Denver city inspectors for marijuana licensing asked the Board of Ethics for its blessing to work as paid consultants to the cannabis industry elsewhere.
The board's answer was a resounding no. Its advisory opinion cites concerns about potential conflicts of interest and bad appearances, saying such work would violate the city's Code of Ethics.
When the board discussed the inspectors' request for an ethics opinion last week — before issuing its formal guidance Tuesday — chairman Brian Spano spoke more plainly.
"I just think it's too close a call to be a paid consultant in the industry you're regulating for the city," Spano said. That would be true, he added, even if potential clients aimed to open businesses outside Denver or even Colorado.
The inspectors' request reflects some remaining uncertainty as Denver and Colorado traverse the new landscape of legal recreational marijuana.
Denver has drawn praise for its efforts to regulate retail marijuana. Both government officials and entrepreneurs in other states that have followed suit more recently have been looking to learn from the city's experience.
Jered P. Garcia, the chief business license inspector for Denver's Department of Excise and Licenses, said in his Sept. 9 request for the ethics opinion that his staff members "have been approached on several occasions to do consulting for the marijuana industry."
But they had not yet done so while they waited for a green light. Dan Rowland, a spokesman for the Office of Marijuana Policy, noted that the employees followed an ethics rule requiring them to seek supervisor approval, and potentially an ethics opinion, before beginning any outside business activity.
read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_28865714/denver-gives-red-light-inspectors-consulting-marijuana-industry
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