Council will make MMJ decision at June 20 meeting

Impacts on kids and on patients
debated

The town attorney appears to have stepped back and taken a lighter touch on medical marijuana (MMJ). The Town Council looks ready to continue the experiment for another year. And the great Crested Butte MMJ debate will continue until at least June 20.

At its June 6 meeting, the council set for public hearing an ordinance extending the current MMJ dispensary permits in town for 12 months. If the ordinance fails, the permits will sunset and the three operating dispensaries will be closed. But while town attorney John Belkin again re-emphasized at the Town Council meeting on June 6 that selling any type of marijuana, medical or otherwise, remains against federal law, he did say the chances of the feds coming in to prosecute town staff or council with a crime as a result of allowing MMJ dispensaries in town are very unlikely.
However, brief discussion by the public showed the council that there is some concern about local children and the availability of marijuana in the community. That discussion will be continued at the June 20 meeting.
The council also heard from attorney Sean McAllister, a Colorado expert on MMJ at a late-afternoon work session on the issue. He was brought in by two of the local dispensaries. “Your town and county have always voted in favor of state medical marijuana laws,” he said. “In fact, in 2006, this county and community voted heavily in favor of a statewide proposal legalizing marijuana.”
“Now, the feds haven’t raided one dispensary in Colorado,” McAllister continued. “They have continued to do what they said they were going to do. The idea that the feds will change their mind and come into little Crested Butte at the end of the road is not very likely.”
“The state legislature just approved laws approving medical marijuana. Crested Butte isn’t at the top of [the feds’] list,” McAllister said.
McAllister says that while there probably is some abuse of the system, most of the people using MMJ from dispensaries “are real patients with debilitating diseases. It’s been a good thing for a lot of people. The dispensary system helps keep a regulated system operating. To ban these dispensaries on a theoretical threat doesn’t make sense.”
Belkin reiterated, “No matter what anyone says, at the federal level, it is still illegal. It’s important that you are aware of that. Let’s call it like it is. You are on the fringe of a big social issue.”
“Roland summed it up best at the last meeting and we don’t as a council want to put the staff, ourselves or the greater community in jeopardy because of a vote we make,” said mayor Leah Williams. “Can we extend these another year to see how things shake out at the state and federal level?”
“Congress hasn’t changed even when it was more Democrat,” said Belkin. “It’s going the other way. I’m not sure just extending it 12 months gives you much more protection but at least it isn’t expanding the town’s MMJ permits or allowing growing. This may be a middle ground. So much at the state and federal level is about politics. It’s all very interesting. I don’t think anyone is going to come in and prosecute you.
“No matter what you do, you’ll do a good thing,” Belkin said. “You all did a great job. You legislated in a space that not many other communities even went. But at the end of the day, the United States code still says it’s unlawful.”
“Extending the permits 12 months provides time to see what will happen nationally and at the state,” added town manager Susan Parker.
Debbie Hattendorf of the Boomtown dispensary emphasized that people using that dispensary need the medicine. “Our patients are seriously sick,” she said. “It is difficult for me to understand how other human beings can judge how patients are treated.
“Just so you know, the United States [Veterans Administration] approved our types of treatment for veterans,” Hattendorf continued. “It may be a social or political issue in the eyes of some, but I’m not concerned with that. I’m concerned with our patients. This product helps cancer patients and those with HIV and those in pain. “
Her husband, Steve Hattendorf, told the council that dispensaries aren’t get-rich-quick schemes. “The new Colorado law is a real peach,” he said. “These new requirements are super-expensive. To see this and want to keep going is almost crazy. I’m a Cubs fan so I don’t know a lot about joy and happiness, but this is rough.”
Laura Martineau countered, “There is a serious problem with marijuana use with the kids in this town and it’s gotten worse since the dispensaries opened. Despite what I heard tonight, I think a lot of this medical marijuana is going to recreational use.”
Martineau argued that those who like the use of marijuana should try to get it totally legalized and then have it regulated at both the state and federal levels.
“When I hear my ten-year-old son come off the Mountain Express asking about marijuana candy and marijuana ice cream, I think it goes too far. It shouldn’t be marketed to teenagers. That’s not responsible,” said Martineau. “I’ve heard that there is so much marijuana in the valley that the quote, unquote patients go to the dispensaries and then sell it. I hope you as a council really consider not approving this.”
Jonathan Houcke and Brooke Harless of the Gunnison County Substance Abuse Prevention Project (GCSAPP) pointed out that marijuana use among Crested Butte high school students is above the state and national averages. “Has it gone up significantly since the dispensaries were allowed in town? That’s a correlation worth investigating further,” said Harless.
“It’s a difficult situation,” said Harless. “I understand there are some real attributes with medical marijuana. But it is a sticky topic around youth. It’s not a harmless drug. It has real negative effects on teenagers and their brain development.
“There’s more pot around here now,” she continued. “We have a lot more work now trying to educate the youth of the community about marijuana. They have a perception that it is safe because it is medicine. That’s obviously not always the case.”
The council will hold an official public hearing over whether or not to extend the permits for 12 months at the June 20 council meeting.