Global Ganja Report

Several Boulder cannabis dispensaries have received letters from the US Attorney's Office ordering them to move or close by May 7 because they are within 1,000 feet of a school, the Denver Post reported April 11. This constitutes the third wave of threatening letters sent to Colorado dispensaries by US Attorney John Walsh this year. The first slew of such letters, in January, resulted in the closure of 23 dispensaries, although none in Boulder. Another 25 letters were sent in March. The US Attorney's Office declined to name the targeted dispensaries, but representatives of two dispensaries in Boulder's University Hill area—Fresh Republic and the Hill Cannabis Club—confirmed they received the letters. An owner of the latter dispensary said the business will close by May 7.

In total, there are 12 medical cannabis businesses in Boulder located within 1,000 feet of a school, according to city records. Kim Ries, co-owner of the three-year-old Hill Cannabis Club, said the letter came as a surprise, despite increased federal enforcement around Colorado. "The city and the state want us here," Ries told the Denver Post. "We pay taxes every month and licensing fees every year. We weren't expecting the state to let the feds do this."

Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett sent a letter to Walsh in March asking that federal prosecutors not pursue cases against Boulder dispensaries that are in compliance with local law. He said local regulations, which bar dispensaries within 500 feet of a school, are working well. But the letter was rebuffed by Walsh, who said keeping dispensaries away from schools was a "core responsibility" of law enforcement.

Ries said her business would never sell cannabis to minors in any case, but the CU students who go to class near her dispensary aren't even minors. "Everyone is over 18 anyway," she said. 

Photo by the Mad Pothead