Oh Canada

By Jon Murray, The Denver Post

Businesses that obtain permits to offer Denver’s first-in-the-nation areas for social marijuana use would have to require patrons to sign waivers as they enter. They would have to follow a ventilation plan if they allow the use of vaping devices indoors.

And if they have a liquor license, they would have to halt any alcohol sales and seek a temporary suspension of the license while marijuana use is occurring, preventing any “dual consumption” by customers.

Those are among rules proposed by the city’s top licensing official Thursday — and they are the chief sticking points that likely will register objections in coming weeks from backers of last fall’s Initiative 300.

The voter-passed law directed the city to implement a four-year pilot program that allows some businesses to seek annual permits to create set-off, 21-and-over areas where customers can consume their own cannabis — so long as they obtain some backing from a local neighborhood or business association. It also allows events to seek permits.

“Since the very beginning, we wanted this to be a discussion between neighborhood groups and businesses,” said Emmett Reistroffer from Denver Relief Consulting, who led the pro-300 campaign. “We think some of these rules kind of circumvent that intent.”

Meanwhile, opponents of I-300 have concerns of their own, including seeing too few restrictions to keep children at a business away from the new “designated consumption areas,” whether indoors or out, and to protect nearby residents from any effects of marijuana use at a local business.

“There is absolutely no buffer zone in these rules for consistent marijuana use backing up to homes,” said Rachel O’Bryan, who managed the anti-Initiative 300 campaign.

There were bound to be plenty of complaints from both sides to the draft rules, which Denver’s Department of Excise and Licenses posted online Thursday afternoon. A widely represented advisory committee that met from January to April offered starkly conflicting input on some issues.

But the group did reach consensus or even unanimous agreement on most matters, noted Ashley Kilroy, executive director of the licensing department and Mayor Michael Hancock’s longtime marijuana policy adviser.

Those include requirements that business applications for consumption areas be subject to public “needs and desires” hearings, as are licenses for liquor- and marijuana-selling businesses. And businesses would need detailed plans for employee training to avoid underage entry and risky situations.

“I’m glad it’s a pilot program, because we don’t know yet what we don’t know,” Kilroy said. “Our city has taken the same path that we’ve tried to take with regard to marijuana legalization overall — which is that we’re deliberate and we’re measured, and we’re trying to listen to as many stakeholders as possible,” placing particular focus on safety and public health.

Still, sponsors are “ready to move forward”

Reistroffer said that even though he and other I-300 backers likely will lodge objections at a public hearing next month, the draft rules largely advance the ball toward implementation — something he hopes to see happen quickly.

“Overall, I think we’re just ready to move forward and to allow businesses to get these permits,” he said, “so that the community and, really, the entire world can start to learn from this program.”

Kilroy’s department tentatively plans to finalize the regulations late next month and begin accepting permit applications in July from those willing to pay fees that total $2,000. They could come from a plethora of businesses that might include yoga studios, coffee shops with back-door patios, or even bars or restaurants that are willing to meet strict liquor exclusion rules for regular or one-off events.

A public hearing on the administrative rules has been set for 5:30 p.m. June 13 on the fourth floor of the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building near Civic Center.

Before they apply, businesses first must obtain backing for the permit from a local civic group, which could include a city-registered neighborhood organization or a business improvement district, which could set operating conditions in exchange for their support.

Here are some of the other proposed rules:

Location restrictions: Businesses that seek permits already cannot place consumption areas where they’d be visible from the public right of way under Initiative 300, or within 1,000 feet of schools. The proposed regulations add that restriction for child care centers, alcohol or drug treatment facilities, and city-owned recreation centers and outdoor pools. Permits also wouldn’t be allowed within residential zone districts, but Kilroy said that doesn’t include properties with mixed-use zoning (a concern that Reistroffer had). Events taking place on public property could not seek marijuana consumption permits.

Permit considerations: Besides ventilation and odor-control plans, applicants would have to show evidence of detailed preparations for marijuana waste disposal and prevention of underage entry to the consumption area, over-intoxication by patrons, driving while intoxicated and illegal distribution of marijuana. Businesses can’t sell marijuana themselves. While hearings would be automatic for business permits, event permits would face a public hearing only if 10 people request one.

Operation restrictions: Businesses and event organizers that are granted permits would have to follow the plans they submit. They also would have to obtain signatures on waivers in which patrons acknowledge they are responsible for their own actions, will consume responsibly, won’t drive impaired and won’t share marijuana in exchange for money. The state’s indoor smoking ban also would apply, unless a business or event is staffed by no more than two employees or volunteers.

