Local business owners ponder implications of Amendment 64 ASPEN -- While Colorado voters mull the outright legalization of marijuana when they head to the polls next week, some local business owners are taking a particularly keen interest in the ramifications of Amendment 64. They're already selling marijuana of the medical variety. Amendment 64, which would let adults possess limited quantities of pot and buy it from state-regulated outlets, could be a game changer in many respects. "I don't really know what's going to happen. I don't think anybody does," said Jordan Lewis, owner of Silverpeak Apothecary in downtown Aspen. [continues 1072 words]
ASPEN -- Pitkin County is giving medical marijuana businesses 30 days to submit an application for a required local license though the operations are technically out of compliance with county regulations at the moment. A letter signed by Jon Peacock, county manager, is being sent to businesses of which county officials are aware, informing them of the need for a local license and how to get one. The approach will give operators time to comply before any enforcement action is taken, Peacock said. [continues 325 words]
ASPEN -- Pitkin County will delve into the licensing of medical marijuana businesses within unincorporated areas of the county, commissioners informally decided Tuesday after a discussion with two representatives of the state's Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division. Whether the county adopts any regulations related to the industry or simply licenses the establishments and relies on state rules remains to be seen, but at least one commissioner believes the county should consider limiting the number of businesses that are licensed to grow medical marijuana, sell it or manufacture products that contain medicinal pot. [continues 549 words]
ASPEN -- Pitkin County is one of 22 Colorado counties that allow medical marijuana businesses to operate in unincorporated areas, but the county's refusal to issue licenses to the operations puts their future in question. County commissioners are scheduled to discuss what sort of licensing procedure, if any, the county should establish. If it does nothing, according to County Attorney John Ely, Colorado will deny a state license to the approximately 10 operators that are currently doing business in unincorporated Pitkin County. [continues 482 words]
Aspen Operator: 'Yeah, It's A Little Nerve-Racking' ASPEN -- Area medical marijuana providers admit they're a bit unnerved by last week's reports that federal authorities may crack down on the industry in Colorado next year, but operators say they're striving to strictly comply with state regulations while they wait and see what happens next. A law-enforcement official told The Associated Press last week that enforcement action is under consideration for Colorado early next year despite state laws that regulate and tax the industry -- moves that marijuana advocates hoped would spare the state from the kind of crackdown that occurred in California. There, dozens of medical marijuana businesses, landlords leasing property to growers, and retailers selling medicinal pot over the counter were targeted in Drug Enforcement Administration raids. [continues 560 words]
ASPEN -- Acting on advice from their attorney, who said adopting medical marijuana regulations would put county employees in the position of abetting the violation of federal drug laws, Pitkin County commissioners voted 4-0 Wednesday to reject the proposed rules. With that action, the county will have no zoning regulations specifically aimed at the medical marijuana industry, including grow sites, dispensaries and manufacturing facilities for pot-infused products. The omission left Commissioner George Newman puzzled. "You know, we don't have zoning regulations for a variety of different illegal activities," Ely assured him. [continues 591 words]
ASPEN -- Limiting the cultivation of medical marijuana in Pitkin County to a level that essentially fulfills local needs is among the proposed regulations that will get an initial review this week. Local governments in Colorado have until July 1 to establish their own regulations and licensing procedures for the medical marijuana industry, or to prohibit such facilities altogether; in jurisdictions that take no action, state standards will apply. In Pitkin County, the drafting of regulations has been a work in progress since last September, when county commissioners advised staffers to take a light-handed approach to governing the industry and to talk with neighborhood caucuses about what they'd like to see. The resulting proposals will go to the county's Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday and county commissioners on Wednesday. [continues 670 words]
ASPEN, Colorado -- Employers who came seeking clarity on Colorado's medical marijuana laws Thursday in Aspen may have come away with only a slightly less hazy understanding of the issues. The constitutional amendment that allows medical marijuana use in Colorado has yet to be challenged in court on various fronts, attendees were told at a seminar hosted by the Aspen Chamber Resort Association and workers compensation insurer Pinnacol Assurance. In addition, state lawmakers are still arguing over how to regulate the burgeoning industry. [continues 600 words]
Resort's Four Fledgling Marijuana Dispensaries Are Plugging Away in a Competitive Environment ASPEN, Colorado -- Selling medical marijuana in Aspen is like starting up any other business. It can mean hard work and little pay. The resort's four fledgling marijuana dispensaries -- the oldest has been in business all of four months -- are plugging away in a competitive environment, where the customer base appears to be increasing steadily, but not necessarily explosively. "We've been in operation for four months now. We have yet to turn a profit," said Quinn Whitten, a partner in Aspen L.E.A.F. (Local's Emporium of Alternative Farms), the town's first dispensary. It opened Aug. 20. [continues 429 words]
Eagle County Has Enacted Temporary Land-use Regulations Dictating Where The Dispensaries Can Set Up Shop EL JEBEL, Colorado -- Eagle County zoning regulations may keep a medical marijuana dispensary from cropping up in El Jebel. The county has enacted temporary land-use regulations dictating where the dispensaries can set up shop in commercial and industrial zones, and the Roaring Fork Valley Regional Planning Commission voted Thursday in El Jebel to recommend county commissioners stiffen those rules. Either way, it doesn't appear the rules would accommodate a dispensary in the sliver of Eagle County that extends into the El Jebel area, said town planner Bob Narracci. [continues 452 words]
Marijuana Dispensaries Appearing All Over, but Will They All Last? ASPEN -- In a tiny, windowless room outfitted with a combination keypad lock on the door, a patient mulls the potency of marijuana strains with names like Sour Diesel, Northern Light and AK-47. Sealed jars of the pungent, green buds line the sole shelf inside a locked, glass display case, along with cannabis-infused cooking oils, tinctures and granola bars. The sale of medical marijuana in Aspen is under way. A new industry has exploded across Colorado, and dispensaries are popping up in mountain towns like ski racks in November. The Roaring Fork Valley has four already, including two in Aspen, and more are expected. [continues 1869 words]
A state group advocating the legalization of marijuana is launching a citizen initiative in Telluride that might well have taken place in Aspen. The group, Sensible Colorado, eyed several mountain towns in which to spearhead a two-pronged ballot initiative that it hopes eases Colorado toward a new approach to pot use and regulation, according to Executive Director Brian Vicente, who's working with Telluride residents to get a pair of initiative petitions on the streets. "We looked a little bit at Crested Butte, a little bit at Aspen," he said. [continues 430 words]
