DON'T STOP POT PROGRESS

MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS LEGAL IN COLORADO! states the ad in the
Independent, along with the increasing number of other ads for clinics
and doctor consultants that are also advertising. Within weeks of the
increased media coverage of medical marijuana, it has been clear that
there are a few entrepreneurs in this town trying to profit with this
new business opportunity.

After the Independent published my letter to the editor ("Legalize all
pot," Letters, Sept. 17) stating that I was a disgruntled medical
marijuana patient who supports total legalization of marijuana, I knew
that I would be taking a risk by signing my name and having it posted
on the Web for all to see, now and forever. Since this is a very
important issue to publicly address in order to educate people and
reform the current legal system, I felt someone needed to stand up and
speak out. I also felt that I was protected under the current Colorado
law governing this matter.

Now I am one of many patients caught in a legal limbo between
contradictory federal and state laws.

I was confronted with the possibility that I could be terminated from
my customer service position at a local nonprofit organization because
my job is in a "drug-free" workplace. The human resources director
read my letter, and afterward I came into question as to being a "drug
addict," with the stigma of Reefer Madness still prevalent in today's
working world!

I could be a functioning alcoholic or a pill-popper addicted to taking
Vicodin or OxyContin without consequences, but to be a medical
marijuana patient is so looked down upon. Why? Because my Sept. 17
letter clearly stated that I purchased my medicine illegally on the
streets for more than 15 years before becoming legal this past year.

But it also stated I have a legitimate medical need due to chronic
back pain, because I have had arthritis since I was a child. That's
more than 35 years of suffering! And due to having stomach and vertigo
issues, I can't take prescription pain pills.

I am not a drug addict, but a 48-year-old American citizen legally
licensed by Colorado and prescribed an alternative pain medicine. I
have never been arrested for any criminal activity, nor have I ever
been required to enter a drug rehabilitation program. I am simply a
middle-aged woman with a chronic pain issue, and at some point I could
become unemployed because of it.

I waited to hear from human resources on this matter. Would I be
considered too much of a liability? Would they dismiss me for not
disclosing my status earlier? Would I be fired for not accurately
stating my medical status on my job application almost five years ago?
Would I ever be considered employable again?

Today, I continue to have the same job, but the stress of this legal
limbo has become almost unbearable for me. So once again I appeal to
the populace and the powers that be: End pot prohibition -- legalize
marijuana totally!

If low-grade marijuana were legalized and classified like alcohol, and
medical-grade marijuana continued to be regulated by the state, then
the federal government could regulate the production and distribution
of all marijuana sold in America. Many jobs would be created and much
tax money collected. Our borders would be safer, our citizens more
protected from drug crimes, and organized crime would not profit from
the multibillion-dollar annual business of illegal street sales.

And even though the federal government ordered that the Drug
Enforcement Administration not try to arrest medical marijuana
patients and caretakers, it still can. And even though California is
pushing to totally legalize marijuana so that state can control the
problem of Mexican cartels growing illegal crops on state and federal
land, the federal government still won't recognize that the legal
system is broken and needs to be revised.

The time is now. We need to repeal the restrictions placed on medical
marijuana. We need to make the legal system stronger and
better-managed for the benefit of patients like me who need this
medicine, and who don't deserve to be persecuted because of it.

Dorian Beth Wenzel is a writer who lives in Manitou Springs.