WRIGHT: RESIDENTS SHOULD HAVE VOTE IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEBATE

Kinnard concerned about long-term effects of drug

It is on the agenda of almost every city council or planning meeting,
but one local citizen said the city has no business discussing the
issue of medical marijuana dispensaries -- at all.

"I'm not sure why we're having this discussion," Jill Wright said. "As
far as I'm concerned, this is illegal. This should be put on the
ballot for the people of Canon City to make this decision. It should
not be put before six or seven people that don't know all the facts."

Wright is a longtime Canon City resident and retired business
owner.

"Why are we allowing these pot shops?" she asked. "Why are we allowing
this discussion? For one thing, if pot was this great, then why aren't
the pharmaceuticals jumping on the band wagon? Secondly, when we've
gone to meetings regarding the pot shops, the audiences are 90 percent
kids. It's sad to think we have that many children in that much pain
they would need pot."

Wright also voiced alarm regarding crime statistics in other cities
that allow for medical marijuana dispensaries.

"The stats that are coming in from other cities that have pot shops is
staggering," Wright said. "The crime has already started. I've raised
my children here. The pot was bad then. The police department refused
to do anything about it, and it's gotten progressively worse because
the police haven't done anything about it."

Children have to be the first priority, Wright said, when deciding
whether to legalize medical marijuana dispensaries.

"In Canon City, our children are the only positive we have," she said.
"We have 15 penitentiaries and that's negative. Why are we allowing
pot shops in this town? Are we just going to say, 'lets let the tattoo
shops and the liquor stores and the pot shops take over? Let's just
turn this into a town that appeals to bikers of the bad kind.'"

Her biggest concern, Wright said, is the people of Canon City should
have more say in the decision than the city council.

"This should be put before the people," she said. "This should not be
before six or seven people. The people of Canon City should be told
the truth. They don't realize that from pot stems spousal abuse and
child abuse. And all the other things that go along with it
crime-wise, not to mention having to pay for the people who don't have
a brain left."

Part of the issue, Wright said, is the need for further law
enforcement, as well.

"My point is this," Wright said, "our police force has been
intimidated by these pot-heads, or whatever you want to call them.
Canon City is corrupt. Our government is corrupt, our police force is
corrupt."

Beverly Kinnard, local volunteer educator and president of Guarding
our Children against Marijuana, echoed many of Wright's sentiments.

"I personally will move out of Canon City, probably out of Colorado,
if this doesn't change," Kinnard said, "and if we don't get the pot
dispensaries banned. There are many, many places I can go, where I
don't have to confront seeing this garbage that's on Main Street. I
can't help Canon City, if the city enables the illegal sale of marijuana."

Kinnard has been a volunteer and public speaker on the issue of
marijuana for 32 years.

"My motivation for doing this is that I have a child who was seriously
injured at age 12, as the result of someone giving him pot because he
was having a bad day," Kinnard said. "Our son has paid a lifetime
penalty for his lack of knowledge."

The brain, Kinnard said, does not finish developing until age 25,
making people susceptible to brain damage through drug use.

"The portion of the brain that is the last to develop," she said, "is
the decision-making portion. When you put 460 chemicals in your body,
light it and smoke it, it turns into 2,000. Those chemicals collect in
the fatty tissue of your body, and every cell has fat in it. The brain
is one-third fat. When our really, truly sick patients use marijuana,
they're becoming stoned. They're not capable of making good decisions."

Kinnard said studies show marijuana does not help pain, as
touted.

"Three different studies with three different levels of marijuana
showed it made the pain worse," she said. "Marijuana can lead to
depression and cause more serious mental disorders, such as
schizophrenia, anxiety and even suicide."

Marijuana from the 1960s era is different, Kinnard said, from the
marijuana used today.

"If the true, legitimate patients knew what they were putting in their
body, they would throw it in the trash," Kinnard said. "They wouldn't
spend a penny for it. It is an infectious disease. It's destroying
minds and bodies."