DRIVE TO BAN MMJ SHOULD BE REJECTED

A small group of citizens is proposing a ballot initiative to prohibit
the sale of medical marijuana, or MMJ, in Fort Collins. Those who
propose this ban must shoulder the burden of proof that there are good
reasons to support such a ban rather than just making hysterical
predictions of potential harm.

The claim has been made that MMJ is being provided to individuals who
"just want to get high." If MMJ is being inappropriately recommended
by doctors to patients who are not really ill, then this practice
should be stopped by amending the guidelines for doctors and providing
sanctions against doctors who violate the guidelines. This is
currently being addressed by the state Legislature. Banning MMJ
dispensaries is thus unnecessary in order to prevent such abuses of
the system.

There is no evidence that MMJ dispensaries are providing marijuana to
anyone other than registered users. They certainly do not sell
marijuana to minors. There is also no evidence that MMJ dispensaries
are a locus of criminal activity.

It has been claimed that the presence of MMJ dispensaries tarnishes
the image and reputation of this city. Fort Collins has the enviable
reputation of being an open-minded community, not an enclave of
blue-nosed puritans who are free to impose their stilted version of
morality on others.

The drive to ban the sale of MMJ in Fort Collins should be rejected as
an unnecessary and unwarranted intrusion into the private affairs and
personal choices of free citizens.

John Allen,

Fort Collins