Medical marijuana: 10 out of 15 dispensaries rejected by Boulder filing appeals
Boulder's got a reputation for being very medical-pot-friendly -- but as Patricia Calhoun reported, Denver has been more liberal about licensing MMJ businesses. Why? Boulder spokesman Patrick von Keyserling says his community hasn't compared its rules to those used in Denver. But the majority of unapproved Boulder dispensaries are appealing their rejection.
As of last June, Denver had received 347 dispensary applications. By August 1 of this year, there were 217 licensed dispensaries in Denver, with seventy pending approval. In addition, 39 had been denied and another 21 applications were withdrawn or forfeited.
Contrast that with Boulder. As first reported by the Daily Camera, the city received 119 applications for medical marijuana operations. Of those, 41 had been rejected -- and yesterday, von Keyserling bumped up that total by one. And thus far, a smaller number, 38, have actually received their licenses.
It's important to note that the 119 Boulder applications were for MMJ businesses of all sorts, including dispensaries and grows. Indeed, von Keyserling notes, "of the 42 inactive medical marijuana license applications, fifteen are for wellness centers." Of those fifteen, two withdrew their applications and are now closed, while thirteen were formally denied. Three of the thirteen then failed to file what von Keyserling calls "timely appeals," so he says they should be shuttered, too. However, the ten others all appealed the city edict.
These centers will be able to plead their respective cases at what von Keyserling describes as a "local hearing." Those get-togethers have not yet been scheduled, but he says, "It's my understanding they will be happening soon."
At that point, we'll have an even better sense about Boulder's approach to medical marijuana -- and whether it can truly be deemed liberal.
More from our Marijuana archive: "Medical marijuana dispensary inspections -- and what about those discontinued DVRs?"
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