Medical Marijuana Dispensaries In Canon City

By Laurie Cipriano l.cipriano@krdo.com

CANON CITY – Setting guidelines for medical marijuana dispensaries has been a hot button issue throughout Colorado. Patients have the legal right to obtain medical marijuana. Now Canon City is deciding whether dispensaries are the right way to gain that access.

“The way the constitution appears to be written and interpreted, a caregiver or a patient could grow marijuana essentially anywhere,” said Canon City Attorney John Havens.

That’s why Canon City is taking a proactive approach. Before it all gets out of hand, the city is trying to make sure that dispensaries are not within 300 feet of schools and daycare centers.

“What we’re trying to do is get the caregivers out of the residential areas, in places where patients will have access and then law enforcement and other folks will have an ability to monitor the comings and the goings,” Havens said.

Limiting the dispensaries to two zones: General Commercial and Central Business Districts.

“And there’s a lot of cynicism with respect to dispensaries, some of which might be justified, some of which might not be,” Havens said. “But if the dispensaries are out in the open, where we can see them and see who comes and goes, we’ve got a good chance of knowing, as a city, if they’re legitimately being operated, or if they’re being used for purposes that remain illegal,”

According to Havens, Canon City citizens are mixed on the issue.

“But we do have a planning commission that voted five to two in favor of sending this ordinance forward, so there’s at least a little bit of a message there,” said Havens.

City Council is expected to vote on the ordinance in December.