Petitions filed for ban on commercial pot in Pueblo County

More than 9,000 people in Pueblo County are asking for a ban on commercial marijuana.

After eight weeks of collecting thousands of signatures, Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo turned in their petitions Thursday asking for a ban on commercial pot in Pueblo County.

“In spite of wind, rain, protesters, getting thrown out of places because of the protestors,” said Charlene Graham with Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo.

The group collected more than 4,400 signatures at the city level and 9,000 plus in the county.

All to support a ban on commercial pot in Pueblo County.

“We believe that the cost that the marijuana industry has brought to Pueblo, it can’t be outweighed by the problems we’ve encountered,” said Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo lawyer Daniel Oldenburg.

There’s been a recent rise in illegal growing operations in Pueblo County Oldenburg said, and while legalization was supposed to diminish illegal grows, it’s not working.

“Let’s see what happens if we ban retail marijuana in Pueblo County. The black market can’t get any worse,” said Oldenburg.

For Charlene Graham the ballot measure passing will reclaim Pueblo.

“It has changed our community, and we are upset about that,” said Graham.

And so far, “we’re very proud of what we’ve done,” said Graham

But it’s not over yet each signature must be verified over the next 30 days to add the measure to the city and county November ballots.

In 2015 marijuana brought in more than 2.5 million dollars into Pueblo County, money that might be missed if that ballot measure passes in November.

“We are funding college scholarships with that program, research at CSU-Pueblo, number of parks programs, as well as state fair, street-scape and art center long-term planing dollars,” said Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace.

Pace said these programs create a better Pueblo.

“I think it’s really appropriate to use, essentially a syntax to fund making our community a better community,” said Pace.

But the signatures might not be enough, even if they’re verified.

Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo faces a lawsuit regarding the number of signatures required for the petition. Under Amendment 64, marijuana is to be treated like alcohol, requiring signatures from 15 percent of registered voters. The signatures submitted Thursday don’t meet those requirements. The next hearing for the lawsuit is schedule for Monday.