Marijuana: More than 300 doctors endorsing Amendment 64

Clayton Capra

Vote yes! You have more dangerous items in your household that your kids have access to everyday like your perscription drugs. Let's not be hyporcrites.

Ken Romero

Legalize it & tax the sh*t out of it.. You don't want your kids to do drugs? Then be a parent & teach them right from wrong. Actions have rewards or consequences; rewards happen w/ good choices, consequences from bad choices. Its really that simple!

James Ryan Hamilton

If you don't want your children to smoke marijuana, you should make it legal. It's easier for those under age 21 to get illegal drugs than it is to get alcohol. Why? Because drug dealers don't ask for ID.

freetheplant

Of course people that profit from the sale of MMJ in Colorado don't like A64. The dispensaries and the MMJ growers that sell for profit want to keep those $200 to $250 oz prices from dropping even further and they know that A64 is going to bring in an extreme overflow of new growers on the scene further increasing the supply dropping the prices even lower. Do you think they want to see $50 oz's ? No way. Look at Washington's I-502 bill, they don't even have a protection in place for recreational growing, in Washington even with I-502 passing the only way you can grow and be protected is to have a doctors approval.

A64 isn't perfect, and it could've been made better , but it's still 10x better than what Washington's I-502 is. The cold truth about the MMJ dispensary owners and those that grow for the profit of MMJ is they will never be for any legalization that's recreational. Making money from MMJ is what they are all about and any measure that decreases the price of MMJ will always be a threat to them.

I do not like the Feds just as much as anyone else and I think its wrong when the Feds raid MMJ dispensaries but I won't be sad when MMJ dispensaries start closing up when they refuse to lower their prices down to $50 an oz after A64 passes and that becomes the going rate because of so many new growers on the scene increasing competition.

I'm hoping A64 comes through and succeeds, because when it does , MMJ dispensaries might start disappearing but that doesn't mean the herb will. What will happen is an increase of mom n pop growers will start booming all over increasing supply like you've never seen.

Remember how happy MMJ dispensaries were in 2010 when the state banned mom n pop caregivers from making a profit as well as decreasing the number of 5 people that each MMJ caregiver could grow for ? The MMJ dispensaries were glad of that because it cut out a lot their competition.

You'll be hard pressed finding many MMJ dispensaries that are pro-A64 because they know what that means for the current going prices on MMJ.

Legalization for recreational use is the first step towards seeing these insane prices for herb go down as well as cutting out a lot of these tyrannical arrests you see and hear about all the time.

Make Colorado be the first to set an example for the rest of the states to follow. When Colorado passes this, then other states jump on board and do the same, then you'll see prices drop even further. It's time to take the value out of this plant and the way to do that is through legalizing it for relaxation instead of just medical.

I hope A64 passes, it's way past time something like this happened. And all of you who buy from MMJ dispensaries, there is no need for worry when MMJ dispensaries start closing because with the amount of new growers that are about to start popping up all over when A64 passes, you will never be without a source, and even be paying cheaper prices than you are now, so don't worry about it when you see the greedy MMJ dispensaries start closing up shop because they don;t want to sell $50 oz's. ; )

Anonymous

I run an MMC, and this guy is making stuff up. I don't have time to rebuke all the fallacious and speculative jargon, but his reasoning is flawed and his knowledge of the MMJ industry is skewed and biased. I support A64, and disagree with most of what this guy says. I'd suggest a class in economics, sometime.

michael.roberts moderator editortopcommenter

@Anonymous Thanks for the input, Anonymous. Much appreciated.

michael.roberts moderator editortopcommenter

@freetheplant An interesting and in-depth post, Free. We're going to make it an upcoming Comment of the Day. Congrats, and thanks for weighing in.

Monkey

1 Like

Licenses and storefronts "bring it off the streets and put it behind a counter" and "keep it away from youth"? Teenagers have been able to buy weed legally for 12 years, and it's been behind a counter for at least 4 years, but now is the time to play keep away? A20 was our step in the right direction, A64 steps in circles following the lead of HB1284/1043, which brought more federal enforcement than we have ever seen before. If a sales counter and a pay-off to the DOR is considered better than street dealers, I guess Crack houses who paid off the local gangs are to be considered better too. I hate the way the criminal justice system regulates cannabis, but I don't think corporate greed will regulate it any better.

BackOffImStarving topcommenter

1 Like

@Monkey Yak yak yak. I'm still voting FOR 64.

orson

1 Like

Westword is really trying to pimp A64. Same shit, different day. Well, if they're going to be repetitive and basically re-run the same article as yesterday I'll be repetitive and basically regurgitate my thoughts on it. The westword is using statistics to mislead its readers. Less than 3 percent of physicians, 300 hundred out of around 11,000 in colorado, support legalization. 900 physicians have recommended marijuana so it looks like the majority of docs that see medicinal value in marijuana are against legalization. Listen to majority of docs, keep marijuana medical. Expand access and rights to medical marijuana.

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/site/media/doctoreconomy.htm http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDPHE-CHEIS/CBON/1251593017044

Regarding teen marijuana use, comments on WWs "Tell us your first beer memory..." article demonstrates exactly why A64 will not be successful in preventing teenagers from having access to marijuana if it becomes regulated like alcohol.

http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2012/10/tell_us_your_first_beer_memory.php

A64 is about re-branding marijuana from a medicine to a recreational drug. Vote for it if you want but lets not kid ourselves that it's for the children.

neal.181

@orson I don't know how old you are, but I'm young enough to remember being under 21, and it was MUCH, MUCH more difficult to obtain alcohol than marijuana. Any teenager can get marijuana. In fact, more than 25% of high school students have been offered drugs at school (per gov't statistics). I remember struggling to find a way to get alcohol... usually we'd have to find a random person walking the street and offer to pay them to buy us some beer -- most of the time they'd say no, for obvious reasons. Your argument is simply ludicrous and has no basis in reality. Every single survey that has asked this question has come to the conclusion I have -- do some research before you sanction continuing to put young people in jail, saddle them with criminal convictions, bar them from obtaining federal student aid, and many other consequences solely because they like to smoke a harmless plant instead of ruin their liver drinking to excess.

orson

@neal.181 Statistics have been used to support both sides of the issue so forget that stuff because like monkey said both sides are lying and are only using data that supports their biased agenda. For me and everyone I knew alcohol was always easier to obtain. Marijuana was harder to find, not impossible, but definitely not as easy as getting alcohol. It may be as easy to get marijuana as it is alcohol now but that doesn't mean that problem will be solved with laws like A64. The westword has proven that treating marijuana like alcohol will not keep it out of the hands of kids. If you want to support A64 then fine but don't pretend it's for the children.

Look, I'm against A64 because I'm against re-branding marijuana as a party drug. I don't care if you want to smoke pot and have a good time but I don't want to see it done at my expense as a patient. Rec users are using a psychoactive medicine to feel better and that's ok and it shouldn't be treated like alcohol. Given the choice, I don't understand why anyone would want the government to regulate marijuana like alcohol instead of a medicine. Ideally marijuana should be seen as the herbal medicine it is and let every legal adult purchase it wherever the hell they want, whenever they want like st johns wart or something. Why do you want it to be like alcohol? It is a medicine and should be treated like a medicine. If it was seen as an herbal medicine adults could buy it on freaking amazon. Prohibitionists hate the medical marijuana program and want to transition it into a recreational model so it can be seen and regulated as a recreational vice instead of a medicine. People who use marijuana medicinally will probably lose their right to drive if A64 passes and it will make it more difficult for medical marijuana to be accepted in the workplace as a legit medicine. A64 is a fools trap and an attempt to discredit medical marijuana and brand it like alcohol. Expanding access and rights to medical marijuana is the best path forward to get what we both want.

