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A Colorado Springs attorney-turned-aspiring pot entrepreneur said Friday he is suing the city over the legality of its recent move to ban recreational marijuana sales within city limits.
Dennis Johnson Sladek contends that language in Amendment 64 allowing municipalities to "opt out" of marijuana sales conflicts with his right to sell a legal substance.
"I have a constitutional right to pursue a business, and they're saying I can't," he said in a phone interview.
Sladek provided The Gazette with a copy of a lawsuit he said he filed on Friday afternoon. The newspaper was unable to confirm the filing because the clerk's office was closed.
The 2 1/2-page complaint invokes constitutional protections safeguarding "life, liberty and property" and due process under the law.
Sladek, who practiced as a criminal defense attorney, is serving a license suspension for improper billing practices and other financial improprieties, according to accounts in the Colorado Lawyer, a trade publication. Sladek maintains he did nothing wrong and was unfairly censured, but said he is abandoning his law practice so that he can concentrate on running a golf supplies business - and pursue his plan to sell pot over the counter.
"As far as I'm concerned, I'm retired," he said.
Sladek said he had found a landlord willing to lease him a storefront for a recreational marijuana operation but was scuttled by City Council's 5-4 vote on Tuesday to ban sales in the city.
Sladek pulled no punches in his assessment of the council and Mayor Steve Bach.
Referring to Bach's pledge to veto any action by council to approve recreational sales, Sladek said: "What does he think he is, king?"
He said permitting recreational sales would prove a tax boon in a cash-strapped city.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: gazette.com
Author: Lance Benzel
Contact: Contact
Website: Retired lawyer sues city over its vote to ban recreational pot sales
Dennis Johnson Sladek contends that language in Amendment 64 allowing municipalities to "opt out" of marijuana sales conflicts with his right to sell a legal substance.
"I have a constitutional right to pursue a business, and they're saying I can't," he said in a phone interview.
Sladek provided The Gazette with a copy of a lawsuit he said he filed on Friday afternoon. The newspaper was unable to confirm the filing because the clerk's office was closed.
The 2 1/2-page complaint invokes constitutional protections safeguarding "life, liberty and property" and due process under the law.
Sladek, who practiced as a criminal defense attorney, is serving a license suspension for improper billing practices and other financial improprieties, according to accounts in the Colorado Lawyer, a trade publication. Sladek maintains he did nothing wrong and was unfairly censured, but said he is abandoning his law practice so that he can concentrate on running a golf supplies business - and pursue his plan to sell pot over the counter.
"As far as I'm concerned, I'm retired," he said.
Sladek said he had found a landlord willing to lease him a storefront for a recreational marijuana operation but was scuttled by City Council's 5-4 vote on Tuesday to ban sales in the city.
Sladek pulled no punches in his assessment of the council and Mayor Steve Bach.
Referring to Bach's pledge to veto any action by council to approve recreational sales, Sladek said: "What does he think he is, king?"
He said permitting recreational sales would prove a tax boon in a cash-strapped city.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: gazette.com
Author: Lance Benzel
Contact: Contact
Website: Retired lawyer sues city over its vote to ban recreational pot sales
