Misheel's Views & News

Longmont, CO – Last night, over eighty people from the newly created medical cannabis community (cannabis is commonly referred to as marijuana, a term that was coined in 1920s) from Northern Colorado met to discuss new local governance regarding dispensaries. They included an official from the District Attorney’s (DA’s) office, a local defendant’s attorney, caregivers who grew cannabis, workers and owner of a lab that tests cannabis, and patients. (Full names are not used because even though the meeting was in public domain, I did not get express permission from each person to write about them.)

“There are a lot of gray areas, and our job is to self-regulate and help the law-makers, so that it’s not decided for us, without our input,” said Larry, a local dispensary owner and one of the organizers of the meeting.

Amy, the official from the DA’s office agreed, saying, “We will cooperate and help to come to clear terms, because we can’t prosecute when there are gray areas… When law enforcement officials do their job to protect the community and the offenses are unclear, they cannot work effectively.”

Jeff, the attorney, said, “When you wait for things to happen to you, they will happen to you. [laughter from the audience]  That’s why it’s important for us to take matters into our hands to affect change so we can try to direct what future we have.”  He continued to the effect that this community will not be putting the best picture  if the public sees the medical cannabis as a vehicle for college kids on the Hill, in Boulder getting drunk and high.  (Not that they aren’t already.)

Some interesting notes from the Q&A session:

-If you have less than 2 ounces of marijuana on you and you don’t have a medical license to use it in Colorado, you can be charged with merely a petty offense which is a $100 ticket.  So, if you were trying to obtain a medical license using the suspect doctors who were giving people licenses for fake diseases (a lot of whom are under investigation now), it is actually cheaper, less of a hassle, and kinder to the medical cannabis users to NOT have a medical license.

-When local ordinances clash with State constitutional amendment such as the case with allowing medical cannabis, they probably will not hold up in the State Supreme Court.  So, although some cities like Louisville, Broomfield, and Lafayette have members who freak out and try to ban it in their cities, they will not win an outright ban.  However, they may still try to regulate it out of business.  For example, a list of zoning limitations may make it impossible for a dispensary to find a real estate location that is in compliance.

-Medical cannabis usage is still so contentious that some people will use nuisance actions to try to shut down individual dispensaries.  Some will be legitimate, but others, simply the fact that the dispensaries exist is enough to bother a lot of people into taking negative action.

The importance of public education regarding the benefits of medical cannabis usage became clear when Cathy and Jason spoke.  Cathy, a suburban mom patient who never considered use of cannabis before her doctor prescribed it to her, spoke of how her neighbors started calling the police on her many times, as soon as they somehow found out she was using medical cannabis.  She got harassed by her neighbors as she walked down the street, when her cancer went into submission, “You still using that weed, though your cancer is gone?”

Jason, a teacher, was charged with 34 counts of marijuana possession and acquitted because it was for medical usage.  And “coincidentally” on the day he was acquitted, he lost his job.

Examples of some of the rules proposed in Frisco, CO;

• Dispensaries must have business licenses.
• Dispensaries cannot be within 500 feet of daycare centers, halfway houses, correctional facilities, pediatricians (here someone raised the issue that children can be medically licensed to be treated by medical cannabis, even though the regulations are obviously trying to protect children).
• Dispensaries cannot be mobile, cannot be located out of a hotel, motel, or any temporary stay facilities.
• Product must be locked and stored at night.
• Dispensaries must operate normal business hours, deemed to be 9am-7pm.
• No on-site use in the dispensary.
• Interior and exterior must discourage crime by use of reasonable security, exterior lighting.
• Any dispensary name containing the word marijuana and cannabis must have the word “medical” before it.

The community listened to these regulations from the town of Frisco and most seemed to agree that they were fairly reasonable.  The audience was in general agreement as to standardizing labels, signage, and quality (“putting the ‘medical’ back into medical marijuana,” as Hugh, a testing facility owner, put it), and improving on public education, image, and creating a community board to assist local lawmakers.