Early today on a cold snowy morning, The Denver City Council Safety Committee meet today to discuss the blooming industry of Medical Marijuana and how to regulate them within the Denver city limits... Councilman Charlie Brown, not the famous Peanuts character has drafted a ordinance in which HE THINKS will help the city regulate the industry.
There are several things wrong with the councilman's proposal. I have highlighted some of the items that we here at Mile High NORML are most concerned with...
1) The council will not try to define the term caregiver. They will leave that up to the Colroado Dept of Health, they plan to define the defination there next meeting, Time TBA
2) In Sec. 24-403 section (a) On and after [March, 1, 2010] it shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise distribute any marijuana for medical use without obtaining a license to operate as a medical marijuana dispensary pursuant to the requirements of this article. This licensing requirement shall apply regardless of whether or not a medical marijuana dispensary has commenced operation prior to said date...
The only problem I for see in this is the price of obtaining the license itself 1. Application fee is $2,000 2. Criminal background check fee, per person checked 3. License fee, per year is $3,000
3) In Sec. 24-405 - Application (a) Application for a medical marijuana dispensary license shall be made to the director upon forms provided by the director for that purpose. In addition to the information required by Chapter 32 of this Code, the application shall include the following information: #'s 1 though 4 are basic standard application stuff all but number (4) Name and address of any manager or managers of the medical marijuana dispensary, if the manager is proposed to be someone other than the owner. The application shall also contain 24-hour contact information for the manager or managers of the licensed premises which shall be made available to the general public in order to provide a prompt response to public questions and concerns about the operation of the licensed premises
2) In Sec. 24-403 section (a) On and after [March, 1, 2010] it shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise distribute any marijuana for medical use without obtaining a license to operate as a medical marijuana dispensary pursuant to the requirements of this article. This licensing requirement shall apply regardless of whether or not a medical marijuana dispensary has commenced operation prior to said date...
The only problem I for see in this is the price of obtaining the license itself 1. Application fee is $2,000 2. Criminal background check fee, per person checked 3. License fee, per year is $3,000
3) In Sec. 24-405 - Application (a) Application for a medical marijuana dispensary license shall be made to the director upon forms provided by the director for that purpose. In addition to the information required by Chapter 32 of this Code, the application shall include the following information: #'s 1 though 4 are basic standard application stuff all but number (4) Name and address of any manager or managers of the medical marijuana dispensary, if the manager is proposed to be someone other than the owner. The application shall also contain 24-hour contact information for the manager or managers of the licensed premises which shall be made available to the general public in order to provide a prompt response to public questions and concerns about the operation of the licensed premises
We are pleased to announce that this was slashed down after 10 minuets or so of debating. In no other buisness is there a need for the owner to have 24 contact info. If in the middle of the night something happens the police will not have any problems locating the owner/s of the building. Actually the whole Application section is filled with quarky things. They are just trying to make it as hard as they can.
4) In 24-408. Requirements related to licensed premises (a) No marijuana shall be smoked, eaten or otherwise consumed or ingested on the licensed premises....
FUNK THAT. We should be able to use our medicine where ever we fell the need.
in the same section
(g) The licensed premises shall be monitored and secured 24-hours per day including, at a minimum, the following security measures:
Just another cost that will be passed along to the consumer.
***They stopped only after 7 pages of simple debate and agreed to reconvine the meeting and discuss the rest of the proposal, two weeks from now on 12/16/09.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Denver Medical Marijuana Dispensary Licensing Ordinance
Amend Chapter 24, D.R.M.C. ("Health and Sanitation") by adding a new Article XI, to read as follows:
Article XI. Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Sec. 24-401. Purpose and legislative intent. Although the possession and use of marijuana is and remains unlawful under Federal law, Section 14 of Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution ("Amendment 20") provides an exception to prosecution under state criminal laws when marijuana is possessed and used for medicinal purposes by a patient who has been diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition and by the patient's primary caregivers. Amendment 20 does not, however, contain any provision for the lawful sale or distribution of marijuana to patients and, to date, the State of Colorado has failed to adopt laws or regulations to clearly explain how and whether marijuana may be lawfully sold or otherwise distributed to patients. As a result of this ambiguity in the State law, unregulated medical marijuana dispensaries have proliferated in Denver and elsewhere in Colorado. The purpose of this Article is to license and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in the interest of public health, safety and general welfare. In particular, this Article in intended to regulate the sale and distribution of marijuana in the interest of patients who qualify to obtain, possess and use marijuana for medical purposes under Amendment 20, while promoting compliance with other state laws that prohibit trafficking in marijuana for non-medical purposes. Nothing in this article is intended to promote or condone the sale, distribution, possession or use of marijuana in violation of any applicable law. Compliance with the requirements of this article shall not provide a defense to criminal prosecution under any applicable law. Persons who cultivate, possess, sell, distribute, purchase, or use marijuana, whether for medical or non-medical purposes, do so at their own risk of prosecution under any applicable federal, state or local law.
Original Article Denver WestwordAmend Chapter 24, D.R.M.C. ("Health and Sanitation") by adding a new Article XI, to read as follows:
Article XI. Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Sec. 24-401. Purpose and legislative intent. Although the possession and use of marijuana is and remains unlawful under Federal law, Section 14 of Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution ("Amendment 20") provides an exception to prosecution under state criminal laws when marijuana is possessed and used for medicinal purposes by a patient who has been diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition and by the patient's primary caregivers. Amendment 20 does not, however, contain any provision for the lawful sale or distribution of marijuana to patients and, to date, the State of Colorado has failed to adopt laws or regulations to clearly explain how and whether marijuana may be lawfully sold or otherwise distributed to patients. As a result of this ambiguity in the State law, unregulated medical marijuana dispensaries have proliferated in Denver and elsewhere in Colorado. The purpose of this Article is to license and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in the interest of public health, safety and general welfare. In particular, this Article in intended to regulate the sale and distribution of marijuana in the interest of patients who qualify to obtain, possess and use marijuana for medical purposes under Amendment 20, while promoting compliance with other state laws that prohibit trafficking in marijuana for non-medical purposes. Nothing in this article is intended to promote or condone the sale, distribution, possession or use of marijuana in violation of any applicable law. Compliance with the requirements of this article shall not provide a defense to criminal prosecution under any applicable law. Persons who cultivate, possess, sell, distribute, purchase, or use marijuana, whether for medical or non-medical purposes, do so at their own risk of prosecution under any applicable federal, state or local law.
No comments:
Post a Comment