orson

@Ryan "Marijuana use by adolescents - In 2011, 7.2 percent of 8th graders, 17.6 percent of 10th graders, and 22.6 percent of 12th graders used marijuana in the past month...Alcohol use - In 2011, 4.4 percent of 8th graders, 13.7 percent of 10th graders, and 25 percent of 12th graders reported getting drunk in the past month."

http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/high-school-youth-trends

"Most teens who use alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana do so before they are 14. Among teens who have tried alcohol, tobacco or marijuana, the average age of first use is a little more than 12 for alcohol, 12-1/2 for cigarettes, and 13 years 11 months for marijuana."

http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/Adolescents

I would say there is no significant difference on how hard it is for a present day teenager to obtain marijuana vs alcohol which proves my point that regulating marijuana like alcohol will not make it more difficult for teenagers to obtain.

orson

@Ryan Weed is everywhere and so is alcohol. When I was a teenager I could buy alcohol from any bar in a college town, pay any bum in the street, most gas stations would sell beer to any underage without carding. Alcohol was easy to get and still is for kids. Like I said legalizing it like alcohol "for the children" is bullshit. Try focusing on my second paragraph that explains why A64 is a fool's trap.

Ryan

@orson @neal.181 Just how long have you been out of HS? 10 years ago weed was absolutely everywher.

Monkey

1 Like

@orson I'm with you! People who voted for A20 were convinced it would not lead to "recreational" weed. Many voters believed that, and wanted medicinal use, not stores full of brightly colored packages of weed to be sold like alcohol. Now, after 12 years, the truth comes out. No increase in medical use/cultivation, no protecting patients from local ordinances, in fact many communities have limited what patients/caregivers can grow in their own home. A64 degrades all cannabis, both physically and morally, it is a miracle plant and when people categorize it as a vice like alcohol, we lose sight of it's importance and turn to abusing it instead of using it.

Ricketts

1 Like

@Monkey I'm with you, Monkey. I favor LEGALIZATION like tomatoes, not regulation like medical marijuana. There are so few mmj dispensaries left now, how could the A64 people use the medical model and tell us it's working? Working for them, I suppose, by putting their competition out of business. A64 big money backers are the REAL cartel here, using political influence to eliminate competition through over-regulation and playing a game that only other big-money players can afford to get into. Anyone that votes for A64 --> more regulators, more DUI, is not really in favor of LEGALIZATION, imho.

orson

@Ricketts A recreational user with brains. Awesome.

orson

1 Like

@Monkey Agreed! A64 is really for the people that hate marijuana use and want it re-branded to be like alcohol because they think medical marijuana is a sham. It pisses people like steve king off that they can't treat medical marijuana users like drunks so they are working on changing the laws to make that possible. A64 rebrands marijuana from a medicine to a recreational drug so prohibitionists will have no problem getting the support from legislators for anti-marijuana laws if A64 passes. Recreational pot smokers seem to be falling for the trick and are even doing the dirty work for them by pimping A64. A64 would be more harmful to marijuana progression in the USA than these people will ever understand.

Monkey

1 Like

@Hooligan We have both already elaborated. A20 was the first step, A64 is just more BS.

Hooligan

@orson @Monkey "A64 would be more harmful to marijuana progression in the USA than these people will ever understand." Please elaborate on this point. Mariijuana was criminalized around 1937 because of racism and back-room alcohol magnate deals -not because of any legitimate reason. A64 is the first step to sensibly reversing that BS. Alcohol is much worse for you than mary jane will ever be. Kids will be kids and legal or not, will try what they want to try. Education from parents is key, and always has been. Fearmongering does nothing to help.

orson

1 Like

The comments on the "Tell us your first beer memory..." article aren't loading for me so for those that don't see the comments, all of the comments are underage drinkers, kids in grade school, middle school, and young high school students. I read that a kid first tried alcohol when he was 8 or 9 years old and it was given to him by his father and he thought his dad was a man for drinking. A 4 year old getting alcohol from his grandfather. Regulating marijuana like alcohol will not keep children from using marijuana and will re-brand it as a cool drug that adults use, like alcohol. Here are the self-reported ages on the article when they had their first drink - 14, 15, 8, 4, 20, 13, 13, 3, 6, 13, 13.

