Pubdate: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 Source: Pueblo Chieftain (CO) Copyright: 2010 The Pueblo Chieftain Contact: http://www.chieftain.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1613 Author: Peter Roper COUNCIL SEEKS VOTER INPUT ON MEDICAL POT CENTERS Councilwoman Judy Weaver Pushes Resolution For Ballot Question. As cities around Colorado make a decision about whether to allow medical marijuana centers in their communities, Pueblo City Council will revisit the matter in the near future because Councilwoman Judy Weaver would like city voters to weigh in on the decision. A majority of council has discouraged that in past discussions, saying Colorado voters approved the medical marijuana amendment in 2000 and that a city vote could make the issue more divisive. But Weaver's argument is that a majority of Pueblo County voters rejected the legalization amendment in 2000 -- when there was no discussion of medical marijuana centers or any other businesses for distributing the drug. "I'm willing to abide by whatever city voters decide," Weaver said Thursday. "But all indications are, no medical marijuana center will be able to be legally licensed until July 2011, so we have time to ask city voters what they want. Council's opinion on this shouldn't matter." Weaver has asked city staff to prepare a resolution on that ballot question and council could consider it in two weeks. But Council President Larry Atencio will be gone from that regular meeting, so Weaver may ask for the matter to be postponed another two weeks until all seven members are present. Councilman Steve Nawrocki also asked city staff to prepare an analysis of what would happen if voters rejected allowing medical marijuana centers in the city. He believes opponents might be surprised at what would occur. "I don't have a dog in this fight. I'm not opposed to putting the question on the ballot," Nawrocki said Thursday. "But I'm not sure the public understands that rejecting medical marijuana centers won't change the fact that people with state-approved cards or caregivers will still be able to grow it in their own homes. And that would be without any local taxation or regulation or control over where that occurs. The state constitution guarantees that." Council took a first stab at zoning and licensing regulations earlier this month during a joint meeting with the city's Planning and Zoning Commission. There was some pointed discussion about whether to concentrate medical marijuana centers in certain zones or distribute them across the city. The city also is looking at establishing 1,000-foot buffers between the centers and a long list of locations, such as schools, child-care centers, hospitals and so on. At one point, Atencio asked -- only half-jokingly -- whether it was council's intention to zone and buffer the centers out of the city. That is why Nawrocki asked for the staff analysis of what would occur if the city did ban the centers. "The state amendment allows state-authorized caregivers to have six marijuana plants each for the (up to five) patients that they serve," Nawrocki said. "That's 30 plants. That could be in the house next door to you or across the street. In any neighborhood." In fact, according to the city analysis, caregiver operations can only be in residential areas, not in commercial zones. The same applies for medical marijuana users who grow their own plants. Nawrocki's point is that if the city chooses to ban medical marijuana centers, it could end up guaranteeing that the fast-growing business of growing and providing medical marijuana will be confined to the city's residential areas. "Is that what we want? It's something for the public to think about," he said. On the other hand, if the city regulates and licenses medical marijuana centers, that would be an incentive for users and caregivers to use those centers, rather than rely on their own homes to grow and distribute the drug. Also, banning the centers would eliminate the city's ability to tax the marijuana. That's not a small issue. Council will be considering a proposed ballot question that would impose a 4.3 percent sales or excise tax on marijuana sales as well as associated paraphernalia. Still, a ban is thechoice some cities have made, however. Vail, for example, has voted to ban medical marijuana centers within its city limits, although officials there acknowledge that centers are readily available in the surrounding county. There are petition drives in both Colorado Springs and Aurora to ban the centers. Boulder, on the other hand, has restricted the location for marijuana centers. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D