Global Ganja Report

With medical marijuana dispensaries banned by local ordinance in Loveland, Fort Collins and Longmont, Herbs Medicinals in the small town of Berthoud, Larimer county, is one of the few remaining in northern Colorado. There are two dispensaries in unincorporated parts of Larimer county and two in Garden City, just south of Greeley in neighboring Weld county. Kevin and Michele Ballinger run Herbs Medicinals so it fits in, even putting up a Nativity scene during the holidays. "We heard from a lot of churches who were very happy with our display," Michele Ballinger, a Berthoud native, told the Denver Post. "We want to be respectful and just part of the town. Because the town had been very good to us."

"We're the only community in Larimer County that now allows dispensaries," town administrator Michael Hart told the Post, "so you can imagine we've had a few inquiries." To help respond to this new status, the town is drafting a medical marijuana ordinance that will be introduced in March. Officials say it will address state and federal requirements for dispensaries and caregivers, as well as local concerns. "We're just trying to be very, very careful," Hart said.

Dispensaries will be limited to a block-long area zoned for industrial use, and barred from within 1,000 feet of a school. That means perhaps one more dispensary might be added, said Greg Bell, a Fort Collins attorney helping to craft the ordinance. "It's questionable if you could have more than one," Bell said. But town fathers don't seem interested in kicking out medical marijuana altogether. "There doesn't appear to be any move to regulate them out of business," Bell said. (Denver Post, Feb. 25)

Graphic: Herbal Remedies