[420 Girl]

Proliferating pot dispensaries are inching their way toward the mainstream in medical marijuana-friendly climes like Denver. Sure, the burgeoning industry continues to navigate a confusing array of new local and state regs as well as outright discrimination by the government in some cases, as reported last month by Face the State. Yet, the outlook appears pretty bright for those medicinal pot shops that seem to be sprouting on every street corner in some locales - just as the voter-approved constitutional amendment that made it all possible back in 2000 is probably here to stay.

Acceptance is far from universal, however. Though it doesn’t get as much coverage, a slow, steady drumbeat persists among policy makers for banning dispensaries in a number of Colorado communities, including in the Denver metro area. Some cities, such as Aurora, are punting the issue to voters this November.

One such place where dispensaries are on the bubble is Colorado’s No. 2 city, Colorado Springs. City fathers pondering a ban there cite the usual fears about “abuses,” such as dispensaries serving as fronts for recreational drug use. Meanwhile, at least one Colorado Springs City Council member is urging his peers not to panic and to think things through before attempting a sweeping crackdown. Councilman Sean Paige, who also runs Local Liberty Action - an organziation advocating limited government - penned a compelling piece the other day on his Local Liberty Online blog calling for cooler heads to prevail.

“A ban will simply change the distribution model - most likely leading to the proliferation of smaller operations, run out of residential areas,” writes Paige, who is a former editorial page editor of the local Colorado Springs Gazette. “The challenge of monitoring, regulating, taxing and controlling MMJ thus becomes vastly more complicated, more costly, more fraught with civil liberties pitfalls.”

Paige also notes, “By trying to end one ‘problem,’ using a blunt object, ban backers will multiply the ‘problem’ ten-fold. Instead of MMJ distribution points operating in the open, growing and distribution will shift into neighborhoods, and back into the shadows, bringing MMJ into our literal or proverbial backyards. Aurora's experience after the city instituted a ban makes this clear.”

All worth taking into consideration, no doubt. And, medical marijuana aside, it’s refreshing - some might say shocking - anytime an elected officeholder has the audacity to suggest that a “problem” might only get worse if government comes lumbering in.


NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Face The State
Author: Brad Jones
Contact: Face The State
Copyright: 2010 Capitol Media Group
Website: Banning dispensaries, tilting at windmills


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