Voters deserve facts, not fiction

CO- In his Coloradoan July 2 Soapbox, Ray Martinez made many disparaging claims about medical marijuana centers in order to bolster his attempt to ban MMCs from Fort Collins. Too bad that none of his assertions are supported by facts.

Acting police Chief Jerry Schiager reported no medical marijuana business “surge in crime,” and no increase in 911 calls (1). The ordinance regulating MMCs, passed by Fort Collins’ City Council, is stricter than the state requires (2) In fact, state regulators track every gram of medicine produced by MMCs “from seed to sale” preventing any diversion to “the new black market” (3) as Martinez claims.

Proponents of the ban would also like us to believe, based on anecdotal “evidence,” that marijuana use is up among teens and MMCs are the cause.

Wrong again.

Two studies released this week show the opposite. The National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse reports that from 1999 to 2010, teen marijuana use dropped 22 percent (4). And a separate nationwide study shows that there is no causal relationship between medical marijuana and an increase in teen marijuana use (5).

MMCs are clearly not the boogey man that Martinez and company would have us believe.

Instead of fear-mongering and fantasy, we need a discussion based on reality.

The people of this state voted to make medical marijuana legal in 2000. Lacking any regulatory framework, Colorado’s state Legislature passed HB1284 in 2010. As a result, Colorado’s licensed MMCs are the most heavily regulated and taxed among all 16 states that allow for medical marijuana use.

Criminals are out. Standards are in place. Taxes are collected. And law enforcement keeps a 24/7 watch to ensure compliance. While this is tedious and expensive for center owners, we know that our customers and community members feel more secure because of the tight restrictions and security.

Reality check:

More than 8,500 people hold valid licenses to purchase medical marijuana in Larimer County. That averages out to more than 16,000 transactions a month, or 200,000 every year.

Let’s imagine for a moment that Martinez gets his way and MMCs disappear. What then?

Patients will lose out. Treatment protocols will be interrupted when the products, services and specialists patients rely upon and trust disappear. This will result in negative health outcomes for patients.

Our economy will suffer. One half-million dollars in sales taxes will go uncollected every year. More than 200 people will lose their jobs. Dozens of commercial leases will be abandoned. Millions of dollars in business investments will be lost. Bankruptcies will soar.

Our neighborhoods will become less safe. Currently, medical marijuana businesses are licensed, regulated, secured, and taxed. If we ban these businesses, medical marijuana sales will be pushed into our neighborhoods where they will be unlicensed, unregulated, unsecured, and untaxed, and increase the risk of illegal sales, fires, and home invasions.

Assuming home growers follow the rules and serve only five patients each, 1,500 homes are needed to serve Larimer County’s 8,500 registered patients. That’s 200,000 sales taking place in 1,500 private homes! Home invasions, electrical fires and chemicals dumped unmonitored into our sewers will become common.

This will be a disaster.

medical marijuana centers are the safest way to ensure that legal patients have access while protecting our community.

Please act to keep MMCs legal in Fort Collins.

Steve Ackerman is a longtime Fort Collins resident and business owner. He is president of the Fort Collins Medical Cannabis Association (FCMCA) and owner of Organic Alternatives. He may be reached at 214-1152. Sources: 1: Schiager, Jerry. Statement to Council. City Council Adjourned Meeting & Work Session, Feb. 22. 2: Agenda Item Summary Feb. 22, Item 3. (n.d.). Agenda Item Summary, Issues Relating to Medical marijuana Businesses, (p. 2). Fort Collins.Fort Collins; 3: (2011). Colorado Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division Rules. Denver: State of Colorado Department of Revenue; 4: National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, (June 29, 2011). Adolescent Substance Use: America’s #1 Public Health Problem (pg. 28). New York: CASA Columbia; 5: O’Keefe, K. E. a. (June 2011). Marijuana Use by Young People: The Impact of State Laws. Washington D.C.: Marijuana Policy Project.

Man gets 4 years in Calif.-to-Ohio pot scheme

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A man has been sentenced in a federal court in Ohio to four years in prison and must pay a $10,000 fine for his role in a scheme to fly thousands of pounds of marijuana from California to Ohio in suitcases.

Six people have either pleaded guilty or indicated they’ll plead guilty since authorities broke up the $3 million operation last year.

 Thirty-three-year-old Christopher Cash was sentenced Friday. Cash was from Los Angeles at the time of his arrest and later living in Louisville, Ky. He pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana.Awaiting a July 29 sentencing is 44-year-old Frank Edwards of Hacienda, Calif. He previously pleaded guilty to drug charges

Portland Aims to End Marijuana Arrests in Oregon City

Sensible Portland Aims To End Marijuana Arrests In Oregon City

Graphic: Sensible Portland

​A group of concerned citizens in Portland, Oregon is trying to pass an ordinance making marijuana possession the lowest enforcement priority for police, with no arrest required.

Sensible Portland turned in petitions with more than 2,000 signatures to the city clerk on Tuesday morning, reports WGME. In order to put the question before voters on the November ballot, 1,500 valid signatures are needed.

The proposed ordinance also requires Portland’s mayor to report to the City Council on marijuana arrests by the police, reports Caroline Cornish at WCSH 6.

Officers wouldn’t face any penalty if they violated the ordinance, and the language specifically states that it’s not intended to prohibit police from working with federal drug enforcement agents.

But Sensible Portland said it’s important for voters to go on the record about this issue, since the federal government said it plants to crack down on even medical marijuana users.

The group also hopes the proposed ordinance will eventually help lead to a discussion about legalizing marijuana.

If at least 1,500 of the 2,114 signatures turned in on Tuesday are valid, the proposal will go to the Portland City Council. The council will hold a public hearing, after which it can either enact the proposal, or put it before the voters in November.

The council can also put its own alternative plan before the voters at the same time.

Tags: lowest enforcement priority, ordinance, sensible portland

Marijuana Arrests in California By County