Pubdate: Thu, 16 Feb 2012
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2012 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Monte Whaley

FORT COLLINS POT SHOPS CLOSE

Attorney for Dispensaries Predicts Shift Toward At-Home Marijuana 
Grow Operations

On Valentine's Day, the last remaining medical-marijuana dispensaries 
and grow operations were told to pack up and leave Fort Collins.

That's because voters in November showed no love for dispensaries, 
choosing to ban the storefront sales of medical pot. A last-ditch 
legal battle to halt the dispensaries' closure failed.

Police and other city personnel inspected 15 grow sites, and 
dispensary owners handed over 500 plants and about 400 pounds of 
marijuana, said Fort Collins police Capt. Don Vagge. The product will 
be destroyed, he said.

Some dispensary owners were allowed to secure a certain amount of pot 
to use in a new location. That "manifest product" was weighed and 
measured Tuesday and must match what goes into the new business, said Vagge.

The state is responsible for regulating the manifest product, he said.

The process of shutting down the businesses went smoothly, Vagge 
said. "The business owners were very cooperative. We didn't have any 
problems," he added.

There once were 20 dispensaries in the city, and the city council 
voted to grandfather in their existence. But a tide of discontent and 
worry that the dispensaries could lead to drug abuse among the city's 
children led to the November vote and to the demise of the 
medical-marijuana businesses in Fort Collins.

"It's kind of sad," said attorney Brett Barney, who represented a 
number of dispensary owners who failed to get a temporary restraining 
order this month to halt the ban. "It appears they are done, 
officially out of Fort Collins."

He said that leaves about 4,500 medical-marijuana patients in Larimer 
County with fewer places to get help for their ailments. There are 
now two dispensaries in the county - including one in the small town 
of Berthoud.

Barney said the dispensary owners will eithe rmove out of Fort 
Collins or become caregivers and grow their own plants at home to 
serve patients. In Fort Collins, he said, each household is limited 
to 12 plants.

Barney predicted Fort Collins will soon be awash with at-home grow 
operations, saying, "There will be residential neighborhoods that 
will probably be overrun with growth."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom