MEDICAL MARIJUANA: REMEDY OR SMOKE SCREEN?

While state and local lawmakers ponder new regulations regarding
medical marijuana dispensaries, the city of Pueblo has adopted an
indefinite moratorium on the establishments, and the county's
moratorium was extended this past week until July 2.

But three dispensaries are doing brisk business in Pueblo West -
Rocky Mountain Herbal Health Center, Organic Solutions and Mirasol
Therapeutics.

All of them opened before the county passed its first moratorium late
last year on new dispensaries.

County Commissioner Jeff Chostner, chairman of the three-member
panel, said the commissioners agreed Tuesday to wait until the
Colorado General Assembly's decisions on two bills under
consideration before moving forward on local regulation of the
burgeoning industry.

One proposed state law would more strictly regulate the way doctors
can provide recommendations for individuals seeking inclusion on the
state's registry of marijuana patients.

The other is intended to regulate the dispensary industry, which has
proliferated despite otherwise dismal economies in Front Range
communities such as Boulder, the Denver metro area and Colorado Springs.

City attorneys in the Springs are drafting local ordinances to
regulate the location of dispensaries and growing operations and to
license both types of businesses and collect sales tax from them.

"I know some communities have launched ahead, but we've decided to
wait and see what the state does first. There's no sense doing
something in April and then having to redo it in July or August," if
there are major differences with whatever legislation is passed at
the state level, Chostner said.

The primary concern locally is not licensing dispensaries and
marijuana farms, or collecting tax revenue from them, he said, but
making sure they're operating in a way that best serves legitimate
marijuana patients, and in locations that won't expose children or be
perceived as a nuisance by neighbors.

"The two (zoning) models that are being debated is either the
liquor-store model or the porno model, which is more restrictive in
terms of location near schools, how many can be in one block, and
other considerations along that line. The liquor model is much less
restrictive. That's what the Legislature is debating," along with
licensing and tax issues, Chostner said.

The city of Colorado Springs has estimated that, based on a projected
4,500 residents who will be on the state's patient registry by year's
end, the city could collect nearly $1.6 million on dispensary sales
alone each year. Those figures are based on an average price of $350
for an ounce of dispensary marijuana and estimated monthly citywide
sales of more than $3.9 million, taxed at 3.5 percent.

"From my point of view, this is not being driven by revenue issues
here. It's a social policy issue - an issue much broader than whether
we can collect taxes," Chostner said.

Chostner was the only commissioner who wasn't able to tour Mirasol
Therapeutics, at Tiffany Drive and Spaulding Avenue in Pueblo West.

Owner Mike Stetler, who opened the dispensary Nov. 1 despite a 2008
arrest for growing marijuana in Huerfano County, said he and his
employees - mostly family members - are intent on providing a safe
and confidential atmosphere for their customers.

Stetler credits marijuana with helping him break a painkiller
addiction rooted in injuries he sustained fighting in Vietnam and
believes he's providing a valuable public service to others in the
same situation, as well as patients with glaucoma,
chemotherapy-related nausea and other debilitating conditions.

His family has been growing and selling medical marijuana since early
2008, and decided to open a dispensary, "because there's a real big
need in Pueblo. What I find is people have a lot of questions, and
there's a lot of fear because of the way marijuana has been
portrayed. They thought this would be like some hippie place, where
people are sitting around smoking and stuff, but we provide a nice
atmos- phere."

The dispensary is located in a newer commercial building and is
furnished with a leather couch and oversized chair, a cold-drink
dispensing machine, a flat-panel TV and a table laden with a variety
of publications about growing and using marijuana.

The only hints of the dispensary's services and products are a framed
poster depicting cherubs with lit joints in their hands, and a small
advertisement for High Times magazine.

Visitors must ring a bell to be admitted, and those who come for
monthly clinics to be evaluated for inclusion on the state's
marijuana-patient registry aren't admitted without medical records,
Stetler said.

Dr. James Satt of Rocky Ford, who conducts the clinics, said he asks
for records but often doesn't get them because many patients don't
have a doctor.

Customers may sample a variety of edible marijuana products but
aren't allowed to smoke on the premises.

Organic Solutions, one of two dispensaries on South McCulloch
Boulevard, on the other hand, invites clients to relax, play games,
socialize and sample their purchases in The Cotton Mouth Club, a room
down the hall from the main dispensary area, according to several
patients who have patronized the business.

Although SB109, if passed, would put an end to monthly clinics at
dispensaries, Stetler said he welcomes tighter regulation of the
industry that's part of another proposed law that originated in the House.

"We don't do this for the money. It's for the patients. And we're
doing it right. Most dispensaries, give 'em a couple of years and
they'll be out of business," he said.

"We have patients from all walks of life - psychologists, doctors,
cowboys, postal workers. It's really opened up my eyes. I'm not the
only one who knows (marijuana) works."

Stetler said dispensaries also are serving to decrease illegal
marijuana trafficking, especially for pot grown in Mexico.

"I think we're an asset to the community," he said.