AURORA SHOULD INVITE PUBLIC TO HELP SOLVE POT PROBLEM

Who are we trying to kid? This is hardly about medical marijuana
anymore. State voters here in and in states like California and Nevada
have opened the floodgates so that just about anyone who wants to get
high can do it with the blessing of state and local
governments.

As state and local officials wrestle with how to regulate a drug
that's been forbidden for decades and is the center of a massive,
deadly and costly "war on drugs," it's clear we just can't get there
from here.

State officials, wisely, killed part of a measure that would allow
voters to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in their local
communities. Those state lawmakers who agreed to kill that amendment
truly see the medical side of the story.

When Colorado voters overwhelmingly approved the notion of medical
marijuana back in 2000, everyone was picturing pretty much the same
scenario. We envisioned a desperately ill cancer victim or AIDS
patient, wracked with nausea and pain, grateful for anything to make
life tolerable. It was easy to sympathize with these miserable
imaginary people and fight back against a government that would
cruelly withhold or take what little comfort these wretched patients
could get.

Voters envisioned cancer victims with a few pot plants in their homes,
or the families of these patients growing those few plants for people
too ill to do even that.

Who knows what voters would have done had they been able to see a
future where prolific medical pot shops jostled for business and kept
giant cookie jars stuffed with marijuana buds and used it to spike
candies, cookies and pizza? It could well be that voters would have
not only accepted but greedily ushered in the Mary Jane craze with all
the gusto they seem to be exuding right now.

For those state lawmakers who still see the original intent of the
measure, and still picture those desperately ill patients, the
question of access is a solemn one. What if just about every city and
town votes to close these pot shops? Lawmakers who are faithful to the
very ill wisely voted to ensure that these shops must be given
licenses everywhere in the state or nowhere.

And for those state lawmakers who realistically understand that this
whole thing has become nothing more than a creative and hugely
successful end run around federal drug laws, it usurps the notion of
local control.

To preserve the rights of the very few who voters originally intended
to aid, we have no choice now but to benefit everyone in Colorado that
wants to join the party. It's a party getting bigger by the minute
with more than 1,000 people a day who suddenly realize that a little
wacky weed can cure what's ailing them and who can persuade someone
with a license to practice medicine of the same. That service is
widely available for well under $100.

Like it or not, we've opened the gates of Amster-ado, the get-high
capital of the West.

Now, city lawmakers must decide just where these pot shops are going
to be allowed to operate. On Colfax? Vacant shops in Southlands?
Kiosks at Target?

There are a host of interesting questions Aurora lawmakers and city
officials must answer. For those who carry a medical-marijuana card,
can they light up on city streets or at outdoor smoking lounges at
restaurants? Should the city tax this just like it does other
over-the-counter medicines or over-the-counter bottles of bourbon?

And how will "possession" scofflaws be handled? If one person in a car
full of college kids, or senior citizens on the way to a bridge game,
has a medical marijuana card, and everyone in the car has a joint,
saying they're just "holding" it for the guy who has the card and the
bad knee, who gets the ticket?

For those faithful to the vision of the ailing cancer victims, these
are questions that need to be answered by a wide range of voices from
Aurora, not just a few city council members and city staff. For those
who realize where this is all heading at the speed of light, a diverse
and focused panel of thoughtful Aurora residents can guide the issue
toward something we can all live with.

Rest assured, as soon as Gov. Bill Ritter signs whatever comes out of
the House and Senate, Aurora will immediately begin to answer tough
questions by default.

The city will have to decide whether Aurora health "spas" can offer
medical marijuana, soaks in hot tubs and healing massages all in the
same place. The city must rule whether these dispensaries can be open
all night, just like Walgreens. Better for everyone to think this
through now instead of after the fact.