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Colorado - The Town of Basalt is poised to repeal its 2-year-old moratorium on medical marijuana businesses, while keeping a 1-year-old stay on recreational pot shops in place for six more months while it drafts rules to govern that industry. At a special meeting Tuesday night, the council decided unanimously that it was high time to lift the ban on the medical industry, albeit in a limited way. In a unanimous vote, the seven-member body directed town staff to update Basalt's medical marijuana code by Dec. 10, meaning it could be approved and the moratorium lifted – before the end of the year.
Yet Basalt Town Manager Mike Scanlon urged more caution in regulating the recreational pot industry that was born last year with the passage of Amendment 64. That industry, he said, remains far more turbulent and unsettled than the 13-year-old medical marijuana sector in Colorado, and Basalt could benefit by waiting to see how other towns and cities tweak their regulations in the coming months. In the state of Washington, which also has legalized recreational pot, "they have realized that they are going to be going back again and again," to get the rules right, Scanlon said. "Medical is more settled. Recreational isn't." Scanlon came into the meeting with the suggestion that the council extend the moratorium on recreational cannabis for two years, but several council members argued for a less lengthy ban.
"I feel that two years is too long, said council member Karen Teague. "A lot of us voted for constitutional Amendment 64 because we wanted to see an end to destructive drug wars and cartels ... and if we can't get the [legal] product out there at a reasonable price, then that's not going to work." Basalt adopted a two-year moratorium on medical marijuana facilities within the town limits in the fall of 2012. The moratorium was enacted partly to buy time until the town had assurances that it would not be prosecuted by the federal government for allowing the sale of a federally illegal drug like marijuana. That assurance came in August, when a U.S. Justice Department lawyer said in a statement that the feds did not intend to interfere with the implementation of marijuana laws in Colorado and Washington.
On Tuesday night, Scanlon offered a glimpse of the medical pot rules that he'll present to the council in December. He made several suggestions on how to regulate the time, place, manner and number of medical shops in town, including limiting the total number of stores to two and banning grow operations, testing facilities and product manufacturers. He proposed restricting the shops' hours to between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., establishing a 500-foot buffer between pot shops and schools or daycare centers, and not allowing the shops in "school corridors."
Recreational pot rules, meanwhile, will have to wait a little longer in Basalt. The town council voted to extend the recreational pot moratorium for six months beyond its upcoming end date of Dec. 27, while working on rules to honor the will of the more than 70 percent of Basalt voters who approved Amendment 64. Still unclear is whether the council intends to ask those voters for advice on what kind of recreational pot facilities shops, grows, product manufacturers or testing facilities to allow in town. Basalt is the only town in the Roaring Fork Valley and the I-70 corridor besides New Castle that maintains a ban on both medical and recreational pot businesses. Some types of medical pot businesses are allowed in all other towns. Aspen, Carbondale, Silt and Rifle have all adopted rules governing the recreational industry, and Glenwood Springs is expected to do so before the end of the year.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Aspendailynews.com
Author: Nelson Harvey
Contact: Contact Us | Aspen Daily News Online
Website: Basalt to lift medical marijuana ban | Aspen Daily News Online
Yet Basalt Town Manager Mike Scanlon urged more caution in regulating the recreational pot industry that was born last year with the passage of Amendment 64. That industry, he said, remains far more turbulent and unsettled than the 13-year-old medical marijuana sector in Colorado, and Basalt could benefit by waiting to see how other towns and cities tweak their regulations in the coming months. In the state of Washington, which also has legalized recreational pot, "they have realized that they are going to be going back again and again," to get the rules right, Scanlon said. "Medical is more settled. Recreational isn't." Scanlon came into the meeting with the suggestion that the council extend the moratorium on recreational cannabis for two years, but several council members argued for a less lengthy ban.
"I feel that two years is too long, said council member Karen Teague. "A lot of us voted for constitutional Amendment 64 because we wanted to see an end to destructive drug wars and cartels ... and if we can't get the [legal] product out there at a reasonable price, then that's not going to work." Basalt adopted a two-year moratorium on medical marijuana facilities within the town limits in the fall of 2012. The moratorium was enacted partly to buy time until the town had assurances that it would not be prosecuted by the federal government for allowing the sale of a federally illegal drug like marijuana. That assurance came in August, when a U.S. Justice Department lawyer said in a statement that the feds did not intend to interfere with the implementation of marijuana laws in Colorado and Washington.
On Tuesday night, Scanlon offered a glimpse of the medical pot rules that he'll present to the council in December. He made several suggestions on how to regulate the time, place, manner and number of medical shops in town, including limiting the total number of stores to two and banning grow operations, testing facilities and product manufacturers. He proposed restricting the shops' hours to between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., establishing a 500-foot buffer between pot shops and schools or daycare centers, and not allowing the shops in "school corridors."
Recreational pot rules, meanwhile, will have to wait a little longer in Basalt. The town council voted to extend the recreational pot moratorium for six months beyond its upcoming end date of Dec. 27, while working on rules to honor the will of the more than 70 percent of Basalt voters who approved Amendment 64. Still unclear is whether the council intends to ask those voters for advice on what kind of recreational pot facilities shops, grows, product manufacturers or testing facilities to allow in town. Basalt is the only town in the Roaring Fork Valley and the I-70 corridor besides New Castle that maintains a ban on both medical and recreational pot businesses. Some types of medical pot businesses are allowed in all other towns. Aspen, Carbondale, Silt and Rifle have all adopted rules governing the recreational industry, and Glenwood Springs is expected to do so before the end of the year.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Aspendailynews.com
Author: Nelson Harvey
Contact: Contact Us | Aspen Daily News Online
Website: Basalt to lift medical marijuana ban | Aspen Daily News Online
