Pubdate: Sat, 03 Jul 2010
Source: Aspen Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2010 Aspen Daily News
Contact: http://www.aspendailynews.com/submit-letter-editor
Website: http://www.aspendailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/635
Author: Curtis Wackerle

AT LEAST SEVEN DISPENSARIES SEEK PERMITS

At least six would-be medical marijuana dispensaries filed paperwork
with the city of Aspen indicating they would like to set up shop in
town before a July 1 deadline.

Pitkin County also received an application for a dispensary at the
Airport Business Center, plus applications for four marijuana growing
operations and three kitchens producing pot-infused edibles.

The flurry of applications all came within a week of this past
Wednesday, which was a deadline set under new state laws regulating
the medical marijuana industry. After Wednesday, a moratorium was
imposed on new dispensaries and grow operations while the state's new
regulatory framework comes into play.

The state law requires all medical marijuana businesses to have
business licenses from their local jurisdictions or to have applied
for the licenses before Wednesday.

The city of Aspen actually received nine new business license
applications, but four of them appear to be for the same location.

State law requires dispensaries seeking business licenses to have a
physical address. The addresses listed with the city for the new
dispensaries are mostly in downtown Aspen, although one application is
for a storefront in the Mill Street Station, where Clark's Market is
located.

The wave of applications provoked skepticism from some
quarters.

"How many will actually open, I don't know," city finance director Don
Taylor said.

Damien Horgan, co-owner of Alternative Medical Solutions, a dispensary
located above the Cantina restaurant, said the volume of new
dispensaries "doesn't sound realistic."

"We hear rumors all the time and we don't believe anything until we
see it," Horgan said.

Aspen Mayor Mick Ireland said one of the would-be new dispensary
owners called him for advice on how to proceed. Ireland joked that the
interaction was "a sign of the apocalypse."

"When I moved here (in 1980), there were no marijuana dealers calling
the mayor asking for help starting up their business," Ireland said.

However, Ireland said, the four dispensaries in Aspen (plus one at the
ABC, which is in Pitkin County), haven't been causing any problems in
terms of enforcement issues. Ireland added that the city hasn't
received any formal complaints about any of the businesses.

Ireland said the prospect of more dispensaries doesn't worry him
because the market will eliminate less successful businesses.

"The market will do that," he said. "That's one thing the market does
well."

The new laws require all dispensaries to apply by Aug. 1 for a license
through the Colorado Department of Revenue and pay a licensing fee
that begins at $7,500 for the first 300 patients. The license could
cost as much as $18,000, depending on the amount of products offered
and the number of patients. As part of the licensing process, every
individual working at or owning a dispensary must submit to a
background check. Anyone with a felony drug conviction will be
prohibited from participating in the medical marijuana business. Other
felony convictions will not bar a person from being in the medical
marijuana business.

By Sept. 1, a total of 70 percent of the marijuana sold at a
dispensary must come from the dispensary itself or a licensed off-site
growing operation that is connected to the dispensary. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D