Colorado Allowing Cities to Ban Dispensaries Gets Challenged

Colorado Would be More Colorful without Dispensary Bans

The controversial HB 1284, the bill that regulates Colorado’s dispensary industry has a provision that allowed municipalities to ban dispensaries. Some cities in Colorado have done just that. Aurora and Broomfield Colorado are two cities where there is a ban on dispensaries, and there are others considering such a ban. Many activists have speculated that the ban provision in the bill would be challenged in court some day. They don’t have to wait, the case has already begun with a  Westminster dispensary.  Herbal Remedies, is the first dispensary to step up to the challenge, and advocates are hoping that a judge will make this lawsuit a game changer. Attorney, Sean McAllister is handling the case that focuses on the city of Westminstier, but he thinks that it will have statewide repercussions, and says he is preparing for this case with the obligation that the entire movement in Colorado needs a good result. Sean McAllister is a great choice for this challenge, as he is the attorney that led the successful campaign to decriminalize marijuana in Breckenridge.

The fight materializing in Westminster began when the city passed a ban back in November of 2009, long before the legislature had enacted HB 1284. At that time, there were two dispensaries operating in the town that had permits to operate. Essentially, they permitted the two dispensaries and then changed their minds. The city is being accused of bullying the landlord in the case to get the dispensary shut down. The landlord, George Lehman was threatened, intimidated and coerced in the case and the city told him that they would prosecute him criminally, and did in fact file criminal charges against the 84 year old landlord. They told him if he kicked the tenant out, they would drop any charges against him. The attorney for the dispensary said the big mistake was to use the threat of criminal prosecution to resolve a civil dispute. The landlord, even though he did not want to evict his tenants, began eviction proceeding against the dispensary in June. That eviction hearing was held on August 9th, and McAllister told the judge it was a sham, since the city wasn’t even there. The landlord, George Lehman loved his tenants. What it boiled down to is that he city was forcing the landlord to do their dirty work. The real issue in this case is whether the city of Westminster’s ordinance is legal. Attorney McAllister said he filed the lawsuit against the city because that is the issue, not a side show of an ethically questionable eviction process.

This lawsuit mimics the lawsuit last year in Centennial, Colorado where judge Christopher Cross ruled that the town’s reliance on the federal illegality of marijuana was overruled by the Colorado constitutional amendment of legal medical marijuana. The new case against Westminster is based on the same fact, that the state constitution allows for distribution and sale, and any ban by a local government violates constitutional rights. He hopes that if the court in Westminster rules in the same manor, that the bans will be overturned. Why would a medical marijuana patient in Westminster or any other Colorado town have to travel to Denver to get something that is constitutionally allowed? The attorneys for Herbal Remedies warn that this fight won’t be a short one. The case against the landlord has been held over until October, and any ruling in the new case is expected to end up in an Appeals court, regardless of the outcome. In the meantime, Westminster is denying the renewal of Herbal Remedies business license. It seems as if the city is willing to sacrifice a successful business to make a point. The dispensary has paid the city coffers over $100,000 this year and employed over twenty people with benefits. There have been no complaints from the neighbors or any criminal activity associated with them. Other businesses have not complained to the city, it seems in this case it is the city council and the sheriff’s department who have acted like a federal agent, going against the will of the voters and in the process trampled the rights of medical marijuana patients of Colorado.