Local pot ban – Lafayette Colorado

Our city was the first in the state (to my knowledge) to exercise the freedom of recreational MJ use that Amendment 64 gave us, voted into our state constitution last November. A local tea shop owner opened her business in January for cannabis sharing in the evenings, behind closed doors, selling not allowed, no cover charge made, as guaranteed by Amendment 64. (We are the year of the “magic ounce” here in Colorado, lawfully possessing an ounce, but rules and regulations not yet set up for commercial sales in stores.) Amendment 64 gave municipal governments (cities) in the state the right to regulate stores, in addition to cultivation, product manufacturing and testing facilities, and many cities have placed moratorium on pot-related businesses. The city council of Greenwood Village, a wealthy suburb of Denver, recently voted to ban use, possession and transportation of MJ on city property, and our city council of Lafayette voted unanimously to ban any recreational MJ-related business, including any that provide for or allow “the use of MJ” on site. The vote is obviously aimed at our local tea shop owner, who has sued the city, claiming that Lafayette’s moratoriam flies in the face of state law, which permits adults 21 and older to possess and use up to an ounce of pot and grow up to six plants. The lawsuit also claims that Lafayette is violating the local teashop owner’s property rights by not permitting her to assist adults with the consumption of MJ inside her business, behind closed doors, as guaranteed by our Amendment. This lawsuit is important because the decision could set a precedent for other cities in the state as to how far they can go in regulating pot related businesses. Public use of pot is prohibited by Amendment 64, but private use is allowed. The Boulder attorney that has represented many clients in our 200 million dollar per year medical MJ industry says that ” cities were not granted any rights or authority under the state constitution about what adults can or cannot do with their MJ rights.” He calls the moratorium “complete disrespect for what the community wanted,”(the Amendment was approved by 65% of Lafayette voters).

May we live in interesting times!

David B