Longmont Marijuana Dispensary

LONGMONT — Even for a roomful of people in the nascent Denver medical marijuana industry, what Larry Hill was proposing was a little unusual.

Standing before a meeting of cannabis dispensary owners here last week, Hill said the time has come to form a trade association.

"People, let's help ourselves," said Hill, who operates The Apothecary dispensary in Longmont. "It's time we become the shining light in the community, so that people aren't afraid of us anymore."

Across the state — as the number of medical marijuana dispensaries surges and local officials rush to enact laws governing them — cannabis business people have banded together so as to have a louder voice in the debate.

More than 100 people attended the meeting in Longmont last week at the VFW hall, which Hill hosted. A day before, medical marijuana attorney Rob Corry hosted a similar meeting in Denver. Corry said he is talking with around 50 dispensary owners about forming a statewide association.

The idea, the medical marijuana supporters say, is to find a way for the burgeoning industry to fill the current regulatory vacuum and perhaps stave off further governmental rules by regulating itself.

"If you wait for something to happen to you, it's going to happen to you," medical marijuana attorney Jeff Gard told the crowd in Longmont. "If you take control over something yourself, you have some ability to direct it."

But getting consensus on a public, self-governing structure among dispensary owners — some of whom are accustomed to operating quietly and have a well-honed wariness of authority — is no sure thing.

During the meeting in Longmont, Gard read a list of rules recently negotiated in Frisco that he said could serve as a start for the cannabis community's proposals for self-regulation. Those laws include things such as standard operating hours, uniform security measures and prescribed buffer zones between dispensaries and schools or day-care facilities.

A number of the regulations elicited grumbles in the crowd.

"When you start talking about regulations," said Kathleen Chippi, who operates Cannabis Healing Arts in Nederland, "you're continuing to buy into reefer madness lies. We don't need to be afraid of a dispensary."

Other advocates, while conceding the need for some self-government, took issue with particular proposals.

George Thomas, who operates a small caregiver business for about a dozen patients out of his Longmont home, said the buffer-zone regulations could force providers to constantly move.

"I don't want some day-care center operated by some mom down the street to kick me out of my house," he said.

No one knows exactly how many marijuana dispensaries operate in Colorado because they are neither licensed nor tracked by the state. Estimates put the number of dispensaries at as many as 100.

Hill said he thinks the threat of regulation facing dispensary owners will encourage them to get on the same page — but he also concedes it will be difficult to keep them there.

It's unclear how interested state lawmakers are in taking up the issue. Democratic and Republican aides at the Capitol said they haven't heard of any proposed bills to clarify medical marijuana regulations.

"In the giant scheme of things, with all the budget-cutting that's been taking place, it's really moved to a back-seat position," said state Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood.

Gov. Bill Ritter, meanwhile, has put state lawyers and health department officials to work examining how to handle the proliferation of dispensaries, Ritter's spokesman wrote in an e-mail.

While Ritter intends to uphold the state's constitutional protection of medical marijuana, he also "has an obligation to ensure the program is not being abused, not operating outside the law and not going unregulated," Evan Dreyer wrote.

All of that's fine by Hill, as long as those who run the dispensaries get a say.

"We want to remove the gray area from the medical marijuana industry," Hill told the dispensary owners last week. "It's up to us."

More: Denver Marijuana Information | Breckenridge Marijuana Dispensary | Boulder Marijuana Dispensary 

Lakewood Colorado Marijuana Dispensary gets Robbed

Anthony Branan, co-owner of Green Tree Medical in Lakewood, sounds shell-shocked by the robbery that took place at this business this weekend.

"Basically, two guys busted our window and came in," he says. "We lost $10,000 or more, not counting our stock. It was nothing really good..."

Police officials have been warning about criminals targeting dispensaries. Lt. Jerry Schiager, commander of the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force, talks about "at least five armed robberies, seven burglaries and one kidnapping" related to marijuana in the Fort Collins area over the past year and a half or so -- "and those are only the ones we know about."

Branan and his brother Chris, who opened the Denver marijuana dispensary - Green Tree, at 3222 South Vance Street, five months ago today, weren't cavalier about security. They installed a video system in their marijuana dispensary, and it worked well, capturing the two mask-wearing men taking action. "We had the money in a safe," Branan says. "You can literally see them pick it up."

As for product, Branan says, "We lost at least $6,000 worth. They even took all the edibles, all the pipes and tinctures from our Denver marijuana dispensary. We literally have nothing."

The Branans are so devoid of supplies that they don't know when they'll be able to reopen for business again. Regarding restocking, Branan says, "I have friends in other Denver dispensaries, and the fact that we were on the news, hopefully somebody can help us out."

He and his brother are hoping to figure out the next step in the Green Tree story today. Until then, he says, with a considerable amount of understatement, "It's been a hard weekend for us."

Getting A Medical Marijuana Card in Colorado

In the state of Colorado, anyone who wishes to possess marijuana for medical use must obtain a Medical Marijuana Registry identification card from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The following must be submitted to the state in order to legally obtain a Medical Marijuana Card in Colorado:

1.) A completed New/Renewal Application for Identification Card from the Colorado Department 2.) of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE)
3.) A copy of your Colorado driver's license or ID card.
4.)A non-refundable $90 application fee (check or money order made out to CDPHE)
The physician certification form completed and signed by a doctor licensed to work in Colorado

For more information on Colorado Marijuana and obtaining your medical marijuana card in Denver check out: Colorado Marijuana