During yesterday’s morning work session, following a lengthy and somewhat messy discussion about the proposed sale of the historic County Courthouse (which we are discussing in a separate editorial this morning….) the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners — Alvin Schaaf, Ronnie Maez, and Warren Brown — sat down with County Development Director Pamela Flowers to discuss proposed changes to the County Land Use Regulations, regarding the right to grow marijuana for personal use on a taxpayer’s private property.
The new limits on cultivation had been recommended by the Sheriff’s Office last December, and had been endorsed by the County Planning Commission last month.
I was somewhat surprised by the comments coming from the commissioners at yesterday’s work session, in response to the proposed LUR amendments.
Basically, the commissioners told Ms. Flowers that they did not want to place additional restrictions on personal cultivation, other than what already exists in Colorado state law.
Rather than adding new limits, the three commissioners appeared to be more interested in eliminating limits that already exist in the LUR.
From Commission chair Alvin Schaaf:
“I don’t know why… I hesitate to make new for our building and land use, when the state statutes clearly address [marijuana cultivation]. That’s my issue. I don’t like more government. I never have. There are certain instances where it’s a health and safety deal, okay, I can get behind that, but…
“I would like to see our rules line up with whatever the state statutes say.”
Development Director Pamela Flowers:
“Well, then we don’t need any new regulations… All we have to do is remove all discussion about marijuana cultivation from the regulations, and take it out of our realm. The only reason we’re here is, we had a discussion that we wanted to put it here. If all we’re going to do is say, ‘Follow the state statutes’ then we don’t need any of this.”
One new limit supported by the commissioners that does not appear in state laws concerns the cultivation of marijuana on vacant parcels. The commissioners agreed with Ms. Flowers that they want to limit cultivation to occupied parcels only. Ms. Flowers wondered if the BOCC wanted certain limits for residential neighborhoods, and different limits for agricultural zoned parcels. Maybe… not allow it at all in residential neighborhoods?
Commissioner Brown:
“This is a constitutional right. This is constitutional… I guess I’m pointing this out for everybody, that this is constitutional. And although we can, as a local government, further restrict it, it’s still constitutional.”
I have to disagree with Commissioner Brown. Local governments cannot restrict a constitutional right, using local regulations. Such restrictions are, by definition, unconstitutional. A local government cannot restrict my religious freedom; a local government cannot restrict my freedom of speech; and by the same token, a local government must respect my constitutional right — in Colorado — to grow and use cannabis.
The work session discussion concluded with Ms. Flowers offering to bring back a thoroughly revised version of the LUR amendments, that align more fully with state law.
A couple of hours later, the BOCC held a public hearing on the proposed land use amendments. The audience was standing-room-only.
Although Commission chair Alvin Schaaf announced that approval of the amendments would likely be tabled, to allow further development, he allowed public comment from the numerous local residents who had come to testify in opposition to the proposed limitations. About eight people stepped up to the podium to share their concerns; most were using marijuana as medicine, with a doctor’s prescription, and were concerned about limits on the number of plants they would be allowed to cultivate.
One speaker identified himself as Mike Branson. He gave his reaction to Commissioner Schaaf’s announcement that the BOCC was not, in fact, planning to insert numerous new limits into the Land Use Regulations.
“I’m a Marine veteran. I served in Iraq, with the Fourth Reconnaissance Battalion; I actually managed our whole network for the battalion, the only person in my whole battalion who did computer networking. I got an award for what I did in the Marines.
“I came back think I was going to do computers for the rest of my life, but I like people more than computers, and had a huge, dramatic change. I came back from Iraq with [access to] six-figure jobs, at 20 years old. I went an took a $40,000-a-year job to do something where my heart was in the right place.
“And I have have a friend here, today, who had been trying to get me to move here for over seven years, and finally, with the crazy pandemic that happened, we moved here about two years ago and found out little slice of paradise. I’ve got three kids; I give back to this community.
“And this is some of the best news I’ve heard all day. Like, I really appreciate you guys listening, thinking this through, because a lot of us are here because we are infuriated that you guys were taking away our right, as medical patients, especially. Those rights are protected under the Colorado constitution.
“You know, some of us are veterans. 22 veterans are killing themselves every day. I know plenty of veterans who’ve been described over ten different medications, and got off all of them with the use of cannabis. You know, Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac, Effexor — these are all given to us, and they all have horrible side effects. I was sick every day, throwing up, nauseous, for two weeks straight. And I was treated like a criminal.
“My dad thinks cannabis is heroin. No joke. He served during Vietnam, and he saw what heroin did to the military. And even he can see what this is doing for me. He says, ‘I hate cannabis, but you’re doing a great job, so keep it up.’ You know, I’m the guy who will show up at your house in the middle of the night because your furnace broke, or your pipes are leaking.
“And a lot of people who are here, you know, we need it for medicine. You were proposing to limit us to one-sixth the number of plants that my doctor said I need, to get through my days, because of PTSD, and I guarantee you guys have better knees than I have. I’m 35, and I have a degenerative knee issue from carrying a 70-pound pack for miles through the mountains. I’m in pain every day. It hurts me to pick up my two-year-old son.
“You are telling me… maybe I need to go back to the VA and get pills? Because I can’t afford to go to the [marijuana] dispensary and spend thousands of dollars to get the medicine that it cost me $250 to grow, last year…
“I do greatly appreciate your service to this community, and I appreciate the work of the Planning Commission. But I wish they had listened to the input from this community… and I try to thank Pamela [Flowers] every time I see her, because I know we give her hell.”