Pubdate: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 Source: Denver Post (CO) Copyright: 2009 The Denver Post Corp Contact: http://www.denverpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122 Author: Christopher N. Osher, The Denver Post Cited: Denver City Council http://drugsense.org/url/NBUjV2N9 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries DENVER CITY COUNCIL WEIGHS RULES FOR MEDICAL-MARIJUANA OUTLETS Denver City Council members suggested Wednesday that they would bar people convicted of recent felonies from getting into the business of dispensing medical marijuana. The council held no formal vote on a package of proposed regulations for dispensaries from Councilman Charlie Brown and agreed to meet in committee again Dec. 16. City Attorney David Fine said Mayor John Hickenlooper's administration is reviewing the issue and would weigh in at the committee meeting in two weeks. A full set of regulations likely will go before the council in January. Brown originally had submitted a proposal that required applicants for marijuana dispensaries to state whether they had "ever been convicted of a felony, or of violating any federal, state or local law governing the manufacture, distribution, possession or use of controlled substances." Sensitive that the issue would be debated, Brown noted on his draft proposal that the issue was subject to further discussion on just what should be a disqualifying conviction. The broad language struck a few council members as too onerous. Council members settled on felony convictions as the place to draw the line and decided a disqualifying felony conviction would be within five years of completion of a sentence. Councilman Chris Nevitt said he thought using recent felonies as a disqualification was a compromise that would work, but he cautioned against overregulating the industry. Nevitt said the city doesn't do criminal background checks for those who want to open doughnut shops or jewelry stores. He noted medical marijuana once was deemed illegal by state officials, so it wouldn't be a surprise if some of those getting into the business might have had brushes with the law. "Joe Nacchio might want to open a medical-marijuana dispensary as a way to rehabilitate himself, and I would say more power to him," Nevitt said, alluding to the former Qwest chief executive, convicted of insider trading. "I might advise his employees to keep an eye on the books, though." Brown also wants to bar on-site smoking or consumption of marijuana at dispensaries, a stance he said probably will be hotly debated at the next meeting. Some dispensary operators have said on-site smoking provides a therapeutic benefit, but Brown worries about people driving impaired. He also wants to require licensing of dispensaries and installation of security cameras at dispensaries. Brown also would bar dispensaries that commence operation on or after Dec. 1 from locating within 500 feet of any school or child-care establishment and from locating within 1,000 feet of another dispensary. Councilman Doug Linkhart said he might have a problem with banning dispensaries from locating within 1,000 feet of each other, pointing out that bars don't have the same prohibition. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake