Global Ganja Report

Fort Collins became the largest city in Colorado to ban medical marijuana Nov. 1, as Question 300, a measure to prevent dispensaries and grow facilities from operating within city limits, passed by a margin of 53%. The ban will force 21 licensed medical marijuana businesses in Fort Collins to close within 90 days. But opponents of the ban said they are not giving up the fight, and may try to bring the issue back to voters in 2012. (Fox31, Denver, Loveland Connection, Nov. 2)

Days before the vote, Colorado began issuing the first state medical-marijuana business licenses in the nation, the culmination of a more than year-long application process for dispensaries, growers and cannabis products manufacturers. The state issued 11 licenses to businesses in Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Littleton, according to the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division of the Department of Revenue. Another seven have been notified they are likely to receive a license. And the state has sent out letters to local governments for 467 dispensaries and  manufacturers  to double-check that those businesses have local approval—one of the final steps in the licensing process. (Denver Post, Oct. 27)

State authorities the following week closed six medical marijuana operations in Denver and Arvada for not being in compliance with rules and statutes. All six facilities had applied for business licenses from the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division, but became ineligible because some of those named on the license application were previously caught operating a cannabis business that they were not authorized for. (9 News, Colorado, Nov. 3)

Graphic by Herbal Remedies