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By: Michael de Yoanna

Category: , Panorama

Posted: July 22, 2010 10:45 AM

Why the Colorado Housing and Finance

The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority considers medical marijuana a "sin business," akin to liquor stores, massage parlors, casinos, and tanning salons. And that designation helps limit the number of dispensaries that can be financed across the state. The agency, which provides funding for small businesses in addition to affordable housing, has created more uncertainty in the industry for investors like former software developer Mitch Woolhiser and his wife, Eva, a dental hygienist. The couple owns Northern Lights dispensary in Edgewater, and after making upgrades to their shop, the two may have to relocate, reports Face the State. CHFA notified the couple's landlord that the dispensary is in violation of the property's mortgage agreement. While Woolhiser doesn't "see many options going forward," Robert Pooler, the owner of Doctor's Orders dispensary, intends to sue Colorado Springs police for what he alleges is the illegal seizure of $14,000 (via the Gazette). After pulling Pooler over, an officer discovered a bag of money that Pooler, of Denver, was depositing into a Springs bank account, likely because many national banks are closing accounts for dispensaries, fearing they could be violating the law.
Comments

That's one of the perils of doing business with Big Brother, i.e. a government housing agency (not that private financing is any guarantee they won't lose their investment). Aside from that, I have to ask: "Sin?" What is this, 14th-century Florence, with the Pope calling the shots? The Spanish Inquisition? This is 21st-century America, and we are still letting ancient religious dogma influence our laws. Here we have peaceful merchants selling a product for people to use, and their business is being disrupted. Utterly disgraceful. The state has absolutely no moral right to do that.

[...] » Medical Marijuana's “Sin” | 5280 Magazine [...]

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