Sopris Sun THE
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 30 • SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
e dispensary next door Medical marijuana shop causes concern among its neighbors By Terray Sylvester
Photos by Jane Bachrach
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arbondale’s medical marijuana dispensary is sparking concerns in a few of its neighbors. Last week, some of the owners of nearby offices in the building were complaining over the number of customers that the Colorado Mountain Dispensary, which opened in July, has begun to attract. Neighbors also allege that customers have been smoking the product on the premises and in the parking lot. Smoking medical marijuana in public view is prohibited under state law. The dispensary is located in a building on Village Road, amongst a mix of medical and professional offices and retail shops that don’t generate high volumes of foot traffic. The dispensary and its customers are changing the atmosphere of the building, and prompting some neighbors to say it would be better located elsewhere. Last Thursday, the interior of a blueprinting shop located next door to the dispensary smelled faintly, but distinctly, of pot. Diana Quinn, the shop’s owner, assumed the odor was filtering in through the air-conditioning vents – either that or wafting in from the walkway outside, which also smelled of the herb. “You’re actually the fourth person today that commented on the smell. Today was the first time I actually had customers come in and say, ‘What’s that smell?’ My customers are going to think I’m smoking it,” Quinn said, half joking. Quinn said she purchased her unit at a relatively high price a little over a year ago, and has watched her property value sink with the economic downturn. She’s afraid the odors from next door, as well as the shop itself, are dragging down any resale potential even farther. “I wouldn’t buy if I knew something like this was in the complex,” Quinn said. “That’s my own personal feelings.” Debbie Patrick, who owns a marketing agency a few doors down from the dispensary also was concerned for her business. She noted the number of dispensary customers who had been passing her door, and complained about loitering and cigarette smoking occurring in the common area between the businesses. “We just feel they probably need to manage their clientele a little better,” she said. Patrick questioned whether the dispensary is a good fit for the building, which contains a pediatric counseling service, a psychologist’s office and a meeting room for Alcoholics Anonymous, among other businesses. The building is also located near Gianinetti Park. “I think there are more appropriate places to put one,” she said, mentioning that a holistic health center such as the W.I.N Institute in Basalt, where another dispensary is slated to open, seemed to her like a better location. Patrick said that until recently the dispensary and its clientele had been“low-key.”“They were running it under the radar,” she said.“But this week it’s just not been under the radar. This week it has just escalated. “If it’s changed this much this week,” she said. “Where is it going to go next?”
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