Colorado is currently a hotbed of medical marijuana action and reaction. The latest news is that on Tuesday this week in Fort Collins an overflowing chamber met to discuss restrictions for medical marijuana dispensaries.
The proposed ordinance would prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries (MMDs) –– redefined by the council as medical marijuana businesses (MMBs) –– from operating within 1,000 feet of schools, churches and other MMBs. The ordinance would also force MMBs to restrict operating hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
If this ordinance is approved and enacted, all but nine of the city’s 95 registered MMBs would be in violation. Residents operating home-based dispensaries would be forbidden from renewing their licenses after two years and prohibited from growing or keeping cannabis in their homes.
People supplying only to themselves or one other person would not be considered a dispensary, but would be limited to just one other customer and permitted only 12 plants, and six mature plants.
Current Colorado Medical Marijuana State Laws
Thirty-six citizens spoke at the event; with the pro-ordinance group expressing concern about property prices and risks to families in areas close to home dispensaries. Alan Donagon, whose house sits across from a home dispensary, said “Who would want to buy our house with that across the street?”
Speaking against the restrictions, dispensary operator Amanda Rose said. ““We aren’t nobodies, we have degrees in horticulture. There are cultivation techniques, different strains … We know those things.”
The council voted 6-1 in favour of the ordinance and said they want more information on some key details of the regulations and how they would affect the operation of MMDs before taking the ordinances up again on March 16.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJRNXpainWo