Pubdate: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 Source: Fort Collins Coloradoan (CO) Copyright: 2011 The Fort Collins Coloradoan Contact: http://www.coloradoan.com/customerservice/contactus.html Website: http://www.coloradoan.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1580 Author: Mary Hesterman TRUE COST OF DRUG USE IS AT ISSUE Kevin Duggan correctly reported in his article (Oct. 16) that I did not become so involved in the effort to close the marijuana dispensaries in our town because my daughter became involved in drugs. That may have happened anyway. What didn't get reported is the reason I did become so involved. As I told him, I became involved because I looked at the numbers and became convinced that the dispensaries have caused an explosion in drug abuse (0 to 500 cardholders in Larimer County over an eight-year period before dispensaries opened, and then 500 to 8,000 cardholders in the two years since they opened; 0 to 5,000 cardholders statewide over an eight-year period before dispensaries opened, and then from 5,000 to 130,000 cardholders statewide in the two years since they opened, plus a 300 percent increase in drug-related expulsions in Poudre School District since they opened). I know from my own experience the kind of misery those figures represent. That 300 percent increase in expulsions doesn't even include my daughter, or any of the many other teens involved in drug abuse that I have become aware of since this happened to our daughter (whose parents aren't able to speak out due to privacy concerns), because none of them were caught at school. The problem is much worse than the numbers show, and the numbers are sufficiently horrifying to anyone who has ever dealt with drug abuse. My daughter told me that it's easier to get marijuana than alcohol in our town these days. She has been in treatment for six months now and is doing great. Last week, she told me, "Mom, I am so sorry for what I did." I replied, "That's OK, honey. I understand that wasn't you. That was you on drugs. You're not alone. It happens to everyone who becomes addicted to drugs. They do things they would never do otherwise." As reported in the Oct. 18 paper, ("Medical marijuana dispensaries join union"), marijuana dispensaries are backing an effort to get a constitutional amendment on the Colorado ballot next year that would regulate and tax recreational marijuana to raise money for schools. Anyone who thinks that's a good idea doesn't understand the true cost of drug abuse. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.