Two Colorado communities have taken very different – and somewhat surprising – positions on medical marijuana dispensaries near schools.
Colorado Springs, typically stereotyped as a conservative military town, allows medical marijuana dispensaries as close as 400 feet to K-12 schools.
And the number of medical marijuana businesses throughout the city now rivals the number of churches.
Fort Collins, the laid-back university town dubbed “Fort Fun,” has banned medical marijuana businesses after a bitter campaign where supporters focused on “Save our kids!”
Dispensaries were given until Feb. 14 to pack up and leave.
Education News Colorado, Solutions and the I-News Network explored how these two communities separated by some 150 miles ended up on such different paths.
Part 2 of our special report on marijuana and K-12 schools:
- Our main story, A tale of two cities: Colorado Springs, Fort Collins differ on regulating medical marijuana dispensaries around K-12 schools, includes a look at whether communities with bans have seen declines in school drug violations
- In Springs teen: Dispensaries not selling to us, a college student describes how she became a regular marijuana user at her Colorado Springs high school
Part 1 of our special report focused on the 45 percent increase in drug violations reported by Colorado’s K-12 schools. Read about it here.