Reader: Medical marijuana database's police access should spur dispensary boycott

• Ahem.... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101210/ap_on_re_us/us_colorado_database_leak#mwpphu-container Does anyone else see some parallels?

• Looks like the State Red Card for mmj is headed down the path of the star of David. Loss of confidentiality for patients means they could lose their job, insurance, property, reputation, government aid, student loans, children and freedom. Sure your not exterminated, but they might as well, cause you have nothing left. How do we allow the state legislature and law enforcement to beat us down 10 years after medical marijuana became LEGAL?

• Preserve your freedom, rights and privacy and BOYCOTT MMC'S!! These ignorant greedy bastards are law enforcement data gathering and processing centers. Everything you give them can and will be used against you in a court of law. They have had 6 months to stand up for patients and they have done nothing. When I ask MMC applicants why they are not suing, the response is "we're broke". There you have it--they had money to give to Matt Cook to prosecute themselves and patients under the dozens of 'new 1284 and 109' 'crimes, but they have no money to fight the insanity. Patients--BOYCOTT MMC's and better yet- BOTCOTT the states optional RED CARD, your doctors note gives you affirmative defense and keeps you off the state list.

• people who want cannabis legal are being attacked by a group like NORML. NORML is having their national conference here in Denver during Colorados 420 celebration, yet NORML activists have now been told NOT to participate in the celebration. Why is NORML planning their conference here (because of all the action) and then stepping back from civil disobedience on the one day of the year it is appropriate and essential? The general public is upset Obama is not fighting for Americans who voted for him to challenge the republicans. Now the patients, caregivers and people working for an end to prohibition are under attack from a bunch of national 'marijuana players'. Patients and activists UNITE! We have the numbers. The MMC's and the national and new local groups who are forming as we speak are NOT on our team.

• We vote for "Simple" as the Comment of the Day! Good work! If you want to help us fight these insane laws, email us at patientlawsuit@yahoo.com. Sounds like we have a lot in common.

• UNITE! Litigation is cheaper than compliance with these unconstitutional laws. www.cannabislawsuit.com

• Patients are being exploited by almost everyone. $$$ Medical marijuana centers, caregivers, doctors, lawyers, state and local government, dept of health, dept of revenue, etc...EVERYONE WANTS MONEY FROM MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS! $$$ Yes, growing your own medicine does create further divide in the problem which is why I used to support caregivers and dispensaries but I expected them to support my rights as a patient in return (which has not happened). I will probably continue to support the doctors that have testified on behalf of patients but mmj businesses looking for a hand out from medical marijuana patients while selfishly disregarding what is in the best interests of patients can go find a new source of revenue as far as I'm concerned. There are parts of HB 1284 and SB 109 that are detrimental to patient confidentiality--it's not all bad, but there is more bad than good in those bills and mmj business should be fighting the bad, unconstitutional portions. I understand if the government wants reigns on the mmj industry but keep the reigns off innocent patients. HB 1284 and SB 109 is "progress" that I don't need as a patient. I am voting with my money by not contributing to mmj businesses. My personal decision to boycott dispensaries has permanently removed my dependence on others for medicine and in turn has saved me a lot of money. Think patients first and the money will come, think money first and the patients/money will flee. Marijuana businesses need patients more than patients need marijuana businesses.

