ENDORSE BAN ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Vote 'Yes' On Proposition 300

Not here, not now.

Fort Collins is at the epicenter of an experiment as to whether the
federal government will choose to enforce the illegality of marijuana
as a Schedule 1 controlled substance in communities that have approved
medical marijuana dispensaries.

The federal government appears to have opened this experimental door,
but it's a door that could close at any moment with a change in
presidential administrations or even a change of heart by the current
administration. Waiting and wondering if enforcement will occur places
the city, its residents, medical marijuana customers and even
dispensary owners themselves in far too vulnerable a position.

Thus, the Coloradoan editorial board endorses Proposition 300, a ban
on medical marijuana dispensaries in Fort Collins.

We question the legitimacy of a medical marijuana dispensary model
that is only now being more formally regulated to address access and
security. We look askance on a model in which hundreds of medical
marijuana applicants in Colorado were allowed to buy medical marijuana
without documentation because the state couldn't process the
overwhelming number of applications for registry cards within 35 days.
We wonder why and how the number of medical marijuana registry cards
issued in Larimer County soared from the 500 that were issued during
the entire nine years following passage of Amendment 20 to a whopping
8,500 in the two years since dispensaries were approved. We dispute a
model that does not hold doctors responsible for marketing medical
marijuana recommendations. All this places the legitimacy of the MMD
model in question.

But what is not in question is that there are hundreds of people in
Fort Collins who genuinely use medical marijuana to ease pain or
chronic symptoms. They are the victims in this debate. The current MMD
model does not adequately distinguish between those who reasonably use
marijuana for medical reasons and those seeking to exploit the
dispensary model for their own gain. Until this gap can be eliminated,
a return to the more limited caregiver approach - which is much less
convenient - is the only option.

This is a not a unanimous opinion by the Coloradoan editorial board. A
strong argument exists that the current approach remains the best
option not only to provide safe and convenient access for those
suffering from illnesses that are effectively treated with marijuana,
but also because a proliferation of uncontrolled caregiver grows will
only make marijuana more accessible on the black market. The
dispensary model more closely controls cultivation and distribution
and forces the schools and parents to have those tough conversations
about the use and abuse of all medicine. The onus will be placed on
local law enforcement to keep the caregiver model secure if the ballot
issue passes.

Despite the endorsement, supporters of Proposition 300 are cautioned
not to be misled into believing that a ban on medical marijuana
dispensaries is a solution when it comes to discouraging our youth
from using marijuana. Even if dispensaries disappear along with their
marketing techniques, the fact is that marijuana is still widely
available to young people. Those who so vocally support this ban
should apply equal energy to a frank and factual discussion about
illegal marijuana use in our community.

Vote "Yes" on Proposition 300.