| Photo: KRDO |
Medical marijuana is legal under the Colorado Constitution, but newly passed regulations allow cities to ban the dispensaries that sell it. Now cannabis advocates are planning lawsuits if cities choose to ban the shops, reports Mireya Garcia of KRDO.
“They are missing the most important part of this — the patients,” said Michael Stetler, a dispensary owner in Pueblo.
The Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council works with local communities in Southern Colorado that have moratoriums in place. CSMCC officials said the longer communities take to figure out how to regulate dispensaries, the worse patients will suffer.
“Cities like Fountain and Manitou no longer have [public transportation]systems that run to those venues anymore,” said Tanya Garduno, president of CSMCC. “Patients that were able to come to Colorado Springs are no longer able to do that.”
If Southern Colorado communities extend moratoriums, the CSMCC foresees legal action taken as early as July.
“Once a municipality tries to actually implement moratoriums, that is when you will see those things happen,” Garduno said.