Local MMJ grow operation closed

Violation splits up Western Holistics

A visit by local and state law enforcement officials to a medical marijuana (MMJ) grow operation in Riverland last week forced the caregiving company Western Holistics to divide its cultivation operation and close its doors.

Western Holistics owners Richard Haley and Tripp Blalock had been willing, even eager, to offer county and town officials an opportunity to tour their grow operation in unincorporated Gunnison County, where a moratorium has been placed on MMJ grows.
“They have given tours to the Mt. Crested Butte police several times and we went up there on a tour to see what they were doing and how they were doing it,” Gunnison County undersheriff Randy Barnes says. “We brought in the medical marijuana enforcement division guys to go along with us. When we arrived there they gave us a tour.”
Mt. Crested Butte police chief Hank Smith says, “It was an illegal grow. They didn’t adhere to the law and they are shut down now.”
Smith says, “They said they had a hundred patients but they are operating, in their own words, under a constitutional amendment that allows them to be a caregiver for six people, with six plants per person. And they can’t have more than one caregiver under one roof.”
But the two caregivers did occupy the same space and Haley says the operation, which had about 85 patients at the time of the tour, was situated in an industrial area, away from people. “We were trying to be respectful of a private home and not tear someone’s house apart to do our work,” he says. “We really tried to be legitimate and we’re trying to be up-front about everything.”
Hence the tour, which included Mt. Crested Butte police, the county sheriff and the state’s MMJ law enforcers.
“[Haley and Blaylock] feel they’re in the right, but they had some violations,” Barnes says. “Therefore the MMJ enforcement [officer] told them the violations were a bad thing and the moratorium [in the county] is there and that’s a bad thing.”
But Barnes explained that the Colorado Constitutional Amendment 20 dealing with MMJ is ambiguous and hard to enforce, which will be something a new state law going into effect in July should solve.
“The district attorneys have been leery of prosecuting these cases until the new law comes out,” Barnes says, referring to the state’s latest attempt at making the law more enforceable and understandable. “The new law is going to help law enforcement and the DA. There’s also going to be safeguards within the new system for caregivers. There’s been some abuse in the system and it should help caregivers know where they’re coming from and what they’re supposed to do.
“[Haley and Blaylock] were trying to wave their constitutional right in front of everybody and they were under the assumption they were doing it right,” Barnes added. “That’s part of the reason the DA hasn’t wanted to prosecute these cases.”
Western Holistics was forced to divide its operation between the two principals, who now each serve only the maximum number of patients allowed under the law. “We had to let everyone else go,” Haley says. “I feel terrible that I can’t do more to help them and fight this but we can’t afford to go to court. But it is what it is and until it gets resolved in court situation there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Barnes says he’ll be keeping an eye on the operators to make sure they stay in compliance. No charges were filed against the pair.