[420 Girl]

Grand Junction City Council members got an earful during a hearing Wednesday night as numerous medical marijuana patients touted the pain-relieving benefits of the drug and pleaded with city leaders not to ask voters to ban shops that sell cannabis.

Residents nearly filled the City Hall auditorium, although a room designated for an overflow crowd was not needed.

The hearing was an opportunity for residents to voice their views about the prospect of city leaders putting a question on the November ballot on whether medical marijuana dispensaries should be banned in the city. Residents will again have a chance to speak up during an Aug. 18 meeting.

Users of medical marijuana, many of whom claimed serious medical ailments, told council members they began using cannabis after the side effects from prescription medications made their lives more miserable and left them unable to function.

“If you take away the dispensaries, I won’t know what to do,” said Chris Lazano.

Lazano, a Mesa State College student, said he was diagnosed with severe chronic migraines, causing excruciating pain. Medication prescribed by a doctor from the college’s medical clinic worked to relieve his migraines, but it also put him to sleep for up to 16 hours a day. He had dropped out of school because he was not able to focus on studies, but has since then returned to school, now able to function pain-free thanks to medical marijuana.

“Honestly, I’m very scared,” he said, about the prospect of dispensaries being shuttered. To council members he added, “I believe it comes down to your decision.”

Of the about 30 speakers, only two spoke against medical marijuana and dispensaries. Those in favor of the drug and its availability said putting the issue to a vote would be a death sentence for dispensaries. Those who don’t understand the benefits of medical marijuana to treat pain would vote for banning the dispensaries, speakers reasoned. And, those who don’t use or understand medical marijuana are in the voting majority, speakers implied.

Others, mainly local dispensary owners and employees, said most dispensaries care about patient health, working individually with patients to offer strains of cannabis that are known to alleviate their conditions. Dispensary owners also claimed that their businesses have been made to jump through numerous hoops by the states and those regulations and that they should be welcomed because they offer jobs and sales tax revenue. Also, banning dispensaries and reverting to a system of caregivers would force those with severe medical conditions to seek the drug in underground sales transactions and would create more a demand for “Mexican weed” further contributing deadly drug wars, speakers argued.

Grand Junction Cardiologist Don Pacini countered that marijuana and its use should be considered like any other illegal substance or be subjected to a medical pharmaceutical model.

“My biggest concern is what we’re calling medical marijuana is just people buying it by the bucket loads and not being sick,” he said. “The last thing we want to do is flood this town with marijuana.”

Those wanting relief from symptoms could use the prescription drug Marinol, which offers a synthetic form of THC, the chemical compound found in cannabis, he said. Cannabis is an illegal drug according to the federal government and is not approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration. Marinol is an approved substance.

Cody Jacob, a caregiver who grows marijuana for family and profit, said he was impressed that City Council members were open to learning more about the issue. He also attended to try to glean more information from dispensary owners about the latest laws that could affect his operation. He said he would return for mid- August meeting, interested in the discussion.

“This was totally not what I was expecting at all,” he said.


NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: GJSentinel.com
Author: Amy Hamilton
Contact: GJSentinel.com
Copyright: 2010 Grand Junction Media, Inc
Website: Pot users fear vote


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