SCHOOL BOARD BACKS FORT COLLINS MEASURE BANNING MEDICAL-MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

The Poudre School District board in Fort Collins voted Tuesday night
to support a ballot initiative that would rid the city of
medical-marijuana dispensaries.

Board members voted 5-0 for a resolution backing Question 300, which
would ban the city's 21 licensed dispensaries.

Board president Nancy Tellez and director James Ross did not vote,
saying they had doubts about the board's taking a stance on a
political issue that is not related to education.

However, the resolution states there is a connection between
drug-related expulsions in the district and the arrival of the
dispensaries in 2008.

"A correlation exists between the opening of marijuana dispensaries in
2008 and a 300 percent increase in drug-related expulsions in the
Poudre R1 School District," the resolution says.

The resolution also says, "Numerous studies correlate marijuana usage
with higher incidences of dropping out, poorer academic performance,
impairment of concentration and retention of information."

The board said it did not feel the banning of pot dispensaries will
prevent those with serious illnesses from getting medical marijuana
from a caregiver as allowed under the state's Amendment 20.

The constitutional amendment passed in 2000 and gave people suffering
from eight specific conditions legal access to medical marijuana.

Fort Collins voters will decide on Question 300 on
Tuesday.