Councilman calls foul on high-level meddling

District Attorney Dan May told The Gazette’s opinion department Wednesday that he contacted the landlord of a medical marijuana business because of a desire to get the business out of his neighborhood. City Councilman Sean Paige had criticized the phone call in an e-mail to The Gazette on Wednesday, characterizing it as part of a high-level campaign of “meddling and behind-the-scenes string pulling” to undermine the Colorado Constitution’s Amendment 20, which protects medical marijuana.

Paige said manipulation by May and Attorney General John Suthers nearly led the Colorado Springs City Council to impose draconian restrictions on medical marijuana sales Tuesday, with a proposed ordinance that would have shut down distributors established lawfully.