Naysayers Say Yea; Myths About Marijuana And The Businesses That Sell It

Michael Komorn · July 16, 2011

Naysayers say yea; Myths about marijuana and the businesses that sell it

Continue reading on Examiner.com Naysayers say yea; Myths about marijuana and the businesses that sell it - Denver medical marijuana | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/medical-marijuana-in-denver/naysayers-say-yea-myths-about-marijuana-and-the-businesses-that-sell-it#ixzz1SFy5VQPb

Christopher Meyer

, Denver Medical Marijuana Examiner

July 15, 2011 - Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates.

Opinions, like bad rumors, are extremely difficult to dispel once created.

Opinions about marijuana today were formed at a time when anti-drug propaganda included images of dumb, loser stoners who can’t remember their name and can’t go more than a few minutes without toking.

This along with the media attention marijuana receives lately has led to opinions being formed about dispensaries that have about as much truth as the stoner stereotype.

With the regulation of recreational marijuana on the Colorado ballot in 2012, to succeed the marijuana movement must break down these myths.

What follows are reasons that opponents of medical marijuana cite when they argue against dispensaries or marijuana legalization.

Dispensaries have increased drug related crime in areas where they are legal

Imagine you are growing marijuana illegally and selling on the black-market. You are a good grower and can support yourself, but you are paranoid not only because of law enforcement, but because you are subject to blackmail (if someone finds out what you are doing) and theft by those whom you deal with to distribute your marijuana.

When you do get robbed, do you think you will be calling the police and letting them know several thousand dollars of marijuana was just stolen from you? Likely not.

Now, imagine you are an entrepreneur with hopes of starting a successful medical marijuana business and are committed to doing everything above the board and inline with state and local regulations. Now if you are robbed or have an incident in your retail space, you will call the police and hope they catch the guy.

It’s not that marijuana crime has increased, it may be only now that the crimes are being reported.

Follow this logic to its end… If criminals who target marijuana growers and distributors are now being reported, while there may be a short term spike in marijuana related crime, over time these criminals will either recognize that the risk is now too great, or will be incarcerated for their crimes.

Moreover, the war on drugs has increased “crime” by parenting the use of marijuana and thereby making criminals of cannabis users.

With a regulated retail model we are left with business people who want to do right by the law for the future of their business. Criminals are pushed out and marijuana crime and the concomitant violence will decrease.

Liquor stores are robbed, but we don’t blame the liquor. Dispensaries may be robbed, but it isn’t marijuana’s doing, it’s the robbers.

Dispensaries are selling marijuana smuggled from other countries by drug cartels

Recently enacted regulations in Colorado make it impossible for any marijuana business that wants to remain legal to sell black-market product.

Denver Relief is required to grow the majority of what we sell and must do it within the City and County of Denver.

With a regulated retail model, not only crime will decrease but demand for marijuana smuggled from outside the state or the U.S. will decrease as well.

Just this week authorities caught a drug ring that smuggled nearly one million dollars worth of marijuana into Colorado using tour busses.

The cartel was based in Mexico, and authorities also found meth, cocaine, and firearms with the 23 suspects that have been arrested.

Cartels such as this one take money away from our communities and put them at risk with their illegal activity.

Opinions, like bad rumors, are extremely difficult to dispel once created.

Opinions about marijuana today were formed at a time when anti-drug propaganda included images of dumb, loser stoners who can’t remember their name and can’t go more than a few minutes without toking.

This along with the media attention marijuana receives lately has led to opinions being formed about dispensaries that have about as much truth as the stoner stereotype.

With the regulation of recreational marijuana on the Colorado ballot in 2012, to succeed the marijuana movement must break down these myths.

What follows are reasons that opponents of medical marijuana cite when they argue against dispensaries or marijuana legalization.

Dispensaries have increased drug related crime in areas where they are legal

http://www.denverrelief.com/medical-cannabis-coming-soon.phpImagine you are growing marijuana illegally and selling on the black-market. You are a good grower and can support yourself, but you are paranoid not only because of law enforcement, but because you are subject to blackmail (if someone finds out what you are doing) and theft by those whom you deal with to distribute your marijuana.

When you do get robbed, do you think you will be calling the police and letting them know several thousand dollars of marijuana was just stolen from you? Likely not.

Now, imagine you are an entrepreneur with hopes of starting a successful medical marijuana business and are committed to doing everything above the board and inline with state and local regulations. Now if you are robbed or have an incident in your retail space, you will call the police and hope they catch the guy.

It’s not that marijuana crime has increased, it may be only now that the crimes are being reported.