• MMCs Are Not Your Friend / Who's the Real Drug Dealer? I want to give everyone some facts about what MMCs sell to us and what MMCs are doing to our industry and offer some suggestions. So that we (patients) can be productive, and hopefully change what is happening to Marijuana in Colorado. And not simply express our frustration in these comments sections. I have worked for MMCs... I have seen, first hand, what they care about. They care about how to make their own business better. They care about putting the people who can grow beautiful potent medicine, out of business. They DO NOT care about patients. Most of the ones who don't care, who have simply survived by paying their way through a hell storm, hide behind the "we care about patients" bit, but they do not know the first thing about quality in medicine. Most MMCs are middle men. First of all, just to set some priorities and boundaries; cleanliness, purity, and potency, are my (and HUNDREDS of others) priorities. Meaning, I do not want to smoke MOLD or any type of PEST. Just because you can't see it, when you look at the jar, doesn't mean its not there... The regulations for cleanliness are not here my friends! THIS IS AN UNREGULATED MARKET! I give credit to the MMED and Matt Cook for what they are trying to accomplish. But the ENFORCEMENT of THE RULES are just not in place my friends. The new rules cannot be enforced by a small group in a small office. The MMED is slow, they are overwhelmed right now with things to do. Everyone needs to please understand that the MMED and Matt Cooks' number one priority is getting the money in the governments pocket. Fact 1: These people in "Big Marijuana" care about money first, health second. And the law, unfortunately is on that same page.I know that this may come to a shock to some of you. But 75% of all Marijuana in MMCs have MOLD and/or PESTS on them. On the shelf, being dispensed to patients. AND I have the samples from multiple MMCs to prove it, if anyone thinks I am lying. Fact 2: Almost all MMCs do not conduct micro-biological tests (test for mold and fungus). Fact 3: Biological infections (Powder Mildew) CAN KILL YOU! I'll tell a quick story about my personal experience with MMCs and how they really feel about the quality of their product: I was asked to evaluate a MMCs' product and business. I wrote a report for the MMC that I was "brought aboard" for, stating and explaining how to figure out whether a crop is good or bad. In the report, I stated that medicine that is infected with mold and/or pests, has no medicinal benefits. After evaluating the medicine jars on the shelves of the MMC I physically showed the multiple infected medicine jars to one of the owners and said to them, "this should be taken off the shelves immediately." And furthermore, "I have a big moral issue with selling this to patients." Yet I was ignored, the medicine stayed on the shelf and I was even later told that they are "going in a different direction." Hence, I was let go. Which sounds like a drug dealer to you? Someone who sells you something, and they have no idea what's in it, (intentionally or unintentionally). Who could care less if you become sick from consuming their product, as long as they get their money. Or a grower, who cares and tends to his crops and treats them like the medicine that it is. MMCs are the Drug Dealers! Why have we shut down growers? The best growers are not working for MMCs. These simple, loving people who care about their customers who consume their products have been scrutinized, defamed, and made out to be the villains and the criminals of society. We are the farmers. We are the people who kept these pot shops open until they began to turn on us simply because we do not have a industrial zoned sight. This is an AGRICULTURAL product. Is the Department of Revenue running the new industry in Arizona? Nope, its the Department of HEALTH. Healthy consumption (after all this is medicine) must be priority number one. Rob Corry and Brian VIncente and their new trade group the NCIA (National Cannabis Industry Association) have started to say that we, Caregiver/Patients and MMCs, should stop bashing each other and move forward together. Well, I agree. But how the hell am I suppose to move forward when I can't exist as a Caregiver and grower in the new market in Colorado, eh Rob? Someone posted: "Where's the lawsuit Rob?!?" Well my friend, the lawsuit against HB-1284 will NEVER happen if Rob or Brian have anything to do with it. They and the board working with the D.O.R., are "Big Marijuana." They are not a friend to patients! We all know "Big Tobacco" does not care about the consumer. So why do we continuously lap the D.O.R. comments up like serfs in feudalism, waiting to hear what we can do next for our masters? Stand up for your right to be free! Stand up for fair trade! Care about what you put into your body. Please, I seriously beg whomever reads this (including you Westword staff and Mr. WIlliam Breathes) to spread the word and STOP going to all MMCs. And stop supporting MMCs and HB-1284 as a legitimate way of regulating the Medical Marijuana Industry. Even if you're satisfied with their services. The owners of these good shops are indirectly working against patients. They have no choice. Please, do not submit to a fingerprint or an eye scan. DO NOT PURCHASE THEIR PRODUCTS. I know flying with weed is cool. But is one weekend of fun, and feeling like we "got away with something," really worth our freedom of choice in the long run? Do you want to smoke heavy metals, molds and pests? Do you want to support the HUGE operations that could care less about quality? Do you want to have the CHOICE? MMCs and the new rules, will NOT give you a choice in medicine. Its mass produced medicine or NOTHING. Furthermore, Growing your own does not solve the problem, it only creates a bigger gap that separates patients and MMCs. CALLING ALL CITIZENS OF COLORADO!! DO YOU LIKE WHOLE FOODS, OR LIKE TO GO TO THE SUNDAY FARMERS MARKET? I KNOW SO MUCH OF YOU CONSUME THIS SACRED HERB! RISE UP!! FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO CHOOSE THE HERB THAT IS PRODUCED BY FARMERS! STOP GOING TO MMCs, THEY ARE NOT YOUR LOCAL FARMER. STAND UP AGAINST THE PEOPLE WHO ARE TAKING YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AWAY FROM YOU. MMCs ARE LYING TO US, POISONING US, AND TAKING OUR MONEY.

