Pubdate: Fri, 01 Oct 2010
Source: Loveland Connection (CO)
Copyright: 2010 Loveland Connection
Contact: http://www.coloradoan.com/section/LOVELAND0802
Website: http://www.lovelandconnection.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5172
Author: Maria Schmitt

MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATES DRUMMING UP SUPPORT FOR ISSUE 2C

The city of Loveland is not the only Colorado municipality with an
issue about medical marijuana centers on its ballot this November.

Loveland also is not the only city with a small but vocal group of
supporters beginning campaigns to get voters to allow the licensing of
the centers on a local level.

Cities like Aurora and Broomfield have similar issues on the ballot,
as well as some counties, like Garfield (home to Glenwood Springs) and
El Paso.

Other cities have ballot issues only on the taxation of medical
marijuana centers, like Pueblo.

In Loveland, the Loveland Association of Wellness, or LAW, a group of
owners and employees of medical marijuana centers, has been hosting
weekly meetings to discuss the upcoming ballot issue which will allow
Loveland residents to decide if they want the city to license medical
marijuana centers or not.

Jason Specht, the group's spokesman, said to this point, the group has
focused mainly on addressing concerns previously presented by citizens
and the Loveland City Council, rather than actively campaigning to get
Lovelanders to vote "yes" on ballot measure 2C Nov. 2.

Since the issue ballooned mid-summer after jam-packed and emotionally
charged City Council meetings, LAW members have made their way around
town, making sure medical marijuana centers do not have displays or
names that included references to getting high, being stoned or
featuring pictures of marijuana leaves.

"We do a weekly sticker patrol," Specht said. "We just try and do
everything we can do to address the concerns of the public."

To be a member of LAW, dispensaries must adhere to the group's
regulations, which include having non-offensive names or displays and
not advertising in local papers.

Now, the group is looking to begin a small campaign, focusing mainly
on spreading the word about why dispensaries should stay in Loveland.

"We're exploring ways for public education," Specht said. "What it
means and what the program is actually about, the benefits, the
studies and the regulation that is now in place."

Some dispensaries in town are displaying signs advocating a "yes" vote
on 2C, hoping voters will decide to keep the dispensaries in town.

Specht said the main point LAW is trying to make is that if voters
decide not to let dispensaries be licensed in the city, people who
need medical marijuana will return to the caregiver model, which will
bring them into neighborhoods to look for the drug.

"If you say 'yes,' it will keep (centers) in commercial areas under
the eye of the state and city, heavily regulated and heavily taxed,"
he said. "By voting 'no,' it moves the industry into the
neighborhoods. They think that voting 'no' will get rid of medical
marijuana in their city, but that's not going to happen."

In Loveland, there are currently 18 medical marijuana centers
registered with the city tax department, Specht said.

Of those, there are 11 retail medical marijuana centers within the
city limits, and eight centers that are members of LAW, he said.

Rob Corry, a prominent Denver-based attorney, has become well-known
for his work with medical marijuana centers and patients who use
medical marijuana.

Corry said he plans to be involved with campaigns for licensing
medical marijuana centers in Castle Rock and Garfield County and
possibly the city of Aurora.

Corry said the issue on November ballots comes down to marijuana being
sold in licensed centers or out of houses through the caregiver model.

"The question really is, do they want it regulated in retail
commercial properties or do they want it to be in homes and residences
and around children in neighborhoods," he said. "It will only be
proliferated in homes. That is the reality and there really is no
honest dispute on that issue."

Because of Colorado House Bill 1284, which established a
dual-licensing scheme for regulating medical marijuana, the drug will
always be able to be sold, because the bill allows the caregiver model
to continue, even if local municipalities don't license
dispensaries.

"I hope that the population would understand that even if a person is
against medical marijuana it won't be eliminated, it will just move
into homes and that the government can't regulate that under the
Constitution and under the new bill 1284," Corry said.

Cities also would lose tax revenue if voters decide not to license
them, he said.

Additionally, cities could lose money by having to compensate business
owners if they reclaim the business if they are banned.

"You can't just take a property interest without just compensation,"
Corry said. "It's just like anything else. They can build a highway
through your yard but if they take your yard they have to pay for it 
They're going to lose tax revenue and spend money to do it."

The issue of tax revenue was raised during City Council meetings when
the Council was deciding whether to place the issue on the November's
ballot.

According to Loveland Revenue Manager Jim Wedding, the 14 marijuana
shops registered in Loveland as of the beginning of August bring in
$7,000-7,500 each month in sales tax revenue.

If each shop brought in $7,300 each month in sales tax, the industry
would contribute nearly $88,000 to the city annually, he said.

Some medical marijuana advocates from other cities around the state
plan to bring their campaign to Loveland as well, like Brian Cook,
founder of People Protecting Patients, a nonprofit medical marijuana
advocacy group.

Cook and a few others created a commercial featuring actors holding up
signs that read "I am a patient" and various diseases for which one
might use medical marijuana as a treatment.

The commercial will first air in Colorado Springs and El Paso County,
but Cook said he hopes to complete and air a commercial in Loveland by
the middle of October.

The commercial will run on Comcast.

"What people need to see is that this is about patients' rights," Cook
said.

Cook said he believes that medical marijuana centers should be
regulated and there shouldn't be "400 per block," but that it's "not
the right thing to do to block patients' access to medicine."

The current commercial geared toward El Paso county residents, who
will also vote on a center licensing issue in November, can be viewed
at www.peopleprotectingpatients.org.

The city of Aurora, which has banned medical marijuana centers but is
putting the issue to vote Nov. 2, has not seen much of a campaign for
the centers, city clerk Debbie Johnson said.

No political action committees have been registered with the city, she
said.

Specht and LAW will continue to work to educate the public on why they
think medical marijuana centers are important to license through the
city, he said.

"The key piece is that it is under regulation and we are 100 percent
for regulation," he said.
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