Pubdate: Sun, 09 Sep 2012
Source: Glenwood Springs Post Independent (CO)
Copyright: 2012 Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/ys97xJAX
Website: http://www.postindependent.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/821
Author: John Colson

SILT TO FINALIZE MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROHIBITION IN TOWN

Law Skirts Questions About Personal Cultivation, Possession

SILT, Colorado -- The town's trustees on Sept. 10 plan to prohibit, 
once and for all, medical marijuana dispensaries within the town limits.

But the proposed ordinance does not completely answer the question of 
whether town residents have the right to grow, possess and use 
medical marijuana themselves, as permitted in the state constitution.

Colorado voters in 2000 approved a constitutional amendment 
permitting the cultivation, sale and use of medical marijuana, for 
those holding a valid medical marijuana license.

Little happened around the state concerning medical marijuana until 
2009, when the Obama administration announced it would not pursue or 
prosecute certified users or producers of medical marijuana in states 
where such laws were on the books.

The result of that announcement was a boom in new medical marijuana 
businesses around Colorado, and the matter has been mired in 
controversy ever since as some parts of the state accepted the idea 
and others did not.

The new ordinance in Silt, initially passed on Aug. 27, and set for 
final consideration at Monday's meeting, will be the fifth time the 
council has dealt with the issue since Nov. 23, 2009.

That was when the trustees imposed a temporary moratorium on 
accepting or processing applications for dispensaries in town.

Since then, the trustees have extended the temporary moratorium once, 
in May 2010, and enacted a one-year moratorium from July 11, 2011, 
until June 30, 2012.

On May 14, the board created a permanent moratorium against medical 
marijuana businesses, and the ordinance passed on Aug. 27 inserts 
that moratorium into the town code.

Left undecided was the question of whether Silt residents with 
medical marijuana licenses are entitled to cultivate and possess up 
to six plants, as permitted by the state constitution.

In a memo to the Board of Trustees, Town Administrator Pamela Woods 
stated, "The town attorney believes the question raised about the 
ability of a medical marijuana card holder to possess up to six 
plants is a matter for the police department, and should not be 
detailed in this zoning ordinance."

Town attorney Lee Leavenworth, in a memo to town staff and to Police 
Chief Levy Burris, wrote, "The town's police cannot charge a criminal 
offense under state law against anyone holding a valid medical 
marijuana and who is using medical marijuana or cultivating up to six plants."

The zoning ordinance, Leavenworth stressed, applies strictly to 
operation of a business to sell, cultivate or distribute medical marijuana.

Also on the agenda for the Monday meeting are an extension for 
completing the application to build a new church in town, and 
revisions to the town's noise ordinance, among other matters.

The town meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom