NO TO DISPENSARIES

Retailers' presence has altered Fort Collins' character; let the
voters decide

The voters of Fort Collins deserve a chance to decide for themselves
whether they want commercial, for-profit marijuana distributors in
their town.

In 2000, Colorado voters amended the state Constitution to
decriminalize possession of limited amounts of marijuana for
individuals with a debilitating medical condition, and for those
patients' primary caregivers. What Amendment 20 did not do was
authorize the retail sale of marijuana. The text of the amendment
specifically excluded distribution from its protections. The "Blue
Book," mailed by the state Legislature to registered voters before the
election, assured that "under state criminal law, it will still be
illegal to sell marijuana."

>From 2000 to 2008, this patient-caregiver model worked relatively
well. It stayed true to the intent of the voters, and abuse of the
system was reasonably limited. The number of registered patients grew
modestly from 512 in 2004 to 4,720 in 2008.

Then came the dispensaries. Almost overnight, they popped up in
response to a 2009 change in federal drug-enforcement policy. Rather
than keeping their Blue-Book promise to the voters that sales of
marijuana would remain illegal, our state representatives and
unelected regulatory officers accommodated the dispensaries. They
passed laws and regulatory codes allowing commercial marijuana
distributors to do business. Our City Council had the opportunity to
opt out of the new profit-based system, but chose not to.

In Amendment 20, voters authorized seriously ill patients to possess
up to six live plants. Today, a "marijuana-infused product
manufacturer" can have up to 500 live plants at a single location (and
can apply to the state for a waiver to grow even more!)

At precisely the same time, the number of registered patients
skyrocketed. In 2010, our state counted 68,868. Most list the
unverifiable condition of "chronic pain." It does not take a hardened
cynic to wonder at the epidemic of "chronic pain" that has afflicted
our state in the wake of commercial dispensaries.

Locally, Fort Collins has felt a significant impact from the
dispensary explosion. Marijuana-related crimes in Larimer County
increased 20 percent from 2009 to 2010. The Larimer County Sheriff's
Office has a backlog of over 60 reported marijuana grows that they
have not had the resources to investigate. Poudre School District has
seen drug-related expulsions triple since 2008.

Much of this was foreseeable. Any for-profit retailer has to market
its product in order to survive. Today, a person cannot drive down
College Avenue without seeing multiple signs unabashedly advertizing
the sale of marijuana. Many dispensary storefronts look as innocent as
a health spa. It is no wonder that drug abuse among our youth has
increased so dramatically between the normalizing impact of the
dispensaries' marketing and the increased availability of their product.

The presence of dispensaries is so fundamentally transformative of the
character of our town that the people themselves should be entitled to
decide whether or not it is a change they want. That is why Concerned
Fort Collins Citizens are now circulating petitions asking for a
special election this November. Our proposed ordinance would have no
impact whatsoever on Amendment 20, and simply seeks to restore the
status quo to what we believe Colorado voters intended.

Petitions are available for signing through July 17 at: Illustrated
Light, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; Reader's Cove, 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday; Harmony
Presbyterian Church 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday and
8:15 a.m.-noon Friday.

Josh Ritter, a deputy district attorney, wrote this on behalf of
Concerned Fort Collins Citizens, a group of residents supporting an
initiative banning medical marijuana dispensaries in Fort Collins.