A group of about 65 volunteers have been hitting the streets in St. Joseph, looking for supporters of Show-Me Cannabis, an association that seeks to legalize and regulate marijuana use in the state. Missouri’s Secretary of State requires 150,000 signatures on a statewide petition by May 6 in order for a legalization measure to appear on November’s ballot.

Amber Langston, campaign director for Show-Me Cannabis, said they have about 12,000 signatures from across the state on hand, but expect there are more signatures that volunteers have yet to turn in.

“We have around 1,000 petitioners, and we just launched an online volunteer training, so we anticipate things to continue to ramp up,” she said.

Bart Brower, field director in St. Joseph, said the group of local volunteers meets at the East Hills Library every Saturday to discuss the initiative and to strategize ways to garner support.

Those volunteers range from people 18 years old to 60; Mr. Brower himself is 45 and does not smoke cannabis, he said. He’s also seen a range of supporters, from college kids to an elderly woman who said she would support legalization if marijuana would help her arthritis.

“This is not the stereotypical hippie movement any more,” he said. “People are ready for change.”

Their weekly meetings are also educational opportunities for volunteers, as well as for the public. On Saturday, Betty Taylor, the former police chief in Winfield, Mo., discussed her view of marijuana prohibition, as well as that of the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, of which she is a member.

“We’ve had 40 years to prove that the war on drugs has succeeded, and it hasn’t; it’s failed. Miserably,” she said.

Ms. Taylor, who is now a professor of criminal justice, said law enforcement should be focusing on other, more violent crimes, such as rape and murder. She said she teaches her students that marijuana was made illegal through fear-mongering, but the drug has not proved to be an initiator of violence in the 70 years it has been illegal.

A representative from the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force could not be reached for comment on the initiative. However, the Drug Enforcement Administration has released several papers on its view on marijuana legalization.

“Drug abuse, and this nation’s response to it, is one of the most important and potentially dangerous issues facing American citizens — and especially its youth — today,” says one of its papers, “Speaking Out Against Drug Legalization.”

The DEA presents its top 10 facts on legalization, the first stating that the War on Drugs has caused overall drug use to decrease by more than a third in the last 20 years.

Additionally, the paper argues that drug prevention needs to have a balance of enforcement and treatment for it to be successful and that, unless enforced, drug use and violence will continue to go hand in hand.

The Show-Me Cannabis initiative suggests Missouri voters approve marijuana regulation that is similar to alcohol regulation. Users would have to be 21 or over; anyone looking to sell marijuana would need a license; and any marijuana grown for personal use would be limited to a 10-by-10-foot plot. There is also wording that allows medical marijuana to be prescribed by doctors and agricultural hemp to be cultivated by farmers.

Marijuana would also be taxed like alcohol and cigarettes — in the case of cannabis the group suggests $100 per pound — which would create additional income for Missouri, supporters say.

The Show-Me Cannabis initiative meets at East Hills Library every Saturday between 2 and 4 p.m., and is looking for volunteers or donations.

SOURCE: NEWSPRESSNOW

Bradley M. Stehney, 39, with a last known address of 1123 N. Mantua St., recently pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, a fifth-degree felony, in Portage County Common Pleas Court.

Stehney and Todd A. Flickinger, 52, of Bolivar in Tuscarawas County, were arrested April 22, 2011, by the Portage County Drug Task Force and Kent police.

Agents found more than 200 marijuana plants growing on the property at 1123 N. Mantua St., which is less than three-tenths of a mile south of Roosevelt.

Also seized as the proceeds of drug sales was more than $21,000 in cash and bank accounts owned by Flickinger and Stehney. Court records indicate the men will forfeit that money, along with a 1994 Toyota 4-Runner, a 1995 Toyota sedan, leaf blowers, a snowblower and other tools to the drug task force.

Flickinger pleaded guilty in December 2011 to one count of trafficking in marijuana, a third-degree felony, which carries a potential sentence of one to three years in prison. Sentencing in his case is set for 9 a.m. Feb. 27 in Judge Laurie Pittman’s courtroom.

A sentencing hearing fo Stehney will be held in courtroom following a pre-sentence investigation.

SOURCE: RECORDPUB

He pays a visit to one of the state’s 15 or so medical marijuana clinics, fills out an application and sees a doctor. Storck walks out an hour later, the proud holder of an Oregon-issued medical marijuana card. It’s a process he’ll have to go through each year to keep the card.

