Zedleppelin
08-16-2010, 05:22 PM
Policing the pot grower next door
Under the state's medical marijuana law, cities have the right to limit - or eliminate - residential pot-growing operations.
Running a business out of a residential neighborhood has never been the norm in Denver, and it should be no different for medical marijuana caregivers.
That's the gist of a proposed Denver zoning ordinance that would limit to 12 the number of medical marijuana plants that licensed caregivers could grow in their homes.
We think such a restriction makes sense, and we do not believe it would run afoul of the medical marijuana constitutional amendment. Yet, caregivers ought to be allowed to operate.
There are several important issues to consider in looking at the issue of residential restrictions on caregivers.
One that medical marijuana advocates have raised is whether Amendment 20, passed by voters in 2000, creates a fundamental right to medical marijuana. If the amendment does, a city could not pass a law to restrict it.
We don't think it does, and several recent Denver District court decisions buoy that interpretation. Marijuana remains illegal in Colorado, but the amendment created, for legitimate patients, an affirmative defense to prosecution. That's it.
Furthermore, the model in which a caregiver is allowed to handle as many as five patients (growing six plants for each) is not part of the constitutional amendment.
The five-patient limit is ensconced in state law, which passed in the most recent legislative session. Nothing in the law precludes local governments from passing ordinances addressing local use issues.
"We certainly didn't preclude them from doing that," said Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, one of the sponsors of House Bill 1284. "At its core, 1284 was a local control bill."
Ultimately, we believe the issue is one of fairness. Local governments around the state are contemplating outlawing medical marijuana dispensaries within their boundaries. That certainly is their right under HB 1284. But if they do so, zoning and use restrictions on caregivers operating in residential neighborhoods become a more important issue. Cities and counties should not zone caregivers, which are authorized under Amendment 20, out of existence.
The flip side is that people who own houses in residential neighborhoods should not be subjected to a business operating next door, as they would if there was a caregiver operating at full capacity with patients coming and going.
For instance, if a couple lived in a house and each was a caregiver, they could, under state law, grow 60 plants. If those caregivers were patients as well, which we're told is not unusual, they could have 72 plants. That is a small commercial operation and it's not appropriate for a residential neighborhood.
Try as we might, we could not get a clear answer from regulators as to whether caregivers could grow additional plants somewhere other than their houses, particularly if they were to share space, and what permissions might be necessary.
That, we think, is one of the key issues in making an ordinance such as Denver's work, certainly from a fairness point of view. Caregivers should have the ability to operate, but that shouldn't come at the expense of their neighbors.
Policing the pot grower next door - The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_15772218?source=bb)
Under the state's medical marijuana law, cities have the right to limit - or eliminate - residential pot-growing operations.
Running a business out of a residential neighborhood has never been the norm in Denver, and it should be no different for medical marijuana caregivers.
That's the gist of a proposed Denver zoning ordinance that would limit to 12 the number of medical marijuana plants that licensed caregivers could grow in their homes.
We think such a restriction makes sense, and we do not believe it would run afoul of the medical marijuana constitutional amendment. Yet, caregivers ought to be allowed to operate.
There are several important issues to consider in looking at the issue of residential restrictions on caregivers.
One that medical marijuana advocates have raised is whether Amendment 20, passed by voters in 2000, creates a fundamental right to medical marijuana. If the amendment does, a city could not pass a law to restrict it.
We don't think it does, and several recent Denver District court decisions buoy that interpretation. Marijuana remains illegal in Colorado, but the amendment created, for legitimate patients, an affirmative defense to prosecution. That's it.
Furthermore, the model in which a caregiver is allowed to handle as many as five patients (growing six plants for each) is not part of the constitutional amendment.
The five-patient limit is ensconced in state law, which passed in the most recent legislative session. Nothing in the law precludes local governments from passing ordinances addressing local use issues.
"We certainly didn't preclude them from doing that," said Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, one of the sponsors of House Bill 1284. "At its core, 1284 was a local control bill."
Ultimately, we believe the issue is one of fairness. Local governments around the state are contemplating outlawing medical marijuana dispensaries within their boundaries. That certainly is their right under HB 1284. But if they do so, zoning and use restrictions on caregivers operating in residential neighborhoods become a more important issue. Cities and counties should not zone caregivers, which are authorized under Amendment 20, out of existence.
The flip side is that people who own houses in residential neighborhoods should not be subjected to a business operating next door, as they would if there was a caregiver operating at full capacity with patients coming and going.
For instance, if a couple lived in a house and each was a caregiver, they could, under state law, grow 60 plants. If those caregivers were patients as well, which we're told is not unusual, they could have 72 plants. That is a small commercial operation and it's not appropriate for a residential neighborhood.
Try as we might, we could not get a clear answer from regulators as to whether caregivers could grow additional plants somewhere other than their houses, particularly if they were to share space, and what permissions might be necessary.
That, we think, is one of the key issues in making an ordinance such as Denver's work, certainly from a fairness point of view. Caregivers should have the ability to operate, but that shouldn't come at the expense of their neighbors.
Policing the pot grower next door - The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_15772218?source=bb)