Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jan 2014
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Copyright: 2014 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Tim Haley

WHITECLAY JR.?

Whiteclay is an unincorporated village of 14 people in northwest
Nebraska bordering the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. It has four beer
stores selling the equivalent of 4.5 million 12-ounce cans of beer
annually (about 12,500 cans per day). Pine Ridge has not allowed sales
or possession of alcohol, but has incredible issues with alcohol abuse
and no revenue to deal with those problems.

Colorado Springs, Fountain, El Paso County and others have decided not
to allow the sale of recreational pot. This means that Pueblo or
Denver will garner all of the sales and taxes. Manitou Springs has a
wonderful opportunity here if they allow the sale of recreational pot
when the moratorium ends in February.

Manitou can collect all the benefits of sales, especially the sales
taxes, for a huge marketing area at a rather minimal cost. With only
two outlets proposed, Manitou can post full-time officers in both
locations and still enjoy a bonanza of taxes and revenue. Whether they
choose to allow sales or not, they will enjoy all of the problems
associated with marijuana, whether that dope comes from legal sales
elsewhere or the current cartels and black markets.

Manitou might as well have the income to deal with marijuana problems,
if some should arise. They certainly could use the extra income to
deal with flood mitigation, if nothing else. Or they could be just
like Pine Ridge Reservation and keep all the problems with no income
to deal with them.

This just in: After all these years, the people of Pine Ridge voted in
mid-August to permit alcohol sales on the reservation. They opted to
use the profits for alcohol treatment programs and other needs, rather
than seeing the money go to Whiteclay.

I'm sure that Denver and Pueblo would prefer Manitou not allow sales
so that they could split up the huge Pikes Peak marketing area.

Tim Haley

Colorado Springs
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MAP posted-by: Matt