Follow this logic to its end… If criminals who target marijuana growers and distributors are now being reported, while there may be a short term spike in marijuana related crime, over time these criminals will either recognize that the risk is now too great, or will be incarcerated for their crimes.

Moreover, the war on drugs has increased “crime” by parenting the use of marijuana and thereby making criminals of cannabis users.

With a regulated retail model we are left with business people who want to do right by the law for the future of their business. Criminals are pushed out and marijuana crime and the concomitant violence will decrease.

Liquor stores are robbed, but we don’t blame the liquor. Dispensaries may be robbed, but it isn’t marijuana’s doing, it’s the robbers.

Dispensaries are selling marijuana smuggled from other countries by drug cartels

Recently enacted regulations in Colorado make it impossible for any marijuana business that wants to remain legal to sell black-market product.

Denver Relief is required to grow the majority of what we sell and must do it within the City and County of Denver.

With a regulated retail model, not only crime will decrease but demand for marijuana smuggled from outside the state or the U.S. will decrease as well.

Just this week authorities caught a drug ring that smuggled nearly one million dollars worth of marijuana into Colorado using tour busses.

The cartel was based in Mexico, and authorities also found meth, cocaine, and firearms with the 23 suspects that have been arrested.

Cartels such as this one take money away from our communities and put them at risk with their illegal activity.

With a fully enacted regulated retail model, cartels would be driven out of the marijuana market by quality local and legal product. Not only is this safer, but the money remains in the local economy rather than going to foreign smugglers.

Dispensaries make it easier for minors to get marijuana

http://www.denverrelief.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/k-atwindow.jpgWho do think is more likely to sell marijuana to a minor?

A business that has been heavily invested in, with employees, bills, leases, and a marketable image that would face severe fines and potential closure if it were caught.

Or, the black-market dealer who faces the same incarceration or penalties no matter who he/she sells marijuana to? The black-market dealer is mobile and is not restricted to a single location, or subject to any accountability unless caught.

In contrast, a dispensary has a license to sell marijuana, will not disappear into the night, and is subject to the same accountability any liquor store or bar is subject to when it comes to selling to minors or persons without medical marijuana licenses. A study published by the Marijuana Policy Project shows teen use decreasing as the medical marijuana movement grows.

It benefits us all greatly to know where marijuana is being produced and sold, not only for the tax revenue, but for the safety of children.

A recently published article in the Colorado Independent says that of the 16 states where medical marijuana is legal, only two have seen an increase in the number of teens who admit to having smoked marijuana. The other 14 have seen a reduction in teens using marijuana.

Not long ago, it wasn’t difficult for minors to purchase cigarettes, something which was treated with general indifference until the negative consequences of tobacco smoking became widely publicized.

Now, unless a minor has an adult that they get cigarettes from, it is extremely difficult to purchase them at a store, as it should be.

Minors would encounter the same difficulty in trying to obtain marijuana from licensed retail locations, and marijuana use among minors will decrease just as tobacco use has.

People are fraudulently getting their medical marijuana licenses.

http://www.denverrelief.com/obtaining-card.phpWhat constitutes fraud in this matter is open to debate, but Amendment 20 says that if a physician recommends medical marijuana for any of the qualifying conditions that patient may apply to receive a medical marijuana license.

No one, not even the government, may intrude or intervene in this medical recommendation. Many have had MMJ recommended for chronic severe pain (94% of Colorado medical marijuana patients), which cynical opponents say shows that they don’t really need marijuana and are just trying to get high.

I can’t get into other peoples motives, but I know that if people were purchasing marijuana to “just get high” anyway (what is it that alcohol or cigarette users are doing?), I would rather them purchase it at a safe and regulated location where the people can collect tax on the sale, and where we ensure that they aren’t minors.

In Summary…

Who has a professional interest in safety, service, and quality products, and an interest in a reputation of integrity and forthrightness?

The medical marijuana center/ dispensary. The black-market dealer is not compelled by the same motivations.

Marijuana use, be it medical or otherwise, will continue.

We can either choose to continue to make criminals out of marijuana producers and users while keeping the black-market open to our youth, or we can put marijuana behind a counter where it will not be sold to minors and will bring much needed revenue to our communities.

You decide.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Naysayers say yea; Myths about marijuana and the businesses that sell it - Denver medical marijuana | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/medical-marijuana-in-denver/naysayers-say-yea-myths-about-marijuana-and-the-businesses-that-sell-it#ixzz1SFyOkg76

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Naysayers Say Yea; Myths About Marijuana And The Businesses That Sell It

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