Voters Will Decide If Dispensaries Can Be Prohibited in the City BERTHOUD -- Peter Bridgman divides his life over the past four years, after his diagnosis with colon cancer, into two categories: before medical marijuana and after medical marijuana. "The difference before and after was night and day," he said. Bridgman shared his experiences Sunday afternoon with about 30 people who gathered in the Berthoud Community Center for a Better Berthoud-sponsored meeting on medical marijuana business prohibition, which will appear on the ballot in November. [continues 488 words]
To the editor: A recent Rasmussen poll showed that 61 percent of Coloradans favor marijuana legalization. Amendment 64 would legalize and regulate marijuana like alcohol. It makes sense considering marijuana, unlike alcohol, doesn't cause overdoses, isn't physically addictive or a contributor to violent behavior. How often have we heard about domestic abuse stemming from alcohol? Often, yet violent crime induced by marijuana use is extremely rare. When's the last time you heard about someone abusing his wife after using marijuana? I can't think of any since marijuana generally reduces aggression. [continues 252 words]
A Denver lawyer said late Monday he had filed suit in Larimer District Court, on behalf of three Loveland medical marijuana dispensaries and their patients, challenging the city's ban on medical pot that takes effect today. Robert Corry Jr., who has filed similar actions elsewhere in Colorado, e-mailed a copy of his complaint to the Loveland Reporter-Herald and to City Attorney John Duval after close of business on Monday. His clients include Rocky Mountain Kind LLC, 1710 West Eisenhower Blvd.; Magic's Emporium LLC, 2432 East 13th St.; and Colorado Canna Care LLC, 129 S. Cleveland Ave. [continues 173 words]
FORT COLLINS -- Larimer County Planning Commission members told James Hinojos they liked his business plan for the medical marijuana dispensary he wants to open on College Avenue south of Carpenter Road. But after hearing many neighbors tell their concerns about the business at a hearing Wednesday night, the planning commissioners voted 7-1 to recommend that the county commissioners deny his special review request. The Loveland man is seeking a special review of the dispensary and an appeal of the requirement that the business be at least 500 feet from any homes. [continues 470 words]
Ask Brian Vicente about the state of medical marijuana in Larimer County, and his answer is much more simple than the question itself: "It's a mess." The head of one of the leading state medical marijuana advocacy groups agrees with the Loveland police chief, an opponent of dispensaries, on one thing -- the patchwork of regulations is confusing. "We're in a really fragmented state right now," said Chief Luke Hecker. "You'll be in one jurisdiction, and something is OK. You go into another, and it is not. It's going to be difficult for law enforcement agencies and confusing for the citizens of Colorado. [continues 470 words]
Larimer County commissioners voted Monday to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the unincorporated areas of the county. Forty-two people spoke to commissioners Monday night about medical marijuana dispensaries, offering a variety of opinions. The majority told commissioners to regulate dispensaries, while smaller numbers asked the commissioners to either ban dispensaries in the unincorporated areas of the county or to send the question to voters in November. But Commissioner Lew Gaiter noted that though more people who spoke Monday wanted to regulate it, almost all of the calls he received before the meeting sought a ban, and that's what he proposed. "As I listen to people tonight the concern I hear is primarily about access," he said, noting people want to make sure they can continue to have access. A ban will not remove access but it may make it more difficult, he said. Commissioners Tom Donnelly and Steve Johnson also said they favored a ban. [continues 1047 words]
For years, Loveland resident Pat Dupree wanted to re-enter the business of selling products all made from hemp. In 1993, Dupree had opened a shop in Chapel Hill, N.C., that lasted only six months because he could not obtain any quality products, he said. Plus, he had a family to raise, he added. In July, a month after moving to Colorado, Dupree opened Totally Hemp Co. in Loveland to sell clothes, paper, material, art canvases, jewelry and other products made from hemp. [continues 265 words]
County Opens Marijuana Issue To Public Comment Larimer County Commissioners said they will invite the public to comment before they decide whether to call for an election on banning sales of medical marijuana in unincorporated areas of the county. They learned Tuesday that all voters in the county would get a say on the matter, not just those in the unincorporated area. But they noted that could create confusion, particularly in Loveland, where voters already are facing a question about whether to ban sales of medical marijuana within the city limits. [continues 392 words]