Storck, 56, is one of hundreds of out-of-staters who each year make an unusual pilgrimage to Oregon—the only state in the country to issue medical marijuana cards to non-residents.

“It’s not a bad place to visit,” said Storck, who has used marijuana for four decades to treat glaucoma and other chronic ailments. “It lifts my spirits to be in a place where medical cannabis is legal and life goes on.”

Some users of medical marijuana go through the effort to acquire an Oregon card because it allows them to use the drug legally when they’re in the state. Others hope it provides some legal protection if they’re arrested in a state where medical marijuana is outlawed. Many out-of-staters see an Oregon card as important recognition that their use of the drug is legally recognized somewhere in the United States.

Since June 2010, when the state started issuing cards to non-residents, nearly 600 out-of-staters
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have traveled here to obtain one, according to the Oregon Health Authority, the agency that oversees the state’s medical marijuana program. And while it’s a small number compared with those issued to Oregonians—72,000 in-state residents got cards during that period—it’s a notable development for medical marijuana advocates and those who rely on the drug for medication.

People who live in states that outlaw the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes say they’re relieved to have their use of the drug legally recognized—even if their home state does not. And for those who travel to Oregon for work or to see friends and family, a state-issued medical marijuana card offers legal protection from arrest and prosecution while here.

The most out-of-state applications for Oregon medical marijuana cards—309—came from Washington residents. Idaho came in second with 138, California third with 50.

“There are patients who live in California and Washington or Idaho for that matter … who travel to Oregon to visit friends and family and ought not be interfered with because they are possessing their medicine,” said Leland Berger, a Portland lawyer and medical marijuana advocate.

It was a 2010 case that Berger argued before the Oregon Court of Appeals that ultimately prompted the state to drop residency requirements from its medical marijuana program. The court upheld a California man’s conviction for marijuana possession but in its opinion noted that access to medical treatment is a protected right of all citizens traveling from state to state.

The appellate ruling prompted the Oregon Attorney General to issue an opinion clarifying the state’s residency requirements for a medical marijuana cards: Anyone can obtain a medical marijuana card in Oregon as long as the person has seen an Oregon-licensed physician who’s diagnosed a qualifying illness and suggests marijuana as treatment.

Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., have laws permitting the use of medical marijuana. Five of those states—Michigan, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island and Arizona—will honor Oregon’s medical marijuana card.

California, the first state in the country to legalize marijuana for medicinal use, only issues medical marijuana identification cards to California residents. However, state law allows California-licensed doctors to issue recommendations for medical marijuana to out-of-staters. Those recommendations allow a person to legally use the drug in California.

Keith Stroup, an attorney and founder of Norml, a national group that advocates the legalization of marijuana, said he expects most states with medical marijuana programs will eventually drop their residency requirements.

But he and other attorneys and marijuana activists said an Oregon card offers virtually no legal protection outside of Oregon’s borders.

“I mean it’s significant in the sense that it’s progressive and fairly liberal compared to other states. However, it doesn’t really provide patients with protection once they leave Oregon,” said Kris Hermes, spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, a national group advocating for medical marijuana laws.

Don Skakie, 52, of Renton, Wash., got an Oregon medical marijuana card so he can travel through Oregon without worrying about getting arrested. A union glazier and medical marijuana activist, Skakie is authorized to use medical marijuana in Washington and California, too.

“I have some work down here,” he said, referring to Oregon. “But if I was to be pulled over, my Washington authorization would not be recognized as valid. I need to be recognized as a patient so I don’t go off to jail.”

Skakie, who uses medical marijuana to treat chronic back pain, said even with authorization in three states, he’s cautious about traveling with the drug and discreet about using it. He said he recently helped move his sister from California to Missouri.

“I still had my medicine with me on that trip and medicated as I needed to but I was certainly hiding in the shadows and being extremely cautious,” he said.

Storck, the medical marijuana activist in Wisconsin, which doesn’t have a medical marijuana program, carries his Oregon card with him wherever he goes even though it isn’t likely to offer him much legal protection.

“To be able to have at least one state say, ‘Yes, we accept that you are a patient,’ means so much to me,” he said. “It was worth the trip to be recognized as a patient. I have been fighting my whole entire adult life for my medicine. My own home state, where I was born, won’t recognize that.”

A map of Oregon hangs in his home, a reminder that his marijuana use is legal here.

“I am really thankful to Oregon,” Storck said. “I am legal in every inch of that state and that is a beautiful thought for me.”

