliance with state laws. Throughout the spring, state lawmakers struggled to write a bill to regulate the burgeoning industry. The bill was signed into law on Monday. “The path that we have taken in Colorado has been a somewhat tortuous one, and probably not the most rational way of regulating these activities,” said Commissioner Will Toor. “But nonetheless, as a local government we don’t get to decide what is done across the state of Colorado. ... Our job is to adopt appropriate land use regulations in light of the state constitution and state legislation.” About 20 people spoke at Tuesday’s public meeting. Many argued that growing operations should also be allowed in agricultural zoning, which covers a large part of eastern Boulder County. “I’d like to agree with everyone about agricultural use,” said David Platt. “I mean, this is a plant. You can grow a plan in a warehouse, but it makes more sense to grow it in a greenhouse.” The commissioners, in general, expressed concern that growing medical marijuana tends to be a vastly different process than growing other crops, and therefore, should be treated differently. “It’s a plant, but by and large, it’s not grown as a plant,” Pearlman said. “I think the growth of marijuana, as it’s currently practiced, is far closer to being a manufacturing process with the intensity of use and the amount of resources used and the security requirements.” Most of the cities and towns in Boulder County, except the city of Boulder and Nederland, have either banned medical marijuana dispensaries altogether or currently have a moratorium on new dispensaries. “Virtually all of the surrounding areas have now imposed moratoriums,” said Tom Luecke, a Boulder dispensary owner. “Literally, Boulder County is the only place left, and the city. The new zoning rules for marijuana centers are effective immediately, but they wont’ be the last regulations put on medical marijuana by the county. As required by the new state law, the county must also come up with a licensing program for medical marijuana centers by next summer. Source: Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)Author: Laura Snider, Camera Staff WriterPublished: June 8, 2010Copyright: 2010 The Daily CameraWebsite: http://www.dailycamera.com/Contact: openforum dailycamera.comURL: http://dailycamera.com/ci_15251107CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by Storm Crow on June 10, 2010 at 12:25:40 PT
"Back of the bus", anyone?
"which limit the operations to districts in the unincorporated county that are zoned for business, transitional, commercial, light industrial and general industrial uses."Odd, I don't see them limiting herb/health food stores like this, nor chiropractors or naturopaths, or doctors or tobacco shops, or pharmacies, or even doctors of oriental medicine.(One I know of buys herbs in bulk and resells them, at cost, to her patients, giving them a break on the price- that's not that much different than a dispensary!) Makes me feel like we are being pushed to the "back of the bus"! That using a safe and effective herbal medicine is somehow shameful, "dirty" or "unclean"! Will the patients next be required to wear yellow armbands with a big pot leaf on it, next?“It’s a plant, but by and large, it’s not grown as a plant,” Pearlman said. “I think the growth of marijuana, as it’s currently practiced, is far closer to being a manufacturing process with the intensity of use and the amount of resources used and the security requirements.”Which need those security requirements because of an inflated price kept artificially high by prohibition. I don't see folks raiding St. John's Wort fields! The reason is price! It simply isn't worth the risk of jail to get cheap old St. John's Wort! When cannabis is legalized, the price will drop and the exaggerated security needs will disappear! And "manufacturing process" and the vast "amount of resources used"? Plant a seed in the ground, add a bit of water and sunlight- it grows! Growing under lights in a warehouse is ridiculous and expensive!The dispensaries and their major suppliers are a mostly doomed business! Cannabis is just too easy to grow (note I said GROW, not manufacture). Everyone with a sunny window or a few square feet of land can grow cannabis. Dispensaries will fail on a large scale- only a few will survive as a niche market, like tobacco shops. Big pharma will have their huge fields to manufacture Sativex and other phytocannabinoid pills and sprays. Mom and Pop will have their couple of plants among the roses. And there will be very little in between! The warehouse with the expensive lights and tricky hydroponics will not be financially viable with the eventual drop in prices! After California passes legalization this fall, we will get to watch a "Boom/Bust" happen in the cannabis industry. Ought to be spectacular! I figure maybe 2 or 3 years of boom, followed by everyone having a few plants tucked away in a sunny window and the price down around $20/30 an ounce. The shady "get rich quick" guys and the cartels will quietly move on to greener pastures- they follow the money. No big profit- no cartel or scammers. All this fuss would take care of itself if the council members were patient! But I guess they like to strut around all puffed up like turkey cocks, make a lot of noise and feel important!
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Comment #1 posted by dongenero on June 09, 2010 at 07:29:26 PT
Zoning, right. How innocuous.
Political activities in Colorado and California are reminiscent of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.The prohibitionist intention will be to destroy the industry by whatever contrived legal means possible.
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