Pubdate: Thu, 18 Nov 2010
Source: Aurora Sentinel (CO)
Copyright: 2010 Aurora Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.aurorasentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1672
Author: Sara Castellanos
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?277 (Cannabis - Medicinal -  Colorado)

PASSAGE OF 2B NOT THE END OF AURORA'S DISPENSARY DEBATE

AURORA | Medical marijuana dispensaries will not be springing up in 
Aurora anytime soon.

The final tallies for Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties show that 
voters in Aurora decided to prohibit dispensaries within city limits 
by a margin of 42,347 to 39,224.

The outcome is disappointing for medical marijuana advocates who say 
patients should have easy access to dispensaries in each city. But 
for others, it is a relief that dispensaries will not be cropping up 
near their homes.

Aurora resident Dan Bloom voted to prohibit dispensaries because he 
said there is so much uncertainty about them.

"I don't want them here in Aurora just because we don't know what 
it's going to do to areas of town since they're so new," he said. "I 
have lived in Aurora most of my life, and I think we get a bad rap 
sometimes, so jumping into this really quickly might not be the best thing."

Bloom said dispensaries could possibly lower property values, and he 
doesn't want to risk that. Those who have medical marijuana 
prescriptions can visit one of the myriad dispensaries in Denver, he said.

He's not against having medical marijuana dispensaries within city 
limits at some point in time, but he says the city should wait to 
allow them until they have specific rules and regulations in place 
that will govern their operations.

"I believe that there's revenue to be had from the dispensaries, and 
if, five years down the road, laws are cleared up aE& then we can get 
into it at that point," he said. "Jumping in later down the road 
isn't going to hurt us as much as jumping into it quickly and finding 
out that it has a negative impact."

Aurora resident Pat Dunn says medical marijuana dispensaries would 
have been a boon for the city in terms of generating revenue.

"We're closing down libraries because we don't have revenue, and that 
could have been a solution right there," she said.

Dunn also knows some medical marijuana patients that could have 
benefited greatly from a local dispensary. But the issue of whether 
to allow dispensaries in the city is far from over, she said.

"Hopefully a few years from now people will see that there aren't 
problems with crime and understand that people truly do need medical 
marijuana," she said. "I think the people that voted against it are 
just afraid that if medical marijuana is in the city of Aurora that 
we're trying to get it legalized for everyone, and that's definitely 
not the case."

Brian Vicente, a lawyer and executive director for the medical 
marijuana advocacy group Sensible Colorado, said the outcome is "very 
disappointing."

"It's not only bad for patient access to medicine, also, voters of 
Aurora have turned down new tax revenue and job creation in their 
community," he said.

When Aurora City Council members decided to put the issue on the 
ballot earlier in October, city attorneys advised council to stay as 
close as possible to the ballot language that the Colorado 
Legislature suggested municipalities could use. The ballot asked 
voters whether they wanted to prohibit dispensaries in the city, 
without giving any information about where the dispensaries could be 
located if they were allowed. It was the city attorney's hope that 
lawsuits could be avoided by following the Colorado Legislature's directives.

Medical marijuana advocates are now focusing their attention on 
cities that originally allowed dispensaries and then subsequently 
voted to ban them within city limits, such as Westminster, Loveland 
and Montrose, Vicente said.

A lawsuit was filed in August against the city of Westminster, which 
passed a dispensary ban in November 2009, although there were two 
dispensaries operating within city limits before the ban. However, a 
judge has delayed the hearings until January or February of next year.

The Westminster lawsuit is being dubbed "the test case" for cities 
statewide that attempt to ban dispensaries within city limits.

Voters in nine other municipalities and counties approved marijuana 
dispensaries within their jurisdictions, including the cities of 
Fraser and Minturn.

"It was certainly a victory for the nine municipalities who are now 
allowing regulated medical marijuana sales," Vicente said. "But 
generally, Colorado voters did not endorse this regulated model 
widely and I think that's due to a lack of education on the safety 
and benefits that these things can bring to the community. I think 
that view is going to develop and evolve over time as communities 
realize that medical marijuana can be safely regulated and generate 
much needed tax revenue for communities."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom