Pubdate: Wed, 22 Feb 2012
Source: Fort Collins Coloradoan (CO)
Copyright: 2012 The Fort Collins Coloradoan
Contact: http://www.coloradoan.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.coloradoan.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1580
Author: Kevin Duggan

FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL LIMITS POT GROWS TO HOUSES

Medical-marijuana grows in Fort Collins will be limited to residential
areas, for the time being.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a trio of ordinances that
formally ban medical marijuana businesses, as voters mandated in the
November election. The council also voted to ban growing in
multi-family dwellings.

The moves effectively limit grows by state-registered caregivers to
single-family residences. Council members said they support studying
whether to permit grows in commercial areas.

The process could take six months and will include extensive public
input, officials said. It also will examine the impacts of marijuana
grows in neighborhoods.

Council members said they would follow the intent of voters by banning
marijuana businesses, including dispensaries and growing operations.
But they worry about pushing grows into neighborhoods and treating
residents of multi-family buildings differently than other residents.

Council member Ben Manvel said the medical marijuana issue remains a
difficult one.

"I'm kind of torn about this," he said. "I don't feel it's fair ...
but on the other hand, life is not fair."

During a sometimes emotional hearing, residents who identified
themselves as patients urged the council to follow the state's rules
on medical marijuana that allow a caregiver to have five patients and
grow six plants per patient.

The city limits grows in single-family residents to 12 plants,
regardless of how many patients live there.

Ken Correia, who owned the dispensary Solace Meds, said the city has
to come to grips with where to allow grows. Correia said he doesn't
want to grow in his home near his children, but he wants to continue
to care for patients.

"You're painting our town here into a corner, and it's going to have
some legal ramifications," Correia told the council.

Several patients said they could not grow for themselves and did not
know where to go for medicine now that dispensaries are closed. The
ban on businesses went into effect Feb. 14.

Supporters of the ballot measure that banned marijuana businesses
urged the council to not "back door" its rules by opening up more
opportunities for growing. Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith pulled
out a hazardous-materials suit to demonstrate the precautions police
officers and firefighters take when entering an illegal grow.

The equipment is needed to protect against the effects of mold,
pesticides and fertilizers, he said. Residents of multi-family
buildings would be exposed to the same hazards if grows were allowed
in the structures, he said.

Don Butler, a longtime city resident, said the council was wrong to
allow marijuana businesses in the city to begin with. Butler urged the
council to be firm on the issue.

"I think council should listen to the citizens," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.