Marijuana Laws Up In Smoke

Laws on Weed - Marijuana Laws Up In Smoke


Laws on Weed - From the ancient Egyptians to 20th century medicine during Prohibition, there has always been a belief that alcohol has medicinal effects. Even today they claim that drinking a glass of red wine will decrease your chance of heart disease. Of course a glass of ordinary grape juice would accomplish the same. Now, for the first time, here in the 21st century, there are serious attempts to legalize and give legitimacy to the positive medicinal effects of marijuana.

The use of cannabis has major social and legal effects on society as a whole. Socially, is using marijuana acceptable? It is certainly becoming more so as 14 states and the District of Columbia (our nation's capital) have legalized the drug for medicinal use. The city of Breckenridge, Colorado has legalized it for recreational use. It is not uncommon to see people smoking marijuana joints on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. Is this socially acceptable behavior? In November, California, desperate to balance its budget, has a proposition to legalize the recreational use of marijuana by adults!

Now, I am not a prude or a cranky old man (maybe a crotchety middle-aged man), but as a parent of two young, impressionable children, I certainly do not want my kids exposed to marijuana use in public. I also would be willing to bet that most of those smoking marijuana would not want their kids to develop an addiction to marijuana when they grew up.

Legally, how does law enforcement respond to people using or possessing marijuana? This one question is the root of all that is fundamentally wrong with current laws pertaining to medicinal marijuana. President Barack Obama's Administration has stated quite clearly in March 2009 that they will not pursue distributors of medical marijuana. That basically put the enforcement rules into the states themselves.

California and Colorado are the two most prominent states dealing with the repercussions from their voters legalizing marijuana for medicinal use. One of the basic problems that all states that have legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes face is that nobody was ready once these propositions passed. By that I mean, the propositions did not outline how the state would go about processing and adjudicating this new industry. There were no procedures for who could become a medical marijuana dispensary, how to classify the businesses, where they could open shop or even how to tax the industry.

It is interesting to note that after California became the first state top pass a law legalizing medicinal marijuana in 1996, nothing really happened. Think about the current "pot shop" phenomenon in California for a moment. Doctors, patients and proprietors took very cautionary paths. Few doctors would risk their medical licenses by prescribing marijuana, few brave entrepreneurs would risk opening up a store that could be raided by federal agents at any time. Only those who the law was designed for, patients suffering from glaucoma, cancer and AIDS sought recommendations for medical marijuana.

What happened? Why the exponential growth in applications to use and sell medical marijuana? While the change in presidential administrations and legal positions regarding the enforcement of federal marijuana laws from Bush to Obama favors the "pot shop" community, there is no doubt that the huge surge occurred well before Bush moved back to Texas.

The number of medicinal marijuana dispensaries has exploded in all states where it has become legal. According to a story in USA Today (March 8, 2007) the number of dispensaries in Los Angeles increased from four in late 2005 to 98 less than a year later. In June 2010 there were 186 "pot shops" operating within the Los Angeles city limits. Ironically, an estimated 50 similar stores were forced out of business due to market over-saturation. With 186 "pot shops" open the City of Los Angeles had more than 400 approved applications for dispensaries within the city limits that had yet to open their doors.

Law enforcement agencies and city councils were totally unprepared for the legalization of marijuana. With the number of shops and patients increasing at staggering rates the legal marijuana industry is virtually running itself, with lawmakers trying ever-so-hard to catch up to the giant snowball that is gathering size and speed daily. The pharmaceutical industry has not seen such a drastic increase in need for a medication since Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine.

According to a local news channel in Denver, the state was receiving more than 1,000 applications for a medical marijuana license every day. According to the station, as of August 26, 2010 the state had a backlog of between 60,000 and 70,000 applications.

What were all of these poor suffering souls taking before medical marijuana became legal and so available? Once you have your "medical marijuana card" there are numerous places you can go to find your "medicine". If a dispensary such as "CannaMart", "Choice Organics", Nature's Wonder", "Flower Power Botanicals", "Premier Wellness Center" or "Ganja Depot" is not within a short drive, just check on line via Google.

With the federal government deciding to step back and states completely unprepared and unsure how to regulate this industry, it has fallen into the hands of individual communities. Many city councils like those in Aurora and Broomfield, Colorado have banned dispensaries from their towns. Of course these cities will face lawsuits from would-be proprietors and needy patients who find it difficult to drive 10 miles to get their "medicine".

The cities are starting to get more help from the state level. In Colorado those with a criminal record are no longer allowed to own a dispensary. The attorney general's are starting to take an active look on how to regulate the shops. While this is a good thing and has forced many locations to close, the industry still appears to be spiraling out of control.

Regulating the sale of this industry is key. It is smart to start with the people who own the shops and work their way down. Then, perhaps the biggest hurdle of all will be to tackle those how and who receive prescriptions for medicinal marijuana. That is a subject for the future.

It is important to note that like alcohol and tobacco, marijuana is a drug. If you or someone you know may be addicted to marijuana or other drugs, it is important to seek help. There are numerous alcohol and drug awareness courses one can attend, as well as a variety of support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). For those who would prefer to take a course in the privacy of their own home there are also online alcohol classes and alcohol and drug courses.