Matt_in_Boulder

@orson

So the 21st Amendment to the US constitution was a mistake then? Why don't you focus your energy on having that repealed rather than trying to "save the children" from cannabis?

orson

@Matt_in_Boulder yawn

BackOffImStarving topcommenter

@orson Still, those 300 physicians have about 1,200 more years of medical school under their belts than you do.

orson

1 Like

@BackOffImStarving So don't listen to me, listen to the 10,000 plus doctors in colorado with at least 40,000 years of medical school under their belts that are not supporting the regulate marijuana like alcohol init.

rjrcollins

While 64 is not perfect it is a step in the right direction. In 2 years we can again do an amendment to fix whatever the DOR installs as bad regulations. Power to the people!

Ricketts

2 Like

@rjrcollins LOL -- the "fix it later" excuse. Well, do you have the minimum $2 million to get it on the ballot? And the minimum $2 million to make sure it passes? NOT ONE WORD of Am. 20 has been fixed in 12 years, despite MPP's and DPA's assurance that it would be fixed later.

Monkey

1 Like

@rjrcollins Then why the hell didn't we do that with the Amendment we passed 12 years ago? A20 already offers more protection from prohibition than A64 does, but instead of improving that law, we went backwards, allowing half the amount already considered legal with a doctors note.

Chuck

@Monkey @rjrcollins

Why didn't you? You seem to ask this a lot but have no explanation. You're more focused on what it doesn't do vs. the larger implications of what it does do. Half the amount to 100x as many people. Fair trade off, how much do you need at any one time in the first place? Can you answer that? You're complaining about something that may be a non issue. My wife has RA and I can tell you that amount is plenty both to buy and to grow.

Monkey

1 Like

@Chuck The explanation is clear, corporate interests need corporate money to fund a commercialization campaign. Extending patient/caregiver privileges create a market that can't be monopolized, so people like me who want weed legalized don't get funding. Oregon is a good example of this. The answer to your second question is also self evident. I don't need any amount of weed, and I don't like the government or you and your wife telling me how much I need. That's not freedom or legalization.

bar288

1 Like

INVEST in the full legalization movement with stock symbol MJNA (Medical Marijuana Inc) -- With the most recent polls surging in Washington (37 and 24 point leads) and Colorado (11 point lead), ALL with majority support, there's no telling where this will go in November!

Monkey

1 Like

@bar288 Corporate greed wont make weed better. And neither will A64.

Gary_Bowlmen

3 Like

Colorado please don't pass up legalization like California did in 2012 .WOOT !!!! Yes on A-64 it is a step in the right direction !!

orson

1 Like

@Gary_Bowlmen California was smart enough not to give up their medical rights to marijuana that covers any debilitating illness. Anyone that wants access to medical marijuana in California has it and that's how it should be in Colorado, medical access for all.

Chuck

@orson @Gary_BowlmenHow are you giving it away? Medical access fror 100,000 or for 5.1 million people? Math doesn't seem in your favor.

orson

@Chuck "How are you giving it away? Medical access fror 100,000 or for 5.1 million people? Math doesn't seem in your favor." - ??? First of all I have no idea what you mean by your first sentence. Second of all, that 5.1 million number of citizens in colorado you posted includes CHILDREN. You really want to give children access to marijuana?

The solution to this dilemma is to expand the rights to medical marijuana granted in A20 to include everyone for any medical condition. Recreational users using marijuana to feel better are using it in place of other psychoactive medicines so they would be included in the right to medical marijuana. Re-branding marijuana to be a recreational drug is the wrong approach and will be the undoing of medical rights to marijuana. Expanding the rights to medical marijuana is the best way to proceed. Read my other posts on this article and maybe you'll understand.