Colorado is a little different.
With the rest of the nation watching Colorado and Washington’s experiments with legalized recreational marijuana, in the La Plata County Courthouse, it looks an awful lot like any other mundane subject of local government regulation.
Wednesday night, county managers staffed tables at a public forum about marijuana to take questions from constituents. Each table concerned a separate subject area: Building code and environmental issues, law enforcement, licensing, policy, and land use and water.
There were slips of paper for people to write comments. Two La Plata County Sheriff’s officials attended, but they were there to answer questions, not to arrest potheads.
For some of the older folks who attended, the distance the state has come on marijuana policy astounded.
“I’m so glad I live in Colorado,” said Bard Crehan, 59, an Archuleta County resident. “It’s about time.”
County officials held the forum to help craft regulations for cultivators of recreational marijuana that are due to be considered by the Board of County Commissioners early next year. Counties throughout the state are grappling with how to respond to voter-approved Amendment 64, which legalizes the recreational use of marijuana.
For longtime county government officials more accustomed to dealing with dust abatement on unpaved roads, the template for regulating marijuana is not too dissimilar.
An early draft of marijuana regulations discusses annual fees, modifications to premises and corporate good standing for the licensee.
Butch Knowlton, director of Housing and Safety, said he’s concerned with waste from marijuana grow facilities and use of pesticides and herbicides that could wash down the drain.
“If you would have told me five years ago that I’d spend this much time talking about marijuana regulations, I’d say no way,” Knowlton said.
The sheriff’s officials likewise said they’d adjust to the change in state law.
“We’re sworn to uphold the laws of the state,” said Lt. Ed Aber, a 33-year law-enforcement veteran. “We may not agree with the laws, but we’re sworn to uphold them. Your personal view of things doesn’t come into play professionally.”
Petty marijuana crimes were of little concern even before Amendment 64, said Lt. Pat Downs, who also serves as director of the Southwest Colorado Drug Task Force.
“The amount of arrests for marijuana are pretty minimal,” he said.
Despite the sometimes lighthearted discussion of marijuana, some attendees came with concerns. Mip Van Suchtelen, a health worker, said she worries how legalizing marijuana will affect children.
“It’ll affect availability, it’ll affect the role modeling of parents,” she said.
Rachel Day of Durango said she recently gave up smoking tobacco cigarettes, and recognizes that smoking marijuana can be similarly damaging.
“I don’t think it’s really good for you – it’s smoking,” she said.
For others, the reality of legalizing marijuana, coupled with other changes in society, left them on the brink of giddiness.
“Gays, pot,” said Betsy Janeczek, who lives south of Durango. “What else can we do?”
cslothower@durangoherald.com
