{"id":109395,"date":"2015-09-21T18:49:25","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T00:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/pot-shop-benefits-youth-group\/"},"modified":"2015-09-21T18:49:25","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T00:49:25","slug":"pot-shop-benefits-youth-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/pot-shop-benefits-youth-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Pot shop benefits youth group"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Rocky
Rocky Mountain High, a local marijuana dispensary, tried to hold a raffle to benefit La Plata Youth Services. But the company got in trouble for not having a gaming license and violating local advertising laws. \u201cThey meant well but ran afoul of some legal requirements,\u201d said City Attorney Dirk Nelson.<\/span>STEVE LEWIS\/Durango Herald file photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A Durango children\u2019s nonprofit was supposed to be the beneficiary of a fundraiser but instead has scored big because of a fine imposed on a local pot shop.<\/p>\n

Rocky Mountain High, a marijuana dispensary, held a raffle in May to benefit La Plata Youth Services, a group that works with at-risk youth. But the raffle was closed down after the La Plata County Sheriff\u2019s Office and the Durango Police Department notified the city\u2019s code enforcement department about the raffle, according to city documents.<\/p>\n

The company was selling $5 raffle tickets for the chance to win an ounce of marijuana, said Steve Brittain, former executive director of La Plata Youth Services.<\/p>\n

However, the company didn\u2019t consult Brittain before holding the raffle, and when a Rocky Mountain High employee called to give the nonprofit $500, he turned it down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t support it, and neither would my board,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

City code enforcement initially alleged the company violated four local and state laws, including operating a raffle without a license and local advertising laws. The law prohibits misleading, deceptive or false ads that appeal to minors.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the primary issues we had was appealing to minors,\u201d said City Attorney Dirk Nelson.<\/p>\n

In September, the Local Licensing Authority levied a $1,000 fine on the business as part of an agreement that eliminated the need for a hearing in front of the board.<\/p>\n

As part of the agreement, Rocky Mountain High business agreed not to contest violating advertising laws, according the city\u2019s public record of the meeting.<\/p>\n

City Manager Ron LeBlanc suggested transferring the fine to La Plata Youth Services, and the board unanimously approved the re-appropriation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be a show of good faith of the community to let them benefit,\u201d he said at the meeting.<\/p>\n

This week, Mayor Dean Brookie presented the money to the nonprofit\u2019s new executive director, Katy Pepinsky.<\/p>\n

A representative of Rocky Mountain High was not present at the meeting, and the company was not aware that its fine went to the nonprofit, said Jordan Smith, the senior regional director of operations for the company. But she said the gift did honor the company\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did the right thing by contributing to what we were trying to accomplish,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Smith also said someone with Rocky Mountain High had spoken with a representative at La Plata Youth Services before the raffle was held.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were wanting to give back to the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The company, however, never contacted Brittain to talk about the raffle and an appropriate way to raise funds, Brittain said.<\/p>\n

La Plata Youth Services has accepted money from Durango Organics, another marijuana retailer. Initially, Durango Organics wished to sponsor art made by La Plata Youth Services students at a public art show. But Brittain worked with his board to determine a more appropriate way for the company to make a donation.<\/p>\n

The board decided the money from Durango Organics should support marijuana-use prevention and intervention classes for teens, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to get them not to use until they are older. \u2026 If you are a chronic user at 14, you are going to damage your brain,\u201d Brittain said.<\/p>\n

The organization also receives money generated by state taxes on marijuana to help support programming.<\/p>\n

mshinn@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fundraiser goes awry but ends well for nonprofit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5742,5735],"tags":[408,1278,13,4224,135],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-109395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-news","tag-charity","tag-fine","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-gaming-and-lottery","tag-marijuana"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109395"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=109395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}