Caon City Council passes moratorium on retail marijuana

Caon City Council is putting off the inevitable.

Council unanimously decided Tuesday night to temporarily ban retail marijuana.

“We have to make a decision by Oct. 1 so our decision was to wait until later to make the decision,” said Tony Greer, mayor of Caon City.

Amendment 64 was struck down by a slight margin in Caon City last November. Greer said more supporters than opponents are turning up at city meetings.

“I just thank you council for taking the time to even consider this. A lot of places aren’t even doing this. They’re just banning it,” said Dana Soux, owner of Fremont County Cannabis. “I hope that you do consider passing this, but a moratorium would definitely be a great thing for our town so we can figure some stuff out.”

Half of the council positions are up for election in November. Greer said the moratorium would give a possible new council time to consider the issue next year. “You wouldn’t want an outgoing administration to make a rule with such widespread consequences,” he said.

Greer said council needs time to study the social and economic benefits of retail marijuana.

“Do we really want to have Caon City become a location where you can say OK, where are we going to go get our recreational marijuana? We’re gonna go to Caon City,” said Frank Jaquez, who lives in the city.

The moratorium lasts until April 1, 2014, but City Council can lift it at any time.