The Least You Need to Know about Medical Marijuana in Fort Collins! The new flourishing business of medical marijuana dispensaries (MMD) poses a new risk for our youth by making it easily accessed and viewed as a recreational activity.
It’s harmful to our kids! New research shows that marijuana use impairs brain development including critical cognitive, emotional, social, physical skills in
in teens. Moreover, it still serves as a possible gateway drug to other experimentation.
- Today’s marijuana is more potent than that of the 70’s and 80’s, and it is not a benign substance. In the past, marijuana was only about 4 – 5% potency. Now, it often has 15% to 25% potency of THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the main active chemical in marijuana.
- There are 98 medical marijuana dispensaries (MMD) with business licenses granted in Fort Collins, (not all have opened) and an additional 80 – 90 waiting to be approved by the city. In July, 09, there were 10.
- City council is reviewing the MMD businesses and has placed a moratorium on issuing any more licenses until mid March, allowing time to gather community input. MMD businesses and growers have lobbied heavily, but the larger community has not expressed many views.
- Marijuana is still an illegal drug, and a federal offense, but at this point, federal law officers are not actively enforcing or investigating the drug’s use unless on federal lands. Legalization of marijuana is a larger issue with Colorado defined as a battleground state.
- Patient documentation and doctor recommendations is VERY GRAY, and hard to follow. In the state of Colorado, the number of registered patients has gone from around 5000 patients to over 70,000 applicants in just one year.
- Decrease in “Perception of Harm” and Increase in teem marijuana use: Increased use and decline in teen’s viewing marijuana use as risky suggests that visible presence of MMD’s is encouraging self-medicating use by teens.
- There is no regulation of MMD’s: Bars and liquor stores have more regulations in place! MMDs have:
- no background checks for criminal record and convictions,
- no requirement to disclose that marijuana is being sold, no restrictions on business practices,
- no limit on hours of operation (i.e., staying open 24 hours a day),
- no limit as to the amount of marijuana that is on site,
- no restrictions as to signage or advertisement, or zone locations (i.e., one dispensary wanted to be called Rocky Mountain High), no controls, regulations or health inspections on preparation of marijuana food products.
