COMPASSIONATE MARIJUANA PROGRAMS PLOY TO LEGALIZE POT

The supporters of "the compassionate use of marijuana" for the sick
and dying have numerous stories of cancer-stricken family members who
received some benefit from using marijuana. Those stories tug at your
heart leaving you with the idea that if it makes them more comfortable
before they die, then what is the harm in letting them smoke marijuana?

The harm comes when legislators allow patients to grow their own
marijuana and grow for other patients. Several states have lost
control of medical marijuana programs and I want to share their
problems before we make the same mistake.

First, we must accept that marijuana is the most sought after illegal
drug in the United States. It is a multi-billion dollar illegal industry.

The compassionate use of marijuana program is intended for people
suffering from cancer, AIDS and other debilitating diseases. However,
there is a catchall in the legislation that usually states, "Or any
other condition where a doctor believes marijuana would benefit the
patient."This means anyone who wants to smoke marijuana can and will
with the right doctor's recommendation. In a study in San Diego, only
2 percent of the medical marijuana patients actually had cancer, AIDS
or glaucoma. The other 98 percent reported some form of pain or
anxiety. The overwhelming majority of medical marijuana patients were
males under the age of 40.

Who can recommend medical marijuana? A qualifying practitioner is any
physician, dentist, podiatrist or veterinarian licensed to prescribe
drugs. So yes, you could get a recommendation from your veterinarian
to smoke marijuana. In California, it has been reported that doctors
have opened up shop in hotel rooms for the weekend advertising medical
marijuana recommendations. This is obviously not the legislators'
intent for "compassionate care."

So now you're a card-carrying medical marijuana patient. This is where
it gets really sketchy. According to SF 293 (Iowa's current bill
introducing the Medical Marijuana Act),you can grow 12 marijuana
plants, have a caregiver grow your plants for you, and buy six ounces
of marijuana from a compassion center (every 30 days). This is your
opportunity to make a lot of money. High-grade marijuana sells for
$350 per ounce and $5,000 per pound on the black market. Each plant
you grow could yield one to five pounds of product depending on your
gardening skills. Caregivers can grow for up to five patients --
that's 60 plants!

And the best part, you don't have to disclose the location of your
garden! There are no inspections to ensure you are not growing more
than you are allowed. Only a compassion center is subject to
inspection provided they receive 24 hours notice.

Can a convicted felon work in a compassion center? Unless your felony
conviction is for manufacturing and delivering marijuana, then it's
OK. Is anyone else seeing a problem here?

Now here is where the state loses all control. Law enforcement's
access to the patient and caregiver database will only confirm or deny
the person's status on the registry. Law enforcement is not permitted
to know where patients or caregivers are growing marijuana. It is
nearly impossible to know who has a legal grow location verses an
illegal grow location. Now you have a very small number of sick people
using marijuana for medical purposes and the overwhelming majority
growing marijuana for profit. Thousands of pounds of black market
marijuana are being sold to drugs dealers that distribute marijuana
throughout the U.S..

In the end you have essentially legalized the most sought after
illegal drug in the United States.

Police in the Midwest have been dealing with medical marijuana
trafficking for several years now. In just the last seven weeks of
2010, the Illinois State Police in Henry County have seized 500 pounds
of medical marijuana grown in California and Oregon destined for sale
in Illinois and the east coast. In each case, the defendant was a
medical marijuana patient.

Don't be fooled into believing the sick and dying have exhausted all
medical treatments and can only get relief from smoking marijuana; or
that the most effective way to get marijuana to the patient is to
allow them to grow their own.

Medical marijuana programs have few controls in place to enforce
doctors making recommendations for profit, they take away your
employer's rights for a drug-free workplace, and handicap the police
from enforcing DUI laws and illegal trafficking of marijuana.

Let's do our homework and make medical marijuana a safe prescription
pill, pain patch or inhaler. We cannot accept a burning plant with
unknown amounts of THC and pesticides as a delivery system for
medicine. It is inherently unhealthy and causes more harm than good.

Iowa's SF293 is dead for the remainder of this year. Legislators, next
year can introduce a bill that puts the patient first, not tax revenue
and drug trafficking. SF293 was built as a means to legalize
marijuana. Similar bills in California, Oregon, and Colorado have
aided criminal drug organizations to make millions of dollars in the
marijuana trade. As a narcotics unit commander, at the front lines of
this national crime wave, I cannot bite my tongue and watch as the
marijuana legalization groups try to pull one over on the citizens of
Iowa and the greater Quad-Cities.

Chris Endress is director of the Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement
Group.