The politics of pot in Colorado sure seem to be heating up to climax of some sort, don't you think?

As the state government continues in its determined effort to overrule the voter-approved legalization of medical marijuana, with prohibition-style tactics, the entrepreneurs who tried to make a legal business out of catering to the new market are running scared.

Why else would someone dump three tons of equipment and material, used in the cultivation of medical marijuana, in a gulch north of Rifle?

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Residents Are Urged to Become More Informed

Two groups of residents are working hard to convince local voters that their views on medical marijuana should prevail in Fort Collins.

One group, Concerned Fort Collins Citizens, is gathering signatures on a petition through July 17 in hopes of placing an issue on the ballot this fall that seeks to ban medical marijuana dispensaries here in Fort Collins.

Its opposition, Citizens for Safer Neighborhoods, is working to defeat the issue by explaining the merits of medical marijuana dispensaries.

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The extension of the statewide moratorium on the opening of new medical marijuana centers has given Park County officials extra time to come up with rules concerning the burgeoning industry.

Under the new state rules and a law that went into effect on July 1, dispensaries in Colorado will be required to comply with a number of guidelines, including how the businesses keep inventory, how they keep records, and the imposition of mandatory 24-hour video security surveillance cameras. The state also extended a moratorium on the issuing of permits for medical marijuana centers until July 1, 2012.

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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.

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Around the turn of the last century, Carrie Nation opposed alcohol use. So zealous was her crusade that she gained a reputation for barging into bars armed with her Bible and a hatchet to smash up the establishments. Some say she even excused the assassination of President William McKinley, as he allegedly drank alcohol.

Today's prohibitionists, too civilized for direct physical force, instead seek to impose the force of the vote. Rather than send in a woman with a hatchet, they threaten to send in police armed with guns.

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The petition to prohibit the operation of medical marijuana centers in Buena Vista was returned with an insufficient number of valid signatures.

Town clerk Mary Jo Bennetts, with the aid of the town attorney, Jefferson Parker, reviewed each of the 168 signatures based on the state statutes for petitions. Nearly half of the signatures were disqualified for failing to meet state rules. The petition needed 89 signatures to move on to the town board, and 87 were approved.

Some signatures were disqualified on the basis of the signers not being residents within the town limits of Buena Vista.

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After retiring from nearly 40 years of government service, I think I have the prerogative and as a citizen, the authority to bluntly comment on the rules that may be approved by the city council concerning medical marijuana regulation.

The need for regulation is apparent, but the degree, it seems, is not. These are small businesses and cannot match the resources of big business and our municipalities. From my personal interactions with city officials, the lack of knowledge about the state constitution, the subsequent state laws and the rules promulgated by the Colorado departments of revenue and health is significant.

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In the 1920s, President Calvin Coolidge famously said, "The business of America is business."

Current trends forecaster Gerald Celente offers a new twist to fit the times: "The business of America is war... The forty-year War on Drugs; The ten-year War on Terror; the Afghan War (longest in American history); the eight-years-and-no-end-in-sight Iraq War; the covert wars in Pakistan and Yemen; and most recently, the 'time-limited, scope-limited kinetic military action' in Libya."

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Last year, the state Legislature mandated that the Department of Revenue write regulations for the medical marijuana industry, including several provisions specified in the bill that included the mandate.

This month, though a clarifying bill to tweak the law was passed by the Legislature, the DOR issued those rules in a 73-page document.

The rules aren't - and won't be - universal across the state, however. The state law allows counties and municipalities to regulate dispensaries within their own borders as they see fit, and even ban them if they wish.

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Gina Akeo doesn't need a bunch of randomized clinical trials to convince her that marijuana can ease pain and alleviate nausea.

For several years after a 2004 pancreatic surgery gone bad, the 41-year-old Pueblo resident was taking 14 prescription drugs to combat the lingering symptoms of an ordeal that put her in the hospital for three months. She managed to survive septic shock and the removal of part of her intestines, but the pain, nausea and harsh side effects from the medications were too debilitating for her to live with a capital "l."

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A system that mimics daylight illuminates Lono Ho'ala's grow room at the Eagle's Nest Wellness Center in Cascade, where cannabis plants as tall as corn stalks are pampered in a temperature-controlled and specially ventilated environment that's laced with carbon dioxide to accelerate growth.

Ho'ala is patient, waiting until leaves start to turn yellow to harvest the sticky, ripe buds, the only part of the plant that's used to make the medicinal products that he sells.

