ALAMOSA — During Wednesday night’s meeting, Alamosa City Council members will be deciding if legalizing retail outlets for medical and or recreational marijuana should be on the November ballot for voters to decide. According to communication from staff prior to the meeting, the topic is being considered after several councilors report “various people,” have asked the city to allow retail marijuana outlets within the city limits.
If the council votes to place the measure allowing sales of marijuana within city limits on the November ballot, they will then decide on a second measure asking voters to approve a specific, additional sales tax on marijuana sales.
Marijuana for medical use was legalized in Colorado in 2000. In 2012, Colorado voters approved the legalization of retail marijuana, too, which allowed local governments to allow or prohibit the sale of marijuana in their jurisdiction. Sales were made officially legal in 2014.
During that time, the city council of Alamosa decided to restrict medical and or retail sales within city limits.
In 2017, enough people signed petitions to place two “citizen-initiated” ballot measures on the November ballot – one which would, if passed, allow medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits and the second, which would allow marijuana retail outlets.
On that same ballot, voters were also asked to allow a tax of 5 percent to be assessed on marijuana sales in Alamosa.
The question allowing the sale of medical marijuana failed 879 in favor to 1,287 opposed, which translates into the measure being defeated 60 percent to 40 percent. The question allowing the sale of recreational marijuana also failed with 803 in favor to 1,331 opposed, a somewhat larger margin of 37 percent for and 63 percent against.
In 2017, staff estimated the city would gain about $300,000 in revenue generated by the 5 percent sales tax. In the summary they sent to the city council before the Wednesday night meeting, staff acknowledged that number would likely be greater now. Since then, neighboring states of Arizona and New Mexico have legalized marijuana, and some believe this has negatively impacted sales in Colorado.
Should city councilors decide to place the measures on the ballot, the city will partner in a coordinated election with Alamosa County, at a cost estimated to be $5,000 to $10,000.
Councilors were also advised that, should the recreational marijuana ballot measure be passed by voters in November, the city should consider a 6-month moratorium on sales to allow sufficient time for the city to appropriately zone for its sale.
While the sale of medical and or recreational marijuana is still not allowed in many cities in the state, statewide it is a big business, although sales have been declining since 2020 as more states have legalized sales.
According to coloradocannabis.org, in 2023, sales of medical marijuana totaled $185,752,400, a19.53 percent decrease from 2022 and less than half of 2020 when medical marijuana sales peaked at $442,539,400.
Recreational or retail marijuana is an even larger business, although the same downward trend is evident. In 2023, retail sales of marijuana totaled $1,343,572,203, a 12.63 percent decrease from 2022 and $404,980,108 less than 2020 total sales peaked at $1,748,552,311.
