AUTHORITIES SCRAMBLE TO DEAL WITH BOOM IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE

A perceived ease in getting medical marijuana in Colorado is making
some people uneasy.

When the Colorado Board of Health in July eliminated limits on the
number of patients a medical marijuana dispensary can have, it
created opportunities for entrepreneurs who grow, bake and distribute
cannabis. Possession of the drug, though, remains illegal under federal law.

As medical marijuana is becoming more visible, evidenced by a growing
number of dispensary storefronts in Grand Junction and elsewhere, law
enforcement and employers constantly are questioning the green revolution.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said he knew Amendment 20,
which legalized medical marijuana for some state residents,
eventually would cause backlash if passed as it read. The law doesn't
provide for regulation of caretakers and dispensaries. Also,
anecdotal reports of abuse in the system, such as one doctor
approving 200 patients in one day, "leads some to wonder whether
doctors are paying attention," Suthers said.

In the Grand Valley, patients may qualify for a medical marijuana
card by visiting with a doctor during a brief conversation via video
conference.

Even Chad Geery, the owner of a medical marijuana dispensary, sees
the conundrum.

At his High Desert Dispensary, 1490 North Ave., Geery sometimes
watches people walk up to his storefront, read the sign and shake
their heads in disgust. Yet, someone else may thank him profusely for
providing a perceived natural alternative to prescription medications.

Geery, 35, is proud to help his patients with legitimate pain,
something he knows about well.

He developed sciatica, or numbness, after doctors hit a nerve
performing a spinal tap. The pain that followed for months down the
left side of his body "felt like I was being stabbed with 1,000
knives," he said.

What followed was always the same: Geery would check into a
hospital's emergency room, receive morphine that knocked him out for
eight hours and be sent home with Percocet. The drug only made him
nauseous and "left me to drool on my pillow," he said.

Using medical marijuana for legitimate pain is one thing. Having a
medical marijuana card or operating a dispensary as a front for
consuming or selling drugs is quite another, said Mesa County Sheriff
Stan Hilkey, adding he believes such abuse is happening in Mesa County.

"The point is it's a runaway train," Hilkey said. "It's pretty clear
what's going on here."

Hilkey worries that legitimate patients are being duped into paying
too much for the doctors' fees and medication. He also said he's
certain that, because medical marijuana seems so easy to obtain, it
sometimes is getting into the wrong hands.

Another concern, Hilkey said, is an increase in medical marijuana
dispensaries will lead to an increase of residents using the drug
while driving, which is illegal. That could be a slippery slope for
law enforcement if officers have to determine whether the use of
medical marijuana contributed to a crash.

It's easy to see how suspicions arise about the validity of medical
marijuana use.

According to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment:

The average age is 41 for all of Colorado's registered users, and 73
percent are men.

More than 800 physicians in Colorado have referred patients for
medical marijuana use, but 15 doctors across the state have provided
recommendations for more than three-fourths of the state's registered users.

Two doctors are responsible for recommendations for more than
one-third of the state's registered patients.

As of July 31, 13,102 patients have been added to the registry, and
the Health Department receives an estimated 400 applications daily.

Patients afflicted with at least one of eight debilitating conditions
can be granted a referral by a physician, but 90 percent of all
patients on the state's registry list their ailment as severe pain.

Grand Junction City Council member Bill Pitts said he refused to rent
a storefront to people who wanted to open a medical marijuana
dispensary. He sees medical marijuana use as "another deterioration
of morality, and one step closer to making marijuana legal for all
users," which is something he's opposed to.

"I believe it's just another nail in the coffin and being used as
another step toward something I'm not in favor of," he said.