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The Soonest a Shop Could Open Would Be Next Year, in One Spot In Town

MINTURN, Colorado -- Voters last year essentially asked the Minturn Town Council to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in town. Nearly nine months later, the council hasn't yet voted on a measure that would allow those businesses, for a number of reasons.

The main stumbling block has been the evolution of Colorado's medical marijuana regulations. While Colorado voters approved a medical marijuana law in 2000, it took a 2009 edict from the U.S. Department of Justice that it wouldn't prosecute medical marijuana businesses under federal law for business in the state to take off.

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A petition drive aimed at asking Fort Collins voters whether medical marijuana businesses should be allowed in the city has yet to hit the halfway point of its goal for signatures, supporters say.

Petition passers have until July 19 to turn in the signatures of 4,214 registered Fort Collins voters to the City Clerk's Office to advance a proposed ordinance that would ban marijuana businesses, including dispensaries and grow operations, from the city.

If enough signatures are collected, the City Council could enact the ordinance as written or refer it to voters. Supporters of the ban are requesting a special election in November.

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New Rules Require Access to 24/7 Video Surveillance, More Stringent Documentation

The watchful eyes of state regulators are about to get more intent on Colorado's medical marijuana industry.

Regulations for the production and sale of medical marijuana that go into effect Friday include the installation of video surveillance equipment that can be remotely monitored by state inspectors 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Employees of medical marijuana dispensaries and grow operations must be credentialed by the Medical Marijuana Enforce-ment Division of the state Department of Revenue after going through an FBI background check.

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Even Congressmen Know It's The Right Course

Well, well.

I never thought I'd admit this, but U.S. Rep. Ron Paul and I agree on something.

It's not often that I find myself in this position - finding common cause with a virulently reactionary Texas Republican.

But on June 23, 2011, Paul joined his fellow representatives Jared Polis, Barney Frank, Steve Cohen, John Conyers and Barbara Lee, all Democrats, to propose a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to end the federal war on marijuana and leave the matter to the states.

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During a recent meeting, Craig City Council member Byron Willems claimed that 10 percent of the Steamboat Springs population and nearly every student at Colorado Mountain College has a medical marijuana card.

He used little supporting facts when making his claims, and voiced concerns about the perceived marijuana problem spreading to Craig.

His soapbox on this issue has the Editorial Board thinking that at least 14 percent (Willems) of the city council is out of touch and trying to create an issue and concern in Craig and Moffat County where none really exists.

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Council Approves New Ordinance; Dispensary Operator Sees It As A Ban

Steamboat Springs -- The Steamboat Springs City Council unanimously approved the second reading of a revision to its medical marijuana ordinance Tuesday night that will regulate the city's existing three dispensaries until residents decide in November whether to allow them to continue to operate.

But Rocky Mountain Remedies co-owner Kevin Fisher and local attorney Lindsey Bates, who represents D&C Medical Marijuana and Therapeutic Massage, said the revised ordinance essentially bans the operation of the three local dispensaries.

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Cities Crack Down on Proliferation, Say Medical Marijuana Not So Medical

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.--Kevin Fisher, a bartender in this laid-back ski town, thought he had hit upon the next gold rush.

He and a buddy sank all their savings into opening a medical-marijuana dispensary in the summer of 2009. As the cash rolled in, they kept investing: By the owners' tally, they pumped $1.5 million into a business that now has 36 employees, a greenhouse full of cannabis and a busy pot pharmacy selling a dozen strains of weed.

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The Dolores Town Council voted Monday to extend a moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries in town.

Town attorney Mike Green said he recommended voting for the moratorium as the state of Colorado continues to deal with massive changes in law for the business of licensing medical marijuana centers and cultivation sites.

Board members voted on a moratorium last year. Monday's 7-0 vote in favor of extending the ban on new medical marijuana shops was extended one year, to June 30, 2012. Because it was an emergency ordinance, it becomes law after being voted on once.

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On a divided vote, Pueblo County commissioners adopted new licensing and zoning rules this morning to allow medical marijuana businesses to operate in the county.

Commissioners Anthony Nunez and John Cordova voted for the new regulations, but not before shrinking a proposed buffer zone around medical marijuana operations from 1,000 feet to 500 feet.

A large crowd attended today's public hearing and several testified the 1,000-foot buffer was too restrictive.

Commissioner Jeff Chostner, an attorney, voted against both the code change and the new county licensing regulations. He argued that the federal government still considers medical marijuana to be an illegal drug and recently had warned state lawmakers of that.

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