Fort Collins Close To Temporarily Banning Recreational Pot

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) - Fort Collins is on the verge of putting the brakes on recreational marijuana as the city council plans to ban the marijuana sales until next March.

According to city leaders, they need more time to decide the rules behind recreational pot sales before the Jan. 1 deadline, but medical marijuana supporters say it's just another delay tactic.

A Kind Place is one of the six medical marijuana dispensaries being reinstated after the city banned its sales in 2011.

"We are very excited to be serving the patients of Fort Collins again," said Jackee Riggs, A Kind Place Manager.

Marijuana supporters say bringing back medicinal shops is a step forward, but the city council's decision to delay recreational sales through March is a major setback.

"We think that the people have spoken about the use of recreational marijuana and it's time to place sanctions for recreational centers as soon as possible," Riggs said.

Fort Collins Mayor Karen Weitkunat says a moratorium isn't a road block, just a plan to buy more time.

"The whole system of monitoring, tracking, regulating, enforcing takes months of work in order to get it to work," Weitkunat said.

City leaders also say access to the under 21 market is a big concern.

"(The) bottom line is 7 months is not a long time to figure out the systems that need to be in place," Weitkunat said.

More than two dozen cities in Colorado have banned recreational pot sales, and Riggs doesn't want Fort Collins to be one of them.

"This industry, period, is constant setbacks," Riggs said. "Right when you think you're in compliance something changes."

The recreational ban is not set in stone. The city council is set to vote on the issue in September.