Pubdate: Fri, 10 Aug 2012
Source: Broomfield Enterprise (CO)
Copyright: 2012 MediaNews Group
Contact:  http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5129
Author: Megan Quinn

REPORT ASKS OFFICIALS TO TIGHTEN MEDICAL POT RULES

Broomfield Drug Bust Among Report's Examples

A new report from a Congressional drug control group says medical 
marijuana from Colorado is being diverted and resold illegally both 
in and out of the state.

A Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (RMHIDTA) 
report published last week suggests that Colorado is a significant 
region where drug dealers divert medical marijuana from patients and 
sell it illegally. A Broomfield bust from June was among more than 70 
state-wide examples of illegal diversion listed in the report.

The report was put together by the regional office of HIDTA, which 
was created by Congress in the 1980s to coordinate between Federal, 
state and local drug enforcement groups. The report urged officials 
to tighten medical marijuana regulations to make it harder for 
marijuana to be misused and illegally distributed by patients, 
caregivers and dispensaries.

The report mentions more than 70 case studies, including an incident 
in June when an undercover agent bought marijuana from three men 
living in a mobile home park in Broomfield. One of the men claimed to 
be a medical marijuana patient.

North Metro Task Force later found that the men were purchasing the 
drugs from two Northglenn dispensaries and reselling it from their home.

Sgt. Jim Gerhardt of the North Metro Task Force said the report does 
not point to Broomfield as a significant part of the problem. Illegal 
grow operations and medical marijuana diversion are just as common in 
the Broomfield area as they are in other metro-area cities of the 
same or bigger size, he said.

Broomfield "is not a haven (for marijuana), but it is not a rare 
occurrence, either," he said. "Broomfield is pretty equal in terms of 
activity like this in large cities."

Gerhardt compared Broomfield's illegal marijuana activity to that of 
neighboring cities of Westminster or Northglenn, saying many suspects 
have claimed their home-based grow operations were medical marijuana 
related even if they were not.

Broomfield voters in 2010 approved a ban on medical marijuana-related 
businesses.

Yet marijuana is not gone from the city. So far this year, the task 
force has confiscated 1682 plants from 11 total locations. Of those, 
eight claimed their in-home grow operations or drug transactions were 
medical marijuana related.

In 2011, the task force confiscated 840 plants from 21 locations. Of 
those, 15 suspects claimed they were growing the drug for medicinal purposes.

Gerhardt said the national report does not change day-to-day 
operations for the task force, with a jurisdiction that includes 
Broomfield, Westminster, Northglenn and Thornton. With a steady 
number of grow operations and marijuana sales, Gerhardt agrees that 
the state must look at more options to crack down on illegal activity.

"Marijuana is not easy to regulate," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom