Denver City Council passed a historic bill that sets rules and regulations for the retail of marijuana in the state’s largest city. Other cities around Colorado are stepping back from setting their own regulations to see how Denver’s system works out.

“The whole world is watching, not just the
country,” said Councilman Charlie Brown, who led the council committee
on the issue. “There will be some changes. It is a work in progress. We
did what we could, but this is a huge unknown.”

Councilman Brown wants to hold another meeting with Denver’s police chief, the manager of
parks and recreation and some municipal judges to talk about how to
enforce the laws against public marijuana consumption.

Several
council members were not to happy after a free marijuana giveaway Sept. 9th in
Denver’s Civic Center park that included public pot smoking, which is
against the law. No one was arrested or cited for the violations. “When people are blatantly flaunting our laws and putting it in our face, that is not what we want for the city,” Brown said.

Now it is up to Congress to pass legislation that will allow a normal banking relationship within this industry, said brown. He cited a bill being sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden.

“They
aren’t allowed to have a normal banking relationships,” he said. “That
leads to crime, leads to people cheating on taxes. It is absurd. I
talked to owners who have to make payroll for up to 60 employees in cash
and utility bills in cash. An all-cash business is not good for
anyone.”

Two changes were put into the new law on Monday:

• Any medical marijuana facility that has not applied for a city license by Oct. 1 will be shut down.

•
Distances now will be measured as the crow flies, not in terms of
distance a pedestrian can walk after an amendment by Councilman Paul
Lopez that was approved. Going forward, no new dispensary or retail
shop can be within 1,000 feet of a school, child care center, drug and
alcohol treatment center or another marijuana facility as the crow
flies.

Here are some key elements to the new law:

• Through Jan. 2016, only licensed medical marijuana businesses in good standing will be licensed to sell retail marijuana.

• Retail marijuana stores can share the same location with a medical marijuana centers.

•
Public hearings will be required before licenses are granted to retail
facilities. But the hearings will be less restrictive than liquor
licences.

• Similar buffering to the medical marijuana laws will
be in effect with no dispensaries allowed within 1,000 feet of a
school, child care center, another marijuana facility and drug and
alcohol treatment facilities.

Michael Elliott, director of the
Medical Marijuana Industry Group, said Denver’s ordinance treats the
industry fairly, promotes public safety, and respects the wishes of the
voters.

“As a new industry, we recognize and accept the
responsibility to ensure responsible use by adults and to keep this
product away from minors,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to
continuing to work with the city to meet those shared goals.”

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