LEGISLATORS: POT LAW NEEDED

Boulder County legislators seem to agree that there is a need for
legislation to bring more order to the medical marijuana industry in Colorado.

But they also told Boulder Weekly that they have not examined the
issue closely, so they stop short of offering an opinion on exactly
how that should be done.

"I think it's here to stay, and we have to deal with it," Rep. Jack
Pommer, D-Boulder, says. "To the extent that we can make it safer and
more honest, we should do what we can."

Pommer says the industry needs more structure, explaining that there
is a process for legally pursuing someone who sells a faulty
prescription drug, but not someone who sells bad marijuana.

He adds that he would support taxing medical marijuana, "because we
could use the money."

Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, says the e-mail he receives on the issue
is pretty divided between those who want significant regulation and
those who do not.

"We need to issue rules and regulations to clarify things," he says.
"It's not meeting the purpose of what we thought it was going to be."

Rep. Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Longmont, says that while she agrees
that existing law must be clarified with reforms, she has friends who
have a bona fide need for medical marijuana. So she cautions that in
the process of changing the law, legislators should not hinder "the
ability of dispensaries to dispense marijuana appropriately."

She adds, "I want to make sure we do it in a fair and just
way."

Hullinghorst says she believes the nation is probably headed toward
the decriminalization of marijuana, but it may take a long time. "New
generations will have a better perspective on this than maybe mine
does," she told Boulder Weekly.

Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, says he favors the legalization of
marijuana. "Why not just recognize that it's not that harmful to
society for people to legally partake in marijuana?" He suggests
regulating it for safety, and "in a way that's not helping Mexican
warlords or anybody else. Until you legalize the production, you're
not getting to some of the problems that stem from it.

"To the extent we have a problem - and I use that term in a guarded
way - is how easy it is to get a medical marijuana card."