MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES CONCERN POLICE CHIEF

Whenever Mesa Police Chief Frank Milstead speaks of medical marijuana
dispensaries coming to the city, he does so with two fingers gesturing
quotations around the "medical" aspect of the industry.

"If you say they didn't legalize marijuana, they just legalized
medical marijuana, that's a complete hoodwink," Milstead said in a
recent meeting with the Mesa Republic. "Not everybody can have cancer.
Not everybody's got a bad knee and their back is blown out."

The legalization of marijuana for prescription holders has concerned
law enforcement officials throughout the state. Milstead said
dispensaries in Mesa run the risk of being havens for crime, and the
city will likely see an increase in DUIs.

"I just look at other states that have legalized marijuana," Milstead
said. "Their collisions are up, their fatals are up, addictions are up
- - it just creates more issues for law enforcement."

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical
marijuana. Arizona voters approved its measure in November.

Although overall collisions are down nationwide - and in Mesa -
fatal-crash statistics are mixed in states with medical marijuana laws.

Fatal crashes were already on the decline when California passed its
law in 1996.

That year 3,989 people died in crashes, and those figures continued to
fall until 1999 when 3,559 were recorded, according to the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2009, California had 3,081
fatalities.

The opposite scenario played out in Colorado, which passed its law in
2000. Fatal crashes were on the rise and continued to rise until
topping out in 2002 at 743. They then fell to 465 in 2009, according
to the administration.

In Mesa, police officials and City Council members have voiced
concerns with potential crime associated with marijuana
dispensaries.

"If you have something that somebody else wants, somebody will try and
break in to steal it," Milstead said.

Arizona's program is administered by the Department of Health
Services, which has authorized five dispensaries in Mesa, said City
Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh, who heads the city's public safety committee.

City Council members recently completed regulations restricting
dispensaries to manufacturing and industrial areas, Kavanaugh said.

"Locating them in more isolated places could potentially increase the
risk (of burglaries) just because you don't have people around,"
Kavanaugh said. "Every state that has (dispensaries) has got criminals
who will prey on those who grow, dispense or buy medical marijuana."

However an increase in crime is not always inevitable, said Gus
Escamilla, founder of Denver-based Greenway University, where
dispensary owners learn to operate the businesses.

"Obviously when medical marijuana and dispensaries open in any market
there's always that concern," Escamilla said of crime at dispensaries.
"However, if you set up a dispensary properly, those issues could be
alleviated significantly."

Aside from proper bookkeeping and documenting, students learn the
safest ways to operate a dispensary, including using surveillance
equipment and requiring prescription holders to enter to two separate
rooms.

In Colorado, the average user is 40 years old, and 90 percent of
prescriptions are for chronic pain, Escamilla said. Patients ingest
the drug in many forms - cigarettes, sodas, cookies, brownies, candy
bars and creams rubbed on the body.

Nationally, police say dispensaries and prescription holders have been
the victims of robberies, home invasions, shootings and murders by
those seeking the drug.

Another concern for Milstead is that the high price of medical
marijuana could push prescription holders to buy the drug much cheaper
from local dealers.

"An ounce of medical marijuana is like $200, $230. An ounce of
marijuana on the street is like $50," the chief said. "Is it better to
get your marijuana from a cartel which is going to sell it to you at
$500 or is it better to get it from some sort of legitimate grower who
is going to sell you the same amount for $2,500?"