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 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.