CALIFORNIA COP URGES COLORADO TO SORT OUT ITS MEDICAL-MARIJUANA LAWS

The top cop in a California town that has become a poster child for a
well-intentioned medical-marijuana law gone wrong has some advice for
Colorado legislators.

"Make your laws as clear as you can, so that your executive and
judicial branches of government can do their jobs as they are
intended to," said Randy Mendosa, chief of police in Arcata, Calif.

The northern California town of 17,000 drew national attention in
2008 when a boom in medical-marijuana growing spawned serious
public-safety concerns and siphoned away affordable housing as homes
were rented for pot cultivation operations.

Colorado has its work cut out for it.

The state has few regulations for the burgeoning medical-marijuana
industry, which has forced befuddled municipalities to enact a
patchwork of moratoriums and outright bans as they wait for lawmakers
to take up the issue in January.

Confusion Reigns

Cops say medical marijuana is among the most confusing issues they deal with.

Approved by Colorado voters in 2000, medical marijuana may legally be
used by people who suffer from eight specific debilitating
conditions. But possession and consumption of the drug remains
illegal under federal law. Making the issue even murkier is a U.S.
Department of Justice order last month that prosecutors not pursue
cases against medical-marijuana users and growers, so long as they
are complying with state law.

State Sen. Chris Romer plans to introduce legislation to clarify
Colorado's medical-marijuana law in the upcoming session.

"I'm a believer that we need to go to a regulatory model," said
Romer, D-Denver. "I know there are those who would argue it is too
complex. But we figured out how to do it with Oxycontin, we can do it
with marijuana."

Those who grow and sell the plant want to be involved in the
discussions, said Josh Stanley, owner of medical-marijuana dispensary
Peace in Medicine.

"We understand regulation is coming, and we want to be part of that,"
said Stanley, who heads Colorado Patients & Providers Coalition, a
group of dispensary owners that will lobby for regulations palatable
to the industry.

Seeking Middle Ground

Romer doesn't want to smother an industry that provides relief for
many, he said.

But patients and growers worry that regulatory efforts could choke
off access to medicine and chase legitimate business people out of the field.

It is a complex business, and things aren't always as they seem, said
Warren Edson, a lawyer who represents dispensaries.

Edson's clients aren't opposed to sensible zoning regulations to keep
dispensaries an appropriate distance from schools, he said.

Nor do they object to regulations that would bar grow operations from
residential neighborhoods, as long as similar businesses are kept
out, Edson said.

But what about someone who has cancer and grows his or her own
medicine, he wonders. Rules that don't take that into account could
prevent that person from nurturing the plants they need to stay pain-free.

Safety and other issues surrounding grow houses have bedeviled
Arcata, said Mendosa, the California town's chief.

There were fires in homes where grow lights, fans and other
electrical equipment overloaded electrical systems never meant for
commercial use, he said.

In many cases, landlords weren't aware that their renters were
operating pot farms. The city is working with Pacific Gas and
Electric to eliminate the delivery of unsafe levels of power to
residential units, Mendosa said.

"The growing of marijuana in residential neighborhoods has been very
problematic," he said.

Growers are able to pay far more for homes and rentals than locals,
driving up prices and causing a housing shortage, Mendosa said.

And there have been numerous home invasion robberies in Arcata, Mendosa said.

"Marijuana sells on the street for probably $3,000-plus a pound, so
people will steal it," he said. " I don't think anybody wants to live
next to a grow house because you don't want kids playing in the yard
when thugs come to rob it."

In Denver in the past two months, there have been at least two home
invasions at residential grow operations in which guns were used.

Laws Already Enough?

Edson said Colorado doesn't need new laws, just enforcement of those
already on the books. Zoning laws can be used to ensure dispensaries
aren't near schools and that buildings have to comply with codes that
don't allow electrical systems incapable of handling the power needed.

Owners like Stanley are aware of safety issues and run secure
operations in buildings that meet code.

Edson and others fear that the state will place too many hurdles in
the path of growers and dispensaries and drive many of them out of business.

"You can close them down, but it won't affect the patient numbers."

If doctors aren't following proper standards of care in recommending
marijuana for patients they should get in trouble, Edson said.

But that won't eliminate the need for medical marijuana.

If dispensaries can't get enough legal marijuana to supply demand,
some grow operations could move into private homes where they would
be a danger. And many patients will have to go to black-market
dealers for medicine, Edson said.

"You are going to see an influx of people going to the black market
and you are going to see it grown in people's closets and you are
going to see safety hazards," Stanley said.