Pubdate: Sat, 07 Jun 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Jon Murray
Page: 4A

POT TAXES MAY PAY FOR 22 NEW STAFFERS

Denver Plans to Use $3.4 Million to Help Regulate the Industry

A proposal unveiled Friday by Denver city officials would spend tax 
money from recreational pot sales to hire 22 employees to expand 
regulation, licensing and enforcement of the industry.

The nearly $3.4 million plan, to be presented to a City Council 
committee on Wednesday, also includes local spending to expand the 
reach of a planned state youth education campaign discouraging 
illegal use of pot by people younger than 21.

The hiring of 21 full-time employees and a part-time worker would 
expand capacity in several areas, including building, fire, health 
and food safety inspections; licensing; lab testing; and police 
investigations, with the hiring of an excise sergeant and a detective.

The new positions would have a life span of 21/2 years. Officials 
would re-evaluate manpower needs then.

"We know that we're at the forefront of this," Ashley Kilroy, Mayor 
Michael Hancock's executive director on marijuana policy, told The 
Denver Post. "We're facing issues that no one else has faced before," 
leading to unpredictable needs.

City inspectors have cited and educated edibles manufacturers, and 
the Fire Department has confronted an increase in people using home 
hash-oil extraction methods that include butane, sometimes resulting 
in explosions.

Police have dealt with the need to enforce public pot use 
restrictions, and to store and test a 900 percent increase in seized marijuana.

Mayoral spokeswoman Amber Miller said Hancock wants to ensure that 
marijuana regulation doesn't detract from the city's other responsibilities.

The city doesn't plan to spend all of the projected $5 million in new 
tax revenue this year being generated by Denver's voter-enacted 3.5 
percent cannabis sales tax, plus its share of the state's 10 percent 
special retail tax.

The council budget request includes spending nearly $1.8 million on 
business regulations and neighborhood safety efforts, $825,700 on law 
enforcement and public safety, and $746,000 on youth and public education.

Colorado allowed recreational marijuana sales - for the first time, 
anywhere in the world - on Jan. 1, under voter-approved Amendment 64. 
Washington state voters passed a similar initiative, with legal sales 
starting there July 1.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom