POT USERS FEAR VOTE

Grand Junction City Council members got an earful during a hearing
Wednesday night as numerous medical marijuana patients touted the
pain-relieving benefits of the drug and pleaded with city leaders not
to ask voters to ban shops that sell cannabis.

Residents nearly filled the City Hall auditorium, although a room
designated for an overflow crowd was not needed.

The hearing was an opportunity for residents to voice their views
about the prospect of city leaders putting a question on the November
ballot on whether medical marijuana dispensaries should be banned in
the city. Residents will again have a chance to speak up during an
Aug. 18 meeting.

Users of medical marijuana, many of whom claimed serious medical
ailments, told council members they began using cannabis after the
side effects from prescription medications made their lives more
miserable and left them unable to function.

?If you take away the dispensaries, I won?t know what to do,? said
Chris Lazano.

Lazano, a Mesa State College student, said he was diagnosed with
severe chronic migraines, causing excruciating pain. Medication
prescribed by a doctor from the college?s medical clinic worked to
relieve his migraines, but it also put him to sleep for up to 16 hours
a day. He had dropped out of school because he was not able to focus
on studies, but has since then returned to school, now able to
function pain-free thanks to medical marijuana.

?Honestly, I?m very scared,? he said, about the prospect of
dispensaries being shuttered. To council members he added, ?I believe
it comes down to your decision.?

Of the about 30 speakers, only two spoke against medical marijuana and
dispensaries. Those in favor of the drug and its availability said
putting the issue to a vote would be a death sentence for
dispensaries. Those who don?t understand the benefits of medical
marijuana to treat pain would vote for banning the dispensaries,
speakers reasoned. And, those who don?t use or understand medical
marijuana are in the voting majority, speakers implied.

Others, mainly local dispensary owners and employees, said most
dispensaries care about patient health, working individually with
patients to offer strains of cannabis that are known to alleviate
their conditions. Dispensary owners also claimed that their businesses
have been made to jump through numerous hoops by the states and those
regulations and that they should be welcomed because they offer jobs
and sales tax revenue. Also, banning dispensaries and reverting to a
system of caregivers would force those with severe medical conditions
to seek the drug in underground sales transactions and would create
more a demand for ?Mexican weed? further contributing deadly drug
wars, speakers argued.

Grand Junction Cardiologist Don Pacini countered that marijuana and
its use should be considered like any other illegal substance or be
subjected to a medical pharmaceutical model.

?My biggest concern is what we?re calling medical marijuana is just
people buying it by the bucket loads and not being sick,? he said.
?The last thing we want to do is flood this town with marijuana.?

Those wanting relief from symptoms could use the prescription drug
Marinol, which offers a synthetic form of THC, the chemical compound
found in cannabis, he said. Cannabis is an illegal drug according to
the federal government and is not approved for use by the Food and
Drug Administration. Marinol is an approved substance.

Cody Jacob, a caregiver who grows marijuana for family and profit,
said he was impressed that City Council members were open to learning
more about the issue. He also attended to try to glean more
information from dispensary owners about the latest laws that could
affect his operation. He said he would return for mid- August meeting,
interested in the discussion.

?This was totally not what I was expecting at all,? he said.