[420 Girl]

Denver City Council yesterday took on two controversial subjects Ń illegal immigration and medical marijuana.

During its weekly meeting, city lawmakers introduced a bill that would limit the growing of medical marijuana in residences. City council later gave final approval to a bill requiring contractors hired by the city to verify the employment eligibility of all new employees.

Council Bill 607 would not permit any residential dwelling to grow more than 12 marijuana plants. The maximum 12 plants also must be for medical marijuana cardholders living at that address. It’s currently common practice for medical marijuana cardholders to grow multiple plants for patients living outside their house.

Bill sponsor Jeanne Robb believes the city must address the growing of medical marijuana in neighborhoods. She has received complaints from constituents about nearby houses growing multiple marijuana plants, and believes the city should limit the growing of marijuana in neighborhoods as much as constitutionally possible.

But medical marijuana activists claim the bill violates Amendment 20 Ń the voter-approved initiative permitting medical marijuana for seriously ill patients Ń and would put many patients at risk of losing their medicine.

“Tell the City Council to vote ‘NO’ CB-607, Medical Marijuana Zoning Changes and continue to allow safe access for patients and caregivers in Denver,” said a press release from the Cannabis Therapy Institute.

City council members postponed the public hearing and final consideration for the medical marijuana zoning bill until Sept. 20. Councilman Doug Linkhart said he hopes the bill wil be altered before Sept. 20 to avoid any possible constitutional issues or unintentional effects that could increase the underground distribution of marijuana.

“I think the bill needs some more work,” he said.


E-Verify

Denver City Council later yesterday gave final approval to a bill requiring contractors and subcontractors hired by the city to use the federal E-Verify program to ensure their new employees are not illegal immigrants. The measure passed on a 9-4 vote.

Lawmakers also unanimously approved an amendment to the bill requiring an annual report on the new program for the first two years and highlighting the due process people can go through if they feel they were incorrectly flagged as an illegal worker by E-Verify.

“This is simply saying that we’re going to do the best we can as a city to make sure that our tax money is supporting those contractors doing city work that are using workers who are fully qualified to work under the laws in this land,” said bill co-sponsor Jeanne Faatz.

The city currently requires service contractors Ń security, janitorial companies, etc. Ń hired by the city to check new employees’ citizenship status through the E-Verify program. The state mandates construction and service contractors working for the state to use E-Verify for new hires. However, there has been no system in place that looks into whether employees working for contractors hired by the city are in the country legally.

The E-Verify system was originally started as an optional program run by the U.S. government. About 200,000 employers in the U.S. use the E-Verify system, according to Assistant City Attorney David Broadwell.

But E-Verify is not 100-percent accurate. City Councilman Doug Linkhart last month pointed to a study conducted by an outside research firm that found 54 percent of the unauthorized workers run through E-Verify resulted in an authorization to work. The high number was attributed to unauthorized workers who used and submitted documents of a person who was authorized to work, according to the Capitol Immigration Law Group.

Some have been surprised that Nevitt is carrying the bill along with Faatz. Nevitt is a progressive policymaker who has supported and helped to spearhead a City Council proclamation back in May calling for the federal government to take swift federal action on comprehensive national immigration reform, including providing undocumented immigrants with a path to citizenship.

Nevitt told the Denver Daily News back in May that immigration enforcement is a federal issue, which is why critics of his E-Verify proposal have been surprised that he is willing to sign on to a localized enforcement strategy.

Under the bill, the Denver auditor would be given the power to conduct random investigations to see if contractors are checking new hires through E-Verify. If the contractor is not using E-Verify, the city could terminate the contract and the contractor would be liable for damages to the city. Violations could lead to disqualification from future contracting.

The ordinance would go into effect Sept. 1 if Mayor John Hickenlooper signs it into law.


NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source:Denver Daily - Welcome!
Author: Gene Davis, DDN Staff Writer
Contact: Denver Daily - Contact Us
Copyright:2008 Denver Daily News.
Website:Denver Daily - Council talks pot, E-Verify


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