How bars could have marijuana events

State rules already prevent marijuana shops from allowing consumption on site, so they couldn’t seek Denver’s new permits. And last fall, state licensing officials announced a new rule that prohibits virtually all liquor licensees, including all bars and some restaurants, from allowing pot use on their premises.

But Kilroy told a City Council committee during a briefing on the coming rules last week that state officials do allow a liquor licensee to “de-license” their business temporarily by paying a $150 fee. That has been done by bars and restaurants when they host weddings whose organizers supply their own alcohol, for instance.

Initiative 300’s backers and other marijuana advocates have filed a lawsuit to reverse the new state liquor license rule. They argue that simultaneous drinking of alcohol and use of marijuana already occur safely, if unsanctioned, at concerts and in bars.

Reistroffer had lobbied licensing officials to propose no restrictions on dual consumption, in case the state liquor rule gets overturned.

But other committee members, including O’Bryan and Denver NORML, the local chapter of a national organization that favors legalization, differed on that point.

“I think almost the entire task force disagreed with that,” Kilroy said, citing a lack of definitive research on the effects of mixing alcohol and pot. “We think it’s only responsible that, right now — when we’re getting started under a pilot program — we disallow dual consumption.”

Reistroffer and fellow I-300 proponent Kayvan Khalatbari, who has filed paperwork to run for mayor in 2019, also object to requiring waivers, seeing little purpose in it.

Kilroy said waivers would be a way to make consumption areas less public to comply with state law; she also recalled Reistroffer suggesting that option at an advisory committee meeting.

But he said Thursday that he had put it on the table only as a way to address recent legislation in the General Assembly that would have better defined the existing restriction on open and public consumption of marijuana — a bill that ended up fizzling out this week.

O’Bryan, the I-300 opponent, said her complaints about some of the proposed rules underline a distrust that businesses will act responsibly. She would prefer more concrete restrictions, including requiring that businesses that apply for permits make their entire premises 21-and-older.

“We saw rampant (pot) use at the 4/20 event from people of all ages,” she said. “I have not seen evidence that the marijuana culture is trying to discourage underage use.”

This story was first published on DenverPost.com

By Kathleen Ronayne, The Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. — Senators voted Thursday to remove criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of pot, putting New Hampshire on a path to finally join the rest of New England in decriminalizing marijuana.

The bill would change possessing up to three-quarters of an ounce of marijuana from a potential misdemeanor to a violation-level offense. Supporters argued the change will ensure young people’s lives aren’t ruined by getting caught with weed.

“Kids are what we used to be when we were kids. They try things,” Republican Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley said. “I don’t want my kids facing one strike and you’re out, because I’ve been there.”

The Senate’s 16-7 vote marks a major victory for decriminalization advocates, who have historically seen the upper chamber defeat such bills. The House passed a bill decriminalizing up to 1 ounce earlier this year, and must take a final vote on the Senate’s version. Prime sponsor Rep. Renny Cushing says the bill will pass the House. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu plans to sign it.

Still, opponents argue decriminalizing marijuana sends the wrong message as New Hampshire battles a drug crisis and could lead to more young people becoming addicted to illicit substances.

“This is obviously the wrong message to be sending to my children, the children of New Hampshire, and the governor’s children,” Republican Sen. Bill Gannon said. “The federal government has been very clear: Marijuana is illegal and for good reason.”

The Senate’s action Thursday comes a day after Vermont’s Legislature became the first in the nation to vote in favor of legalizing marijuana. Maine and Massachusetts’ voters approved legalization in ballot measures last year.

In New Hampshire, finding a decriminalization bill that could pass the Senate took significant work, with Bradley working alongside pro-marijuana advocates and the police to find a workable bill.

The legislation makes possessing three-quarters of marijuana or five grams of hashish or less a violation-level offense with a fine of up to $300 for adults. Minors caught with either would be subject to a delinquency petition. Someone can be charged with a misdemeanor if they are found with marijuana for a fourth time within three years.

It specifically says police cannot arrest someone for a marijuana violation. Any money collected from fines under the law will go into a fund aimed at alcohol and drug abuse prevention and treatment.

By The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney says recreational marijuana use should be legal in Pennsylvania and says the best place for it to be sold is state-run liquor stores.

He tells WHYY’s “Radio Times” Pennsylvania has the “perfect system to set up the legal recreational use” of marijuana through its controlled state stores.

He adds it would allow the state to “capture all the income that is going to the underground.”

He says the revenue could be directed at public education.

Pennsylvania has enacted a medical marijuana law but the drug isn’t yet available.
Officials expect the drug to be available to patients by May 2018.

