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| 10/22/2009 4:18:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Josh Sodic, Dan Pedrow and Dan Berggren are business partners in a new clinic that caters to medical marijuana cardholders in Lake County. Photo by Ann E. Wibbenmeyer
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Medical marijuana dispensary opens here
Ann E. Wibbenmeyer
Herald Staff Writer
Cloud City Compassionate Care has opened as a medical-marijuana dispensary in the commercial zone of Leadville.
Co-owner Dan Berggren described the shop as an alternative medicine clinic, much like a chiropractor or acupuncture therapist.
Clients will include only those who hold a medical-marijuana registry identification card from the state of Colorado.
The dispensary will be able to get quality plants genetically engineered to target different symptoms, according to co-owner Dan Pedrow.
Patients will have a choice in the form in which the medical marijuana is dispensed. There are smokables, edibles and tinctures.
In the edibles category, the clinic has a whole list of baked goods, including a line of gluten-free baked goods. These are baked in a Food and Drug Administration-approved kitchen. The baker's specialty, according to Pedrow, is cheesecake.
To access the products available in the dispensary, cardholders must designate the owners of the dispensary as their caregivers. The caregiver is meant to know the symptoms and the patient well, said Pedrow.
The dispensary plans to have a relationship with its customers in order to best match the treatments to the clients' needs, said Josh Sodic, third co-owner.
Dispensaries: a new industry in Colorado
This is the first dispensary to open in Lake County, but not the first in the state of Colorado.
Many communities are starting to see these businesses open, and local governments are reacting to the new industry as it grows.
Boulder recently placed a moratorium on opening dispensaries in order to establish regulations. Other communities have prohibited them outright.
A Northglenn ordinance sets up a policy that is much like that regulating liquor licenses, which requires a background check on the owners. This ordinance also mandates a business and sales -tax license.
One cause for the increase in this industry is a new policy from the U.S. Justice Department. It recently sent out a memo indicating that the federal government will not be prosecuting medical marijuana cases in states that allow the use of the drug for that purpose.
According to the Associated Press, this is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted on enforcing marijuana laws regardless of state laws.
Colorado is one of 14 states that has legalized the use of pot for medical use. Seventeen states have the issue on the ballot for the November election.
State position on dispensaries
Currently there are no regulations at the state level that control the dispensary industry. Amendment 20 set up no guidelines for the distribution of medical marijuana.
"This vacuum has given rise to problems I and other law-enforcement leaders have highlighted over the past few months," said Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on the issue.
One of the issues mentioned by Suthers is the increase in crime in the neighborhoods surrounding dispensaries run from residences.
Another issue, according to Lake County Sheriff Ed Holte, is in enforcing the law. Local law enforcement is left without a direction for confiscating plants and turning cases over to the district attorney's office. If plants are confiscated, they have to be kept alive, which can be expensive.
"This vacuum also has left Colorado's towns and cities to grapple with the state's burgeoning marijuana trade," said Suthers.
Suthers has asked that Colorado lawmakers come up with a regulatory scheme to clarify the law on this subject.
The rules at this dispensary
There is a group called Sensible Colorado that is trying to work with the state to come up with the regulations for dispensaries.
Cloud City Compassionate Care is also working with this group, which helped with the operating policies of the dispensary.
Each client will have a packet of paperwork to complete, which includes proof of a medical marijuana registration identification card.
Another rule, which complies with state law, is that no product can be consumed on site or in the presence of the public.
The clients sign a contract that says they will only consume in the privacy of their homes, said Pedrow.
The security system installed in the new clinic is a closed system, said Sodic, meaning that if a wire is cut to try to bypass the system it will go off.
It includes motion sensors on each door and window, said Pedrow.
Video cameras alert the owners of someone approaching the shop long before that person gets to the door, said Berggren. The cops are just around the corner, he added.
The sign for the business will not flaunt the marijuana leaf, said Berggren. There is too much tourism traffic in Lake County for that.
The business is also collecting sales tax and has indicated that it will be joining the chamber of commerce.
The city discussion
The dispensary, as a clinic, is an allowed use in the commercial zone, according to Padriac Smith, administrative services for the city. There is no definition for a dispensary or pharmacy in the city's land development code. This is an oversight in the code that the planning and zoning commission will be working on.
Another dispensary is going through the process for a conditional use permit to open on East 7th Street.
The date set for this public hearing is on Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m.
The issue of dispensaries was also a topic on the city council agenda Tuesday night.
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