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A court injunction issued Monday afternoon blocks Colorado Springs’ attempted ballot measure to repeal the recreational marijuana rules enacted by voters last year.
In a ruling Monday afternoon, 4th District Court Judge Hilary Gurney sided with plaintiffs who sued the city to prevent the repeal vote from appearing on the April 1 municipal ballot. Gurney ruled that because the repeal would effectively prohibit retail marijuana stores from operating in the city, the Colorado Constitution did not allow the vote to take place in April.
“(sic) The lack of permanency of the Referred Ballot Question, if approved by voters, does not alter the result: immediate prohibition of all retail marijuana establishments as of the date of the 2025 vote,” Gurney wrote in her ruling.
The court challenge was the latest twist over the last six months as Colorado Springs voters and City Council took divergent paths on allowing marijuana sales in Colorado’s second-largest city.
The Colorado Springs City Council voted on Jan. 28 to place the repeal on the ballot to clarify and potentially reverse Question 300, which the city’s voters passed in November to begin allowing recreational marijuana licenses and sales in the city.
Days after the council vote, medical marijuana business owner Renze Waddington and Adam Gillard, executive director for the El Paso County Progressive veterans, filed a lawsuit to oppose the ballot question. The plaintiffs argued that the timing for the repeal election and the ballot title approved by the City Council were both inappropriate.
Gurney’s decision was based on a clause in Amendment 64, the section of the state Constitution added when Colorado voters first approved recreational marijuana, which required that any local vote to prohibit recreational sales had to appear during a general election in an even numbered year.
This is a developing story. Come back to gazette.com for more.
”}]] 4th District Court Judge Hilary Gurney ruled that because the repeal would effectively prohibit retail marijuana stores from operating in the city, the Colorado Constitution did not allow the vote Read More