Information from: WHYY-FM, http://www.whyy.org

By The Associated Press

DOVER, Del. — A bill that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Delaware was released Wednesday by a House committee and now goes to the full House for consideration.

The legislation, which seeks to regulate and tax marijuana in the same manner as alcohol, cleared its first legislative hurdle on a 10-2 vote in the House Revenue and Finance Committee.

While the bill would not allow people to grow their own marijuana, it would allow adults over age 21 to legally possess less than an ounce of marijuana for personal use.

Consumers would pay an excise tax of $50 an ounce, although the actual retail price would be set by a state marijuana commissioner.

Marijuana sales would not be allowed in establishments licensed to sell alcohol.

The legislation would create a commission to regulate, license and tax the marijuana industry, allowing licenses for up to 40 retail stores and 75 cultivation facilities. Those businesses, along with testing and product manufacturing facilities, would pay an application fee of $5,000 and a $10,000 licensing fee every two years.

Supporters of the bill said it would help reduce the black market for marijuana, and the associated crime that comes with it, while raising revenue for the state.

“Make no bones about it — people die because marijuana is still traded on the black market,” said James Spadola, a former Newark police officer who now runs a criminal justice reform group called Delaware Law Enforcement for Progress.

Opponents argued that the bill carries unknown health risks, and that it would lead to more drug addiction and homelessness, decreased school performance and productivity, and more impaired-driving traffic accidents. They also said there currently is no accurate test to determine whether a driver is impaired by THC, the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana.

Rep. Lyndon Yearick, R-Dover, said the bill could unleash a possible epidemic of drug use with unforeseen consequences.

“Once we cross this threshold, there’s no turning back,” he warned.

Groups opposing the measure include AAA Mid-Atlantic, the Delaware Police Chiefs Council, the Medical Society of Delaware, the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, and the Delaware Healthcare Association, a trade organization that represents hospitals.

Camden Police Chief William Bryson, chairman of the police chiefs council, said Colorado and Washington have seen increased crime and increased black market sales since legalizing marijuana.

“We’re going to have the same issue here,” he said. “Delaware law enforcement doesn’t need any extra work. That’s what this bill is going to bring to us.”

Chief sponsor Rep. Helene Keeley, D-Wilmington, said that if the bill were to pass and become law, Delaware would be the first state to legalize recreational marijuana while prohibiting people from growing their own.

“I believe truly that that will diminish the black market,” she said.

Keeley said she will move slowly on the legislation in an effort to address various concerns, and that it will not be voted on this month.

Democratic Gov. John Carney has said he does not support legalization at this time.

Currently Delaware has decriminalized marijuana possession of an ounce or less, resulting in a civil offense punishable by a fine of $100.

By The Associated Press

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont’s Legislature on Wednesday became the first in the country to vote to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

The legislation, which passed the House by a 79-66 vote, would allow adults to possess and use small amounts of the drug beginning next year. The bill was identical to one passed last week by the Senate that also sets up a commission to study the best way to regulate marijuana.

The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Phil Scott, whose spokeswoman said he’s not philosophically opposed to legalizing marijuana but must be sure the bill answers certain public safety and health questions.

“He’ll review the bill when received to determine if those questions are addressed,” spokeswoman Rebecca Kelley said after the vote.

If Scott signs the legislation it will become law on July 1, 2018.

Under the legislation, small amounts of marijuana would be legal to possess and grow for anyone over age 21. Larger amounts would remain illegal.

A nine-member commission will develop a proposal to tax and regulate marijuana, and the proposal will be presented to lawmakers next year.

Before Vermont’s vote, eight states and the District of Columbia had legalized the recreational use of small amounts of marijuana. The vote by Vermont lawmakers, however, was the first to legalize marijuana separate from a voter initiative.

The hour-long debate before the vote featured impassioned comments by some lawmakers who felt legalizing marijuana would lead to increased substance abuse, car accidents and other unintended consequences.

“This is voting for trouble. We’ve got a lot of problems, and this is only going to make it worse,” said Rep. Ben Joseph, a Democrat from North Hero.

But opponents’ arguments were countered by others who said that marijuana use is already prevalent in Vermont and passing the law could give the state a say in its regulation, end the black market and possibly increase state revenue.

“What is changing is the landscape of our region,” said Rep. Ruqaiyah Morris, a Democrat from Bennington, whose home is less than 10 miles from Massachusetts, where retail marijuana sales are due to begin in mid-2018. “This is going to happen. We can either be pro-active and be part of this conversation and ensure we are thinking about all these things, including some sort of a mechanism to address them, or we can just take a wait-and-see approach and deal with it next year.”