Cannabis clubs petitioning to recall City Council members
Cannabis clubs in Colorado Springs are just one vote away from having to shut down. Many club owners say they plan on petitioning to recall City Council members over the vote.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, the City Council voted 6-3 to ban cannabis clubs in the city. It is the first of two votes to finalize the decision.
“It is scary. We, for one, invested a lot of money to open up a club like this. Two, we see the kind of impact we are having in the community,” said Steve Pacheco, owner of The Pothole.
If the second vote passes, members of The Pothole and other clubs across the city will have to shut down over the next eight years.
“People are going to go elsewhere, at home with kids, driving around in the car. It’s just a safer alternative,” said Matthew Mccain, a club member.
Club owners and members say they plan on signing a petition to recall City Council members.
“This is ridiculous. Would you rather people go elsewhere to get it from drug dealers on the streets? My name is first on that petition,” said Myles Christensen, a club member.
“They can try and recall us but that’s a huge job. I think if they’re going to be that upset about it, they should go out and do their own initiative and see if people agree with them,” said Councilman Keith King.
The owner of the Dab Lounge, Daniel Goodman, says he’ll fight the vote.
“I don’t feel I have to shut down in eight years, I feel that everything they’re doing is unconstitutional,” said Goodman.
“It’s the law, so they have no choice but to cooperate. They were pretty aggressive last night towards us and I didn’t like the way we were treated,” said King.
Club members feel they’re also being treated unfairly.
“They can’t treat us like criminals. They ignored the veterans that were pleading, crying in front of them that these places are saving their lives,” said Goodman.
Council will meet again in two weeks to vote. If it does pass, the ban would go into effect eight years from the day it passes.
