Longmont bans all mj businesses / centers / infused mfg.

Longmont City Council bans pot shops - Boulder Daily Camera

Longmont City Council bans pot shops

By Scott Rochat Longmont Times-Call
Posted: 05/25/2011 07:16:53 AM MDT

LONGMONT -- The Longmont City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to ban medical marijuana dispensaries, but also put off any decision on regulating "home grows" by patients and caregivers.

Councilwoman Sarah Levison called the vote one of the most difficult decisions she has had to make in public life, as she sympathized both with the dispensaries' desire to care for patients and with the concerns others had raised about childhood drug addiction.

"This has not been an easy decision," she said. "It's not going to be popular. But we're not looking at this as a popularity contest." "From what I've heard on this night and previous nights, this is a multiple-choice question with no correct answer," Councilman Alex Sammoury said.

The vote also bans other marijuana-related businesses, such as those that bake marijuana-infused items or commercially grown marijuana. A portion that would have allowed up to 3,600 cubic feet of marijuana to be grown in a home was struck from the law.

One crucial factor in the dispensary ban, some acknowledged, was a warning that federal authorities might pursue officials who aided and abetted "distribution schemes."

"They have limited resources, so perhaps they're just saber-rattling," Councilwoman Katie Witt said. "But we don't know that."

An ordinance that would allow patients and caregivers up to 12 plants taking up no more than 150 square feet failed 4-3, with council members Sean McCoy, Brian Hansen, Levison and Witt against.

The proposed dispensary ban drew passionate and lengthy commentary from supporters and opponents. Deb Roberts, the executive director of Alternatives for Youth, told the council of her son who had begun using marijuana as a teen, become a drug addict, and drowned at the age of 19, not long before he was due to resume treatment.

"I know closing the dispensaries won't make marijuana use go away," she said. "But why make it easier for children to get access to marijuana by having dispensaries on the corners where they live?"

Others argued that closing the dispensaries would make the situation less safe, since home growers would have less supervision than a dispensary and would make it more likely to get the drug in a residential neighborhood.

"I've read through the state law that governs these," resident Diane Hill said. "They are so tight!" Some dispensary owners said that if the ban passed, they would be moving over the city limits rather than closing down altogether.

" Even if you close us down, we're going to move right outside of town, and give all the proceeds to the county instead of the city," said Derek King, owner of New Age Wellness, a dispensary. "I think you guys should make the educated decision and go with the people who know what they're doing."