IN THE MEDICAL-MARIJUANA DEBATE, IT'S TIME TO BE GROWN-UPS

The hand-wringing by lawmakers and others over medical marijuana just
tickles me, or floors me. I still cannot tell.

You would think they were handing out AK-47s in the state's
proliferating number of dispensaries. The Denver City Council now
wants to keep them 1,000 feet away from schools. What is that about?

So, at 1,001 feet from a school, they can sell medical pot by the
truckload?

Please.

My favorite proposed law is being dreamed up by state Sen. Chris
Romer, whom I admire greatly. But he proposes raising the age at which
a patient can legally obtain marijuana for medical use from 18 to 21.

Let us say it is your kid, my kid. Who are you or I going to trust
more for what our kids need -- Romer, or our family doctor? How
quickly would you find the nearest street dealer to assist your
pain-ravaged child? Come on.

We really and truly need grown-ups to step forward in this
debate.

Brian Vicente has been one since Amendment 20 allowing medical
marijuana use passed almost a decade ago. He is now executive director
of Sensible Colorado, the largest medical-marijuana advocacy group in
the state.

He spends much of his time attempting to get dyspeptic local and state
lawmakers to calm down, reminding them that medical pot is legal in
Colorado and assisting them in finding rational ways to regulate its
sale.

"All we've ever asked is for reasonable regulation," he
said.

He sees, he says, the way the winds are headed, particularly in Denver
where it is front-page news that the city has more dispensaries than
it has Starbucks and schools.

He calls it the result of "abhorrent, long-standing prejudice against
marijuana," some of which, he says, may end up codified into law.

"Denver clearly wants to hide its dispensaries," he says of the
1,000-foot provision in the ordinance that received initial approval
Monday night. The city, he notes, has no such provision for
pharmacies, which sell some of the strongest, most addictive pain
medications known to man.

The next few months will see a "dogfight," he says, over medical
marijuana. He points in particular to a bill pushed by law enforcement
that would essentially outlaw dispensaries and limit caregivers to no
more than five patients.

Depending on the outcome of the various bills, Sensible Colorado is
prepared, he said, to sponsor a ballot initiative that would further
strengthen the current medical-marijuana laws.

He envisions establishing a uniform application and licensing system
for both dispensaries and growers.

The initiative would also seek to create a uniform sales tax
statewide, and allow cities to regulate sales through zoning. It would
also require enforcement of existing health and safety labeling
requirements on all edible-marijuana products, such as brownies.

"To us, regulation is a form of legitimization, that this drug should
be brought out of the shadows and into the light."

That there are more dispensaries than Starbucks, Vicente says, to him
means but one thing: substantial tax revenue.

"We are talking about $50 million in new tax revenue per year in
Colorado that could go to roads, schools and law enforcement," he
says. "That is real money, and these are real tough times."

Now that is grown-up talk.