Letters to the Editor - Vote No on 1A

1) By Audrey Hatfield, Colorado Springs

On November 2nd, registered voters will make the decision on whether or not to place a Ban on Medical Marijuana Centers in unincorporated El Paso County . If this ban passes, it will have several negative effects of which I would like to point out.

First, there are between 15 and 20 thousand patients that will no longer have safe access to their medication. Under House Bill 1284, Medical Marijuana centers are under tight regulation and operate in a controlled and safe environment. If you value the Patient- Doctor relationship and the right for patients to continue to receive safe access to medication, a ban simply does not make sense on MANY levels! Our government should not be able to strip away the rights of the patients!

Second, a ban will not only affect the right for safe patient access, but will greatly affect our economy. With the recent recession, the medical marijuana industry has grown and prevented many local people from losing their jobs, including carpenters, electricians, construction workers, engineers, accountants, etc. In addition, previously vacant land now has tenants, causing the value of property to increase, and putting money in the pockets of local land owners. A ban of medical marijuana dispensaries will have a trickle down effect throughout the local economy: hundreds to thousands of people will lose their jobs, current construction projects will be abandoned, and government revenue will decrease.

Third, Voting No on 1A if would insure that medical marijuana businesses would stay highly regulated, secured, and out of our neighborhoods. By banning the centers, the medical marijuana business will be pushed into our neighborhoods. Your next door neighbor could be dealing in medical marijuana without your knowledge. This increases the risk of home invasions, fires, and other hazards. In addition, the black market could once again dominate this business. Our neighborhoods will be safer if the medical marijuana business is kept in highly regulated centers.

As a Patient, I am URGING you to look at the facts and make the right decision based on common sense. Vote NO on 1A! Keep the businesses legitimate and safe for patients, the economy thriving, and our neighborhoods secured!


2) By Robert Wiley, Colorado Springs

1A Dispensary Ban is risky for Neighborhoods

In the years prior to Colorado's Medical Marijuana Amendment 20, any patient unable to grow his own medicine had to purchase blackmarket marijuana from street dealers. Amendment 20 removed the criminal connection and provided protection for the acquisition, possession, manufacture, production, use, sale, distribution, dispensing, and transportation of marijuana for medical use for patients and their caregivers.

The caregiver model worked reasonably well for the first few years but was hampered by the limitation of only five patients per caregiver. El Paso County had only 95 patients in early 2005 and needed only a few caregivers to supply their medicine. Subsequently the court invalidated the patient limit, and dispensaries arrived to provide a wide variety of cannabis medications previously unavailable through the rudimentary caregiver model. Patient numbers increased dramatically; the most recent Health Department registry report indicated El Paso County had 3,961 patients at the end of January and we likely have at least twice that number today.

If a dispensary ban is approved it would push thousands of patients into our neighborhoods to purchase from unlicensed caregivers. So instead of having regulated dispensaries operating in commercial or industrial areas, voters would be forcing the medical marijuana operations into our neighborhoods. Don't let this happen. Keep your community safe.

Please vote NO on 1A to keep our communities from being overrun by unregulated caregivers.


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