• I haven't been to a dispensary in 10 months, don't have too. All along the front range, the going rate for an ounce of top-shelf medicine outside of a dispensary is now around $200 an ounce, which is significantly less expensive than the majority of dispensaries out there. Skip the middleman(dispensaries), everybody knows a grower now. Not only cheaper, but may also keep you out of the eye of the law. Also, it seems the latest laws and regs are designed to squeeze doctors, dispensaries and caregivers. Basically to squeeze the industry at every level. But at the same time, no one is afraid anymore and a lot of people are growing small to medium quantities for themselves and others. I really think the "5 patients per caregiver" limit is the problem here. The industry has blown up, and I don't really think there is much they can do to stop it. I also think people's attitudes have changed and people have gotten more comfortable with the concept of MMJ..Peace...

• This take was so strong that it inspired even more conversation. Thanks, everyone, for commenting.

• The dispensaries have done essentially nothing for grassroots political education and organization of patients (and gladly shed their constitutional status as caregivers for that of mere distributors in the General Assembly's MMCs/MIPs/OPGLs marijuana distribution scheme). As Romer's intention to close 80% of all dispensaries reaches fruition without any of the people making money challenging the State's unconstitutional depredations on medical cannabis in court, patients have no reason to support dispensaries -- the majority are apolitical anyway; if it is more safer, more convenient, and cheaper to buy cannabis at a dispensary, they will do so. With the State determined to violate patients' confidentiality, tie patients to individual dispensaries, restrict their intake, and drive up costs, patients may be well advised to return to the black market before they submit their finger and retinal prints to the MMJ Patient Tracking Database and get chipped.

• Is this what they used the $10,500,000.00 from applications for?

• Do you think Chris Romer intended anything less? MMCs are a tertiary effect of A20, at best. By ignoring or banning the existing production infrastructure, HB 1284 put the MMCs in the position of defending their own interests rather than working for the cause.

• The laws being proposed will increase the likelihood that cardholders will be persecuted and pursued by law enforcement plain and simple. Hopefully someone cites the constitution and fights the proposal, if not people will just go back to the black market to avoid being targeted in witch hunts.

• The state government fabricated the HB1284-SB109 combo bomb and it's getting ready to blow--watch as the medical marijuana industry in colorado gets decimated.

• grow your own. info is everywhere on the net. there is even a growing guide on the westword. privacy outweighs convenience.

• yep, count me out MMJ centers

• Until the new laws regarding privacy protection are more clearly defined, I don't know anyone who will apply for or renew an access card

• That's right. MMC's have no constitutional protection, and patients that shop their will have no constitutional protection either. MMC's were an animal created by Sen. Romer to appease well-funded interests who wanted to corner the mmj market by letting the state put their competition out of business with massive over-regulation. Now the same MMC's that were too busy counting their money to see how patient's rights were being stomped on are going to be the subject of a boycott started by mmj consumers. If MMCs go in lockstep with the new database and patient monitoring program, they will become nothing more than an arm of law enforcement. Why haven't any of these businesses sued? Don't you realize by the time the govt. puts you out of business, it will be too late? Let's get back to the Constitutional rights of patients, caregivers, dispensaries and patient collectives and stop letting the state legislature dictate what the voters decided 10 years ago.

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