[[{“value”:”
Stan Zislis has a vision for Nov. 6.
He’s banking on Colorado Springs voters to authorize the sale of recreational marijuana in city limits during the general election on Nov. 5 — two years after the community last rejected the question 54% to 46%.
If that happens, Zislis, co-chief executive officer and chief of business development at Silver Stem Fine Cannabis, says the company won’t wait. He will prepare the applications the next day to opt into recreational marijuana sales at two of Silver Stem’s Colorado Springs stores, both located on the city’s west side.
“Then we will see how the city reacts,” he said.
It’s a wait-and-see game because there could be one big hiccup. His stores, one on South 8th Street and the other on Centennial Boulevard, near Mountain Shadows, could be prevented from selling recreational marijuana by a new zoning ordinance the Colorado Springs City Council affirmed last week.
Recreational marijuana sales are not currently allowed in Colorado Springs. The new ordinance preemptively requires that retail marijuana stores, if they are ever allowed in the city, cannot operate within 1 mile of K-12 schools, child care centers or drug or alcohol rehabilitation facilities.
Pro campaign officials, marijuana industry leaders and city leaders who opposed the 1-mile buffer have said the ordinance de facto bans retail marijuana sales because it effectively limits them mainly to the city’s eastern side.
Zislis said the current locations of his stores do not meet the requirements of the ordinance.
It was unclear Friday, however, if the ordinance’s 1-mile buffer requirement would supersede the setback requirements proposed in the resident-backed question to authorize recreational marijuana sales in Colorado Springs.
The Citizens for Responsible Marijuana Regulation campaign instead proposes prohibiting recreational marijuana businesses from operating within 1,000 feet of daycares, preschools or K-12 schools.
Councilwoman Lynette Crow-Iverson has said the council-passed 1-mile buffer ordinance will prevent retail marijuana shops from operating within 1 mile of certain facilities, even if voters permit recreational sales this November and reject a competing council-backed ballot question that would ban recreational marijuana stores in the city’s charter.
Discussion at recent planning commission and council meetings operated under the understanding that the 1-mile buffer will take precedence over the zoning requirements in the resident-backed retail sales ballot question.
But pro-campaign officials, marijuana industry leaders and shops like Silver Stem and Native Roots say they aren’t sure which setback requirements would prevail.
The City Attorney’s Office on Friday could not provide a clear answer.
“The Planning Department would need to evaluate each request for a new license to ensure compliance with zoning and licensing requirements in the city code,” city spokesman Max D’Onofrio said by email.
Marijuana proponents believe the ordinance has created confusion for voters and will negatively impact Colorado Springs marijuana businesses.
“I do think it’s cumbersome, if not impossible, for existing owners to make the switch (to retail marijuana sales) and keep the locations they have,” said Jason Warf, executive director of the Southern Colorado Cannabis Council.
The 1-mile buffer hasn’t deterred proponents, though. Advocates remain focused on their immediate goal — rallying the community to vote yes for retail marijuana sales and to defeat the proposed charter ban, Citizens for Responsible Marijuana Regulation campaign spokesperson Meghan Graf said in a Friday email.
“We have tremendous support. The (pro) campaign is proceeding forward. The reason these two attempts by the City Council are even in development is because they know how much support there is,” Zislis said.
He believes this year residents will champion the proposal to allow retail marijuana sales in Colorado Springs because voter demographics and attitudes about recreational marijuana have changed since 2022, he said.
Zislis plans to become a dual retailer, selling recreational and medical marijuana at both of his Colorado Springs locations. The stores previously sold medical marijuana products, but have temporarily closed.
“We closed them down because it’s not economically feasible to keep the stores open” if they are only selling medical marijuana products, Zislis said.
The marijuana industry has experienced a prolonged downturn in sales over the last two years. As of early August, industrywide sales were down 30% overall and down 60% for medical marijuana, Marijuana Industry Group Executive Director Truman Bradley told The Gazette last month.
