FORT COLLINS - The roller coaster ride that has been the medical marijuana industry in Fort Collins has ground to halt.
Marijuana dispensaries across Fort Collins closed their doors for the final time Tuesday, much to the disappointment of the businesses' owners and customers. The closures were forced by a ban on medical marijuana businesses approved by city voters in November.
Officers from Fort Collins police and the state's Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division were kept busy into the night inspecting store-front shops and warehouse grows to ensure no marijuana "product" remained.
Through late Tuesday afternoon, police had seized 380 pounds of marijuana since inspections began about three weeks ago, said Sgt. Jim Byrne of Fort Collins police. All surrendered plants and marijuana-infused products will be destroyed.
Tuesday was a bitter day for business owners who said they followed every rule the city and state threw at them for producing marijuana buds and marijuana-infused products to treat a variety of ailments.
"I'm very frustrated. ... I feel really wronged by all of this," said Drew Brown, co-owner of Abundant Healing, 351 Linden St. "I'm frustrated by the court and I'm frustrated by the City Council and how they have handled this."
Closing time
The police inspection of Abundant Healing took about five minutes on Tuesday since no product was in the shop. Officers took photographs and videos before they left for their next stop.
The walls of the shop still carried pieces of oriental art and life-affirming messages. Prices were written in colorful chalk on a blackboard. But the store's display cases, shelves and state-sanctioned scales stood empty.
When Abundant Healing's growing operation was inspected late last week, officers found and cut down 93 plants, Brown said.
The plants were worth more than $100,000 based on how much marijuana they would have produced, he said. They were in reserve for use if marijuana business owners were granted a temporary restraining order blocking implementation of the ban and could continue operating. The owners sued the city over the ban, claiming it is unconstitutional.
But a district court judge last week refused to issue the restraining order, and the ban went into effect as scheduled.
Many businesses shut down over the weekend as their inventory ran out. Some were allowed to move plants and product to new locations in the Denver area that still allow new dispensaries.
Others planned to stay open until 7 p.m., the daily closing time for dispensaries imposed by state law. Businesses that remained open appeared to be doing brisk business.
Customers came and went in a steady stream at Solace Meds, 301 Smokey St. Owner Ken Correia said he expected all of the store's marijuana to be sold by the end of day and the scheduled inspection time.
Correia said he may continue providing marijuana to patients as a caregiver, but he would not grow marijuana in his home. He also plans to keep manufacturing Chai High, a marijuana-infused tea, in the Denver area.
The ban may not have the impact its supporters sought and is cause for concern, he said.
"I feel patients are going to be put into hardship trying to find medicine," he said. "I feel this is going to push cultivation into residential neighborhoods."
A bitter fight
Last year, the city adopted regulations that allowed marijuana businesses to operate within designated commercial zones. Businesses invested tens of thousands of dollars in security systems and other measures mandated by the city and state.
But opponents of medical marijuana led a successful petition drive to place an ordinance banning medical marijuana businesses on the city ballot. Critics said the presence of the businesses sent the wrong message to youth about the safety of the drug and played a role in an increase in drug-related offenses in schools.
Marijuana may help some patients, critics said, but the dispensary model was labeled as a ruse to increase recreational use of the drug.
After a contentious political campaign, the measure passed in November with 52 percent of the vote. Other local communities, including Windsor, Loveland and Greeley, also have banned dispensaries.
Two dispensaries that are in unincorporated Larimer County just outside Fort Collins city limits continue to operate. Those dispensaries will be "overwhelmed" with patients and will not be able to handle the demand, Brown said.
Patients will have to travel to the Denver-Boulder area to get marijuana unless they can find a local caregiver, said Donald Cruinkshank, co-owner of the dispensary A Kind Place.
State law allows a caregiver to grow six plants each for up to five patients. But city law limits the number of plants in a single-family residence to 12, regardless of how many patients live in the home.
"That's just not feasible given the expense of growing," Cruinkshank said.
As of Nov. 30, the state registry had 80,558 patients, including 4,811 from Larimer County. At one point, the registry had about 8,500 patients from Larimer County.
What's next?
Cutting off patients from regulated medical marijuana businesses will drive them to the black market, said Eric McIntyre, a customer at Solace Meds. The use of marijuana for medicinal purposes is allowed under the state constitution and Amendment 20, he said.
"Pushing it out of the open will push it back in to basements where you are going to have problems with fires and grows in an unregulated environment ... through the process we're taking a step backward. That's unfortunate."
Under state law, marijuana may be used to treat certain debilitating conditions, including severe pain. Specific strains can be effective in easing specific symptoms, proponents say.
McIntyre said he uses marijuana to treat depression, anxiety and digestive problems.
Voters may see the medical marijuana issue again, Correia said. Some supporters have discussed placing a question on the ballot for the November election, when a large turnout for the presidential race may be more favorable to their cause.
But the community's values have to be recognized and respected if the ban is ever reversed, he said.
"What we should have done is not ban it but impose stricter regulations ... we could have found a happy medium," he said. "If advertising was the problem, we could have banned billboards and print media.
"There's more than one way to go at this thing. Maybe in the future we can come to an agreement on what works for the community."
Written by Kevin Duggan of the Fort Collins Coloradoan.
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