GOING TO POT

Boulder is recognized as one of the healthiest cities in the United
States, if not the world. A recent Gallup-Healthways Well-Being
Index studied over 350,000 Americans who were asked about their
overall attitudes about their jobs, physical and financial health,
as well as the specific places they live. Boulder ranked first in
the category of overall well-being when measured against 162 large
and medium-sized cities. That`s hardly surprising when you consider
that over 53,000 folks recently participated in the Bolder Boulder
and hiked and biked and climbed and hopped and skipped and jumped
the entire Memorial Day weekend.

With all this emphasis on health and well being it shocks some
people to learn that one of Boulder`s largest new growth industries
involves the cultivation and sale of medical marijuana to thousands
of unhealthy citizens. The city is apparently the home of
thousands of chronically ill people who absolutely require
they receive easy access to the purported medical benefits of what
was once illicitly sold on the streets and considered to be an illegal drug.

A local nonprofit group, concerned about our health and known as
Grow In Colorado, supports limiting laws that restrict access to
pot. They also tout the many health benefits of cannabis. In a
recent ad the outfit suggests ingesting or smoking "weed" provides
relief to a variety of chronic ills including
schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, anorexia
nervosa, psoriasis, Huntington`s Disease, Crohn`s Disease, multiple
sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, bipolar disorder, epilepsy,
leukemia, Parkinson`s Disease, and even post traumatic stress
disorder, along with a host of other maladies.

In 2000 Colorado voters approved an amendment to the State`s
Constitution that permits the use of medical marijuana by people
with "debilitating medical conditions" who would be required to
obtain a permit to do so by qualified medics. Colorado is just one
of many places where the whole medical marijuana industry has been
the subject of regulatory concern and not all of Colorado`s
municipalities have fully endorsed the licensing of dispensaries.
Boulder has been the primary haven for the medical marijuana
industry that has grown to include over one hundred operating
dispensaries and over twenty operating growers within its city
limits. That represents about 25 percent of all pot purveyors in Colorado.

Elsewhere in Boulder County, Longmont has just eight dispensaries
while Louisville and Lafayette each have two. Broomfield has been
waiting for the governor to sign the newly enacted state laws that
will regulate the industry and hasn`t given the green light to
allowing medical dispensaries or cultivating pot. Several cities
have not yet acted on local zoning or licensing requirements and
Boulder County is in the process of reviewing what regulations it
might enact in unincorporated areas. The county`s Planning
Commission recently voted 5 to 1 to recommend that the
County Commissioners move forward with establishing where and how
both dispensaries and growing operations might be allowed.

One thing seems clear. Of those reported 400 or so medical marijuana
dispensaries currently operating throughout Colorado, about half of
them are expected to shut down operations as a result of the newly
approved statewide regulations. Some believe the health of the new
industry may be in jeopardy. In Boulder, however, the city reports
the new industry has already produced over $125,000 in new sales and
use taxes just through February of this year. New revenues are
always welcomed, but there`s concern over whether or not this will
be a "sustainable" enterprise. If other regional cities impose
restrictions and continue moratoriums on expanding medical marijuana
operations, Boulder will become even more of a haven for the sick.

Is Boulder`s reputation as a healthy alternative and organically
driven refuge in jeopardy? Whether or not the health, safety, and
welfare of Boulder citizens will be enhanced by this growing new
industry is an open question begging further study and analysis.