New set of laws to make way for Breckenridge marijuana decriminalization

charliem — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:53:30 +0000

BRECKENRIDGE, Colorado — A new set of marijuana laws is nearing approval in Breckenridge, where possession of the drug and paraphernalia by people over 21 is to be decriminalized Jan. 1.

The regulations would make public display and consumption of marijuana punishable by a $100 fine and up to 15 days in jail.

Breckenridge police chief Rick Holman said he doesn’t foresee much change in the town that, in 2008, issued only 10 tickets for possession of small amounts of marijuana and four for possession of paraphernalia under the municipal laws.

“We’ve never had a high incidence of public display and use in Breckenridge,” he said. “I don’t expect that to change.”Holman acknowledged that “some people are mis-educated” about what passed in this month’s ballot initiative for decriminalization.

Use of marijuana at Breckenridge Ski Resort remains illegal under the Colorado Ski Safety Act.

The town will continue to prohibit selling and driving under the influence of the drug.

The town on its website explains that non-medical marijuana possession still violates state laws, and that the local police “may still exercise, at their discretion, the authority to charge those in violation of state or federal law.”

Holman has said such enforcement would vary depending on the situation.

Unlike the city of Denver — which decriminalized pot in 2005 — the Breckenridge town code will specifically allow for people over 21 to possess paraphernalia.

The draft to which town council gave preliminary approval on Tuesday also allows for transfer without sale of less than an ounce of marijuana between people. Sale of marijuana remains a felony.

Possession between 1 ounce and 8 ounces is still to be a misdemeanor in the town, with possession of more than 8 ounces a felony.

Election results earlier this month reflect about 71 percent of town residents who voted favored decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana.

SOURCE: POST INDEPENDENT

A moratorium on marijuana dispensaries?

charliem — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:37:33 +0000

As medical marijuana dispensaries continue to crop up all over Colorado — from Vail to Longmont to Grand Junction — cities are wrestling with how to regulate the legal sales of pot within their limits.

Many municipalities have enacted moratoriums to give them time to carve out some rules, and it appears Telluride will be next to fall into step with that trend. The Telluride Town Council is holding a special meeting on Monday to consider enacting a moratorium on dispensaries in town that would last until April.

The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. on in Rebekah Hall.

Mayor Stu Fraser said the town is considering this action because it doesn’t have anything in its Land Use Code that specifically deals with the sales of medical marijuana right now.

A moratorium, he said, “allows us to get the Land Use Code regulations and municipal code in place for any legal medical marijuana sales that would occur.”

Town Manager Frank Bell said a moratorium would give the town time to work out any zoning issues or distance requirements — from schools, for instance — that may come up.

Fraser said at least one person has applied for and received a business license for a dispensary. This applicant may be grandfathered in, Fraser said, but could also wait on the town and work with the regulations it comes up with.

In November of 2000, Colorado voters approved Amendment 20, authorizing patients with certain medical ailments to enroll in a state registry and use medical marijuana.

The vote didn’t trigger an immediate boom in medical marijuana shops, and the industry stayed fairly inconspicuous for the first few years following the election. It wasn’t until the Obama Administration announced it would no longer crack down on medical marijuana purveyors operating within state laws that the industry began to pick up.

And then in late July, the Colorado Board of health eliminated a limit on the number of patients a dispensary can have, which triggered a sharp uptick in the number of medical marijuana establishments in the state. Since then, shops have been popping up in commercial spaces and strip malls from Aspen to Durango.

Under Amendment 20, patients who suffer from certain conditions — ranging from cancer to AIDS, seizures, severe nausea and severe pain — can enroll in the program. Patients must obtain a signed physician referral form and complete and sign an application to obtain a medical marijuana card. Once they have a card, patients — as well as registered caregivers — may possess up to two ounces of usable marijuana, or up to six plants (with three or fewer being mature).

According to the Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry, some 11,094 patients are currently enrolled in the program statewide, with the bulk — 1,518 — in Denver County, and 20 patients here in San Miguel County. According to the registry, 73 percent of patients are male, the average age is 41, and the most common condition reported is “severe pain.” More than 800 physicians have signed for patients in Colorado.

The legalized use of medical marijuana is still a sticky subject, because even as 13 states have approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes, it remains a crime under federal law.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, who was visiting Aspen this week, told the Aspen Daily News that the proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries across the state is troubling to law enforcement and should be addressed by the state Legislature.

SOURCE: TELLURIDE DAILY PLANET

The Weekly Weed » Colorado

New set of laws to make way for Breckenridge marijuana decriminalization

A moratorium on marijuana dispensaries?