A bill for an ordinance amending the Denver medical marijuana code of the Denver Revised Municipal Code to regulate and implement medical marijuana research and development facilities and to modify provisions to conform with state statute. Amends the Denver Medical Marijuana Code of the Denver Revised Municipal Code to authorize a new local medical marijuana license to regulate and implement medical marijuana research and development facilities and to modify provisions to conform with state statute. The Committee approved filing this item at its meeting on 3-17-20.
Night eyes, three nays. Council Resolution 260 has been adopted. Madam Secretary, please put the next item on our screens in Council Member Gilmore, please. For Council 262 on the floor. I move the council bill to six to be ordered published. Thank you. It has been moved and seconded comments by members of Council Councilmembers and Barca. Thank you, Mr. President. This one is a very problematic bill in front of us, and it's part of the two marijuana pieces of legislation coming before us tonight. The first one is to delay a year for allowing new licenses to enter the space. And this second piece, I support the other piece. The second piece I do not support, because there have been several years of people really challenging the city to do better. As far as equity goals, we have almost a thousand licenses for marijuana in the city of Denver. I live in one of the most disproportionately impacted neighborhoods and we have less than five owners of people of color. And so the delay on the lottery to get a equity plan in place is appropriate. However, this second piece is opening up a new license type for research and development. I've encouraged them strongly to have this as a opened up as a pilot for the current organization trying to get the license. Because if we open it up now, we're basically doing what we did when we first legalized. And we're only allowing we're taking an inequitable situation and deepening inequity because the only people who are allowed to have this license for research and development are people who currently have a license. That's a group we already know we have issues in and a lack of representation in. And so we're basically giving the companies that already represent inequity. We're giving them a head start on this type of license. There's also several things that have changed in the Colorado ecosystem around marijuana. We now can there's no residency requirement, Colorado residency requirement for marijuana licenses. And you also can invest from outside of the state into marijuana licensure. So we're opening up ourselves for big pharma, big tobacco to come in and dominate this space if they choose to. And I think right now is the time to. If we're recalibrating on equity goals for the other piece of this, then we should also be putting this on pause and only doing the pilot part of this, not passing an entirely new license type without an equity plan in place. So I'm a no on this tonight and strongly encourage this bill to be pulled and turned modified to be a pilot for the one business applying right now. That would be a social equity applicant if we had that defined. Thank you, Councilmember Councilmember. Thank you, Mr. President. I, too. I. I've been reaching out to cannabis and, and I haven't heard any comments about Big Pharma or big tobacco entering the state. Should I? I guess I know that we don't have any. We're in a very limited, you know, skeleton crew tonight. I would say that I am. And I'm intrigued by that statement. I haven't heard that yet. And I want to I want to better understand that if that is the case. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Torres is going to come up to the microphone. Thank you, Mr. President. In a similar vein to Councilman Hines, I'd like to be able to ask a couple of questions around the equity piece and why that may or may not matter with this particular bill next week, but I'll be supporting the introduction of the bill tonight. So I'd just like to see if Ashley or somebody from XYZ can come next week. Oh, look at that. How do you make that light flash? Ortega. Your microphone is not on over there, though. I think you have to press the button on that one. It's just one more. Yes. Thank you. I received email communication today from a gentleman who is right now, I guess the only applicant in the in the wings waiting who is. A Denver native that grew up in northwest Denver, happens to be a Latino owner and is planning to move forward as soon as this bill passes. And so the concern being expressed about equity, the only one lined up to do this is a Latino owner. So I have no problem with this bill moving forward tonight. Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Rocky, did you have something else that. Yes. Just wanted to clarify for Councilman Hines and Torres. Part of what we didn't do the first time when we legalized is plan ahead. We didn't speculate who would get involved, who would have the capital to be able to step into these spaces. And so we missed an opportunity to recognize that this is an industry that's dominated by people who come in with significant amounts of capital. We know how research and development spaces are dominated. And so when we're thinking about the future of the marijuana industry, we know that big tobacco is waiting in the wings to take over when this is federally legalized. And so now that we've changed the statewide requirements around who can invest and who can have licenses, this is something where we might have to extrapolate a little bit and prepare for. And while Councilwoman Ortega is on point, about the only person in line for this right now is a social equity applicant. I think that that is why it needs to be a pilot so that we're protecting the space and learning from it, because he's one of the only ones who can apply for it right now because he has a license already. But that's already such a limited amount of people and there's such a lack of representation that we have to recognize that we're immediately putting people of color behind if we open up this space without it being tied to an equity plan. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. All right. So nothing else on this one. I'm sorry to hear on. And again, this is on introduction. I also ask that people have questions and wanted follow up. Let's see how much of that we can get answers ahead of the meeting that we can relay to the public what the questions asked and answers were to again, minimize the need for people to be in this room. If they don't need to be, if they need to be, then that's what we're here for. But if they don't, let's attempt to get those questions answered in the interim between first and second reading Council. Madam Secretary, Roll Call. CdeBaca. No black. Flynn. Hi. Gilmore. Herndon. Hi. Hi. Cashman. Kenny Ortega. Sandoval, I. Torres. Council President Hi Madam Secretary. Please call the voting announced results. 11 nice one name.