FORT COLLINS -- While Loveland city officials have sent the issue of medical marijuana dispensaries to the ballot in November, the city's neighbor to the north has taken an alternative path, using zoning rules to regulate a burgeoning industry. During a gathering Thursday of elected officials from the Larimer County Commission, and the Loveland and Fort Collins city councils, representatives of each talked about the challenges presented by medical marijuana dispensaries. Those dispensaries were not authorized by Amendment 20, which legalized the use of marijuana as medicine by people with chronic, painful conditions, but are now allowed by statute in those areas that choose to "opt in" to the state's regulatory structure. [continues 237 words]
Days may be numbered for Loveland's 14 medical marijuana dispensaries, with a council consensus on Tuesday night to ban the sale and distribution of medical pot in the city as soon as possible. The council, just prior to unanimous passage of a resolution extending the moratorium on new dispensaries through Dec. 31, instructed City Attorney John Duval to draft a choice of resolutions for the council to consider in late July, either of which would shut down the businesses. Duval, in late July or early August, will present councilors with these choices: [continues 350 words]
FORT COLLINS -- Larimer County commissioners told staff members Tuesday that two medical marijuana businesses operating in the county outside of county regulations should be given notifications they need to come into compliance with those rules or cease operating. One business is just outside Berthoud and the other near Wellington. In December, the commissioners put a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries so they could study land use and other issues. In January, they lifted the moratorium after changing county codes to allow such businesses only in commercial and industrial zones. [continues 362 words]
Rich Present and Drew McNeil wanted to be on a main highway out in the open when they started up their medical marijuana dispensary. And they wanted the dispensary to be part of a wellness center that also offers alternative medicine. Present and McNeil opened Natures Medicine April 10 in the former Circle Moon Coffee House building, 843 N. Cleveland Ave. This particular location on (U.S.) 287, you can't beat it," said Present, Greeley resident and co-owner of the center with McNeil of Loveland. [continues 599 words]
Don Marostica has a concern. He's seen what substance abuse can do to people, and he knows that many times the stories involve children. Based on that, and having seen people in prisons and jails who struggle with substance abuse, the state representative from Loveland has lent his name to a local anti-methamphetamine campaign. Marostica has teamed up with John Giroux's CLEAR - the Coalition of Loveland for Education, Awareness and Resources in the fight against meth - to help the group raise money. [continues 182 words]
Real Estate Agents Want To Educate Youth On Drug Use John Giroux feels plenty of passion about methamphetamine. He has one simple goal: make it CLEAR that meth has no business in the Loveland community. CLEAR, the Coalition of Loveland for Education, Awareness and Resources, is the brainchild of Giroux and Scott Eastman, both local real estate agents. The group is only a year and a half old, but on Friday Giroux, along with members of local governments and law enforcement agencies, discussed how CLEAR could help eliminate meth use in Loveland. [continues 398 words]
Monday may have been the first day in Colorado history that someone got their marijuana back from the police. Early Monday morning, flanked by attorneys, supporters and the media, Lisa and James Masters appeared at the Fort Collins Police Department to retrieve marijuana plants, growing equipment and other paraphernalia seized 16 month ago from what the Masterses say was a growing operation solely for medicinal marijuana. "This is historic," said Robert Corry, a lawyer for the couple. "It's a beautiful day for medical marijuana." [continues 439 words]
Loveland resident Jeremy Chad Myers walked from a district courtroom Thursday with tears in his eyes and said he feels "as innocent as ever." Myers considers himself vindicated because 8th Judicial District prosecutors dropped all drug charges against him for what three reports show is a false accusation he was cooking and using methamphetamine in his home at the old sugar factory in Loveland. Colorado Bureau of Investigation tests on substances seized by the Larimer County Drug Task Force seized after a no-knock raid in September all came back "no controlled substances;" no amphetamine, no ephedrine, for which initial on-site screens tested positive. [continues 572 words]
Former Loveland Resident Educates Teens On Drug Just as Wayde Krueger predicted, the high school students fidgeted during a meth-amphetamine video he showed, but they listened intently as he told the story of how his brother, a meth addict, stabbed his mother to death. Krueger, formerly of Loveland and now living in Grand Junction, told his story recently to students at Loveland, Mountain View and Thompson Valley high schools. Studies show that not many high schoolers are hooked on the highly addictive drug, but the number of addicts escalates dramatically for people just out of high school. [continues 724 words]