“Prices have dropped due to a lack of tourism on the demand side and businesses are struggling to make ends meet due to high compliance and regulatory burdens,” he said.
Allowing recreational marijuana sales in Colorado Springs would be an economic boon for marijuana businesses, consumers and for Colorado Springs itself, proponents said.
Retail marijuana sales would expand the variety of products available for purchase and encourage more competitive pricing, among other benefits. They would also bring in jobs and an estimated $10 million to $15 million in added annual revenues dedicated to support public safety, mental health services and the post-traumatic stress disorder treatment programs for veterans in Colorado Springs, they said.
If Zislis cannot sell retail marijuana out of his Colorado Springs shops in their current locations, he isn’t sure if he would relocate to another area of the city where he can.
“Everything is a possibility, but I can’t speak to that just at this point. I think it’s premature,” he said.
Native Roots also wants to opt into recreational sales locally, but has the same problem as Silver Stem: its four Colorado Springs medical marijuana dispensaries don’t comply with the 1-mile buffer requirement.
Native Roots is not interested in moving shop.
“We’re not looking at trying to move our locations. Our focus, right now, is on getting the word out to voters about ballot question 300 and making sure they understand they still have a voice and a choice to vote to allow recreational sales,” Native Roots spokeswoman Liz Zukowski said.
If dispensaries do have to move locations, it’s not as easy as it sounds, marijuana industry experts said.
Not all of the land identified as being in compliance with the 1-mile buffer is viable for marijuana shops, Zukowski and Zislis said. Shops won’t be able to operate in residential areas or on federal land, and a lot of land is still undeveloped on the east side of town, they said.
Moving costs could burden smaller stores already struggling financially, there isn’t any guarantee the city will approve the needed permits, and commercial sellers and landlords could choose not to sell or rent their spaces to marijuana businesses, Zukowski and Zislis said.
Crow-Iverson and other councilmembers who backed the 1-mile ordinance maintain it is intended to keep marijuana out of the hands of underage users, who are a vulnerable population.
Crow-Iverson said she has received communications from several residents who support the 1-mile buffer.
“It wasn’t done lightly,” she said of the process to bring the ordinance forward for a council vote. “We did our due diligence and it passed (council) with a 7-2 vote. That’s based on information we heard from many organizations. We had lots of discussion about what this would mean for our city, how this would look for our city, and what is the right thing for our city?”
At recent council and planning commission meetings, supporters of the 1-mile buffer highlighted potential health effects of marijuana, particularly if it has high-potency THC, the main psychoactive component in the drug.
It can cause sleep issues, anxiety, depression and can lead to addiction, One Chance to Grow Up representatives testified. The organization advocates for protecting children from the dangers of marijuana.
More opportunities to purchase recreational marijuana in Colorado Springs will increase the likelihood that more people, including children, will use it, Crow-Iverson and One Chance to Grow Up agents have said.
Those opposed to the ordinance have pushed back against these claims. Dr. Bryon Adinoff, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Doctors for Drug Policy Reform, wrote in an Aug. 28 letter to the City Council and Planning Commission there has been no evidence marijuana leads to long-term brain changes associated with altered behaviors.
The drug is tightly regulated in Colorado, there are already well-regulated marijuana stores in Colorado Springs, and the resident-backed campaign has protections in place to keep the drug from children and schools, Marijuana Industry Group’s Bradley has said.
Crow-Iverson said the social cost of recreational marijuana sales would outweigh the revenues it expects to bring in for public safety and other programs.
“It isn’t worth it. We would not actually make more money in the end. We would spend more on the unintended consequences, based on other cities that have allowed recreational marijuana,” she said.
Zislis said much is still yet to be determined by the upcoming Nov. 5 election.
“How will this affect us? It remains to be seen,” he said.
“}]] Stan Zislis has a vision for Nov. 6. He’s banking on voters to authorize the sale of recreational marijuana in city limits in the Nov. 5 general election. Read More