SOURCE: MERCURYNEWS

Just the Facts:

Canadian researchers have concluded that people who smoke marijuana within three hours of driving are nearly twice as likely to get in a serious car crash.
The research included nine observational studies, with a sample size of nearly 50,000 accident victims.
It was published in the February 9 issue of the British Medical Journal.

LONDON — Medicinal marijuana users might want to stay away from their car keys after indulging. Canadian researchers have found that people who smoke marijuana within three hours of driving are twice as likely to have a serious car accident.

The study, published in the February 9 issue of the British Medical Journal, was led by associate professor Mark Asbridge from Halifax’s Dalhousie University. Asbridge and his research team analyzed nine observational studies with a sample size of nearly 50,000 accident victims, concluding that the pooled risk of vehicle collision under the influence of cannabis is 1.92 times the risk of crashing while driving unimpaired. The researchers concluded that marijuana impairs performance of the cognitive and motor tasks necessary for safe driving.

The research shows that there is a relationship between the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the blood and motor vehicle accidents, although the exact level of danger is unknown due to the fact that many of the studies simply measured for the presence of the THC, not its concentration.

Only three of the studies actually measured precise levels of THC in the blood, and a correlation between crash risk and THC concentrations was supported.

“Although we did not examine dose effects on the risk and severity of collisions, studies of fatally injured drivers found higher amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol in the blood. [THC] concentrations might also be important, with minor collisions more likely than fatal collisions to involve drivers with lower concentrations of cannabis,” the experts reported.

Hartford Hospital and the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine published a study back in 2010 with the opposite results, albeit with a smaller sample size of just 85 drivers.

SOURCE: INSIDELINE.COM

The city has raised taxes on marijuana dispensaries several times in the past few years, and last year it collected $1.4 million in taxes from them — nearly 3 percent of all the business taxes it collected. Now Oakland plans to double the number of dispensaries it licenses, to eight from the current four, in the hopes that it can collect even more revenue.

“This is general fund revenue — it all goes into the melting pot,” said David McPherson, the city’s tax and revenue administrator. “When you’re making decisions about what to continue keeping or not, it goes into that decision process. If you don’t have that money, then you’re making other decisions about ‘Are we going to close the libraries on Monday?’ ‘Are you going to end up cutting a cop?’ ‘Are you not giving funds to our arts and things that help our kids?’ ”

Sometimes lost in the discussion of medical marijuana is the extent to which it has become a small but growing source of new tax collections for cities and states that have been struggling to balance their budgets for more than four years now.

Colorado Springs collected more than $700,000 in taxes from the medical marijuana industry in 2011. It is not a lot of money for a big city. But given the harsh steps the city has taken in recent years — in 2010 it shut off a third of its streetlights to save $1.2 million — every bit helps.

Denver collected more than $3.4 million last year from sales tax and application and license fees, according to preliminary figures. The State of Colorado collected $5 million in sales tax from medical marijuana businesses last year, more than twice what it collected the year before.

Taxing marijuana is a relatively new field, and cities and states are taking different approaches to raising revenues.

Maine decided that medical marijuana should be subjected to the state’s 5 percent sales tax — unless the marijuana is baked into brownies. In that case, it is taxed at a higher 7 percent rate that the state levies on prepared foods.

Oregon closed a budget gap last year in part by raising the annual fees it charges people with doctors’ notes to join the state’s medical marijuana program. In October, the state doubled the fee to $200 a year — with reduced fees available to people on food stamps — to raise an estimated $6.7 million a year to pay for other health programs.

Of course, some of the money raised must be used to administer the medical marijuana programs and, in some cases, to increase regulation of the industry.

Budget planners always deal in uncertainties like whether tax revenues will rebound or how much it will really cost to provide services. But projecting medical marijuana revenues adds other layers of complications, including whether the federal government will shut down the dispensaries that state and local governments have decided to allow.

After signaling in 2009 that it would not normally pursue groups providing marijuana to sick patients, the Justice Department has cracked down on dispensaries in a number of states in recent months. The Internal Revenue Service has targeted a number of dispensaries that pay federal taxes as well, arguing that they are not entitled to the regular business deductions they have claimed because they should be considered drug trafficking organizations.

It has made life complicated for cities.

“What we do know is the federal government has made it complicated and the state government has made it complicated and it all flows downhill to us,” said Mayor Chuck Reed of San Jose, Calif., which collects about $2.5 million in taxes from the 100 marijuana dispensaries that have opened in the city.

Here in Oakland, medical marijuana is booming. Just a few blocks from City Hall is Oaksterdam University, which offers training for people in the industry with classes in state and federal law, civics, legal business structures and various “methods of ingestion.”

The biggest dispensary in the city by far, Harborside Health Center, has 104,000 customers and employs 120 people, 90 percent of whom are from Oakland, in well-paying jobs with good benefits.

Its executive director, Stephen DeAngelo, helped lead the movement several years ago to have the city tax the marijuana industry. “At that time, the city was talking about closing down some really beloved institutions,” he said, adding that Oakland’s fiscal plight led the center to think about ways of helping the city. “What better way of doing that than with a tax?”

But when the city tripled the tax rate to 5 percent in 2010, he worried. “I thought 5 percent was a bit excessive,” Mr. DeAngelo said, but he added that the center was able to absorb the costs. Now, he said, the center is among the biggest taxpayers in Oakland.

Oakland will probably not be able to double its tax collections by doubling the number of dispensaries. Mr. McPherson, the city tax administrator, said that in many cases the same pool of medical marijuana users would simply be choosing from more places. But opening a dispensary near the Berkeley border, he said, might capture some of the Oakland residents who currently go to a dispensary in Berkeley.

Mr. McPherson said the city stood to reap more of what he called the “secondary benefits.”

“You’ve got accountants that are working for them, you’ve got all the security companies that are working for them, you have labs that are working for them, you have bakeries that are baking all the edibles, you have union employees that are getting great benefits, you have delivery services, hydroponic stores, doctors get some benefit,” he said. “It’s the secondary market that gains from this, and all of those pay business taxes to us.”

SOURCE: NYTIMES.COM

Researchers from Dalhousie University have found that people who smoke marijuana up to three hours before driving are twice as likely to cause a car, bus or motorcycle crash as those with no drugs or alcohol in their system.

Indeed, the researchers suggest marijuana “impairs brain and motor functions needed for safe driving,” the BBC reports.

The study, which appears in the British Medical Journal, is a meta-analysis of nine studies of close to 50,000 people worldwide who had been in serious or fatal crashes in cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, trucks, buses and motorcycles featured in the studies.

All studies tested for tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active chemical in cannabis, by analyzing blood samples or using direct reports of cannabis use from those involved.

Most studies used one nanogram per millilitre of cannabis or any amount greater than zero as the cut-off for a positive test result, with one study using a 2ng/ml cut-off, the BBC reports.

There was an almost double risk of a driver being involved in a collision resulting in serious injury or death if cannabis had been consumed less than three hours before.

Mark Asbridge, study author and associate professor at the department of community health and epidemiology at Dalhousie University, told the BBC the research was important.

“Our findings provide clarity to the large body of research on cannabis and collision risk.

“They also offer support to existing policies, in many jurisdictions, that restrict driving under the influence of cannabis, and direct public health officials to devote greater attention to this issue.”

Still, researchers point out that alcohol remains the substance most often present in crashes.

Should efforts to stop impaired driving include more of a focus of drugs such as marijuana?

SOURCE: THEGLOBEANDMAIL

On Friday, detectives with the Owensboro Police Department arrived at 1601 East 26th street on a search warrant, after a K-9 had detected drugs in a package that was to be delivered to the home.

Detectives say they found about 5 pounds of marijuana in the package, which has a street value of around 25 thousand dollars.

Police arrested Brandon Brown and Trenton Evans on multiple drug charges.  The two are being held in the Daviess County Detention Center.

SOURCE: TRISTATEHOMEPAGE

Barry R. Robinson, 29, of Park Avenue had been arrested by the city of Batavia Police on charges of driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, both misdemeanors. He was being processed at the jail after his arraignment when marijuana that appeared to be packaged for sale was found in his socks and underwear.

Robinson was then charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband, a felony, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation.

Robinson was arraigned again at Batavia City Court and was held without bail on the new charges. On the original charges, Robinson’s bail was set at $2,000 cash or bond.

His next appearance at Batavia City Court is at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

SOURCE: DEMOCRATANDCHRONICLE

Presidential GOP candidate Mitt Romney has explicitly expressed his dissension around medicinal marijuana in his campaign. After hearing from an individual with muscular dystrophy about his need for medicinal marijuana to survive, Romney repeated fervently that he was not in favor of legalizing medicinal marijuana.

The young man with the degenerative illness expressed his worries to the candidate and showed genuine concern for his survival. Five different doctors had recommended the use of medicinal marijuana for this patient, yet the federal government continues to impose fear by prosecuting those who use and prescribe such treatment.

Romney continued to ignore his pleas and ended the conversation by walking away from the wheelchair-bound man. Such a cold and apathetic reaction from a presidential candidate is appalling.

As Romney proposed in his brief conversation with the man dying from muscular dystrophy, there are synthetic forms of marijuana like dronabinol that may hold some promise for treatment. Yet these forms of treatment have been found to be much less effective and do not provide the palliative care necessary for dying individuals or for individuals in need of medicinal marijuana to survive.

Many patients are unresponsive to the synthetic forms of marijuana and therefore do not get the effects they need. It is important to allow sick people to get the care that will aid their survival and comfort in life. It is unfair for these individuals to suffer because of the federal government’s ignorance.

The Drug Enforcement Administration continues to defend the synthetic option for cancer patients and individuals with AIDS, yet fails to address the issue of those who do not respond to such synthetic treatments. What about them? Do they deserve to suffer with their illness until the day they die, even with a promising treatment at the government’s fingertips? No.

With the looming presidential election becoming increasingly evident in the media, the issue of medicinal marijuana and the availability of this extraordinary treatment are becoming apparent.

Another GOP candidate, Ron Paul, is willing to give states the right to make the decision for themselves, part of his goal of upholding the constitutional rights of individuals and states. This would take power away from the federal government and give states the right to decide whether medicinal marijuana is legal for constituents.

It is important to note that many medical organizations endorse the reclassification of cannabis so that research can be done more effectively. Such well-respected organizations include the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

In November of 2011 the American Medical Association proposed that marijuana be moved from a schedule 1 classification (the most restricted substance class) to a lower classification in order to allow for more research to be done using this substance.

In the past two months, four state governors have endorsed marijuana research and are striving to reclassify marijuana for the use in the medical field. Sixteen states have legalized medicinal marijuana as of January this year. Such progress is promising, but the influence of such strong presidential candidates’ opinions may hinder the use of this treatment.

As Mitt Romney walked away from a dying man, we are forced to ask ourselves, is this the kind of man we want running our country? And which candidate has the health of the American people at the forefront of his campaign? Because of the federal government’s statute preventing the use of medicinal marijuana, doctors and patients in states who approve the use of this treatment may be prosecuted for using a treatment that works. The issue of medicinal marijuana may prove to be a decisive issue in the 2012 election.

SOURCE: DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN

It smells better than what you get on the street, they say, and is more potent. The buds are whole, not ground up like oregano.

“I get top shelf,” boasts a 16-year-old boy. “My cousin works at a dispensary. So he brings maybe two zips (plastic bags) a day that they’re just going to throw out.”

Across the street is a medical marijuana dispensary that advertises “a trip to the moon” for customers. It is exactly 753 feet from East, according to the school’s former principal, who has measured it several times. Another dispensary is 1,010 feet away.

“This is not in any sense healthy for our young people,” said John Youngquist, the former principal who has pleaded for years for help in protecting schools from the proliferation of dispensaries.

Federal prosecutors echoed those concerns in January when they targeted medical marijuana dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools for their first crackdown since hundreds of shops with names like “Dr. Reefer” and “Ganja Gourmet” began spreading across the state in 2009.

U.S. Attorney John Walsh cited a “dramatic increase in student abuse of marijuana” in warning 23 dispensary operators to move within 45 days or face criminal action and seizure of their property. That deadline expires Feb. 27.

Scores of other dispensaries can expect shutdown notices soon. In all, Walsh now says he plans to target over 100 Colorado dispensaries located within 1,000 feet of a school, relying on federal law that creates stiffer penalties for any drug use near schools, playgrounds and places where young people gather.

The federal Drug-Free Schools Act applies to public and private schools from grades 1-12, along with both public and private colleges and universities. For now, Walsh says he is committed only to cracking down on dispensaries near public and private schools and higher education campuses, and not other gathering places.

An investigation by Education News Colorado, Solutions and the I-News Network shows the number of drug violations reported by Colorado’s K-12 schools have increased 45 percent in the past four years, even as the combined number of all other violations has fallen.

The statewide data do not distinguish between marijuana and other drugs but interviews with school and district officials, health care workers and students across Colorado depict marijuana as the overwhelming cause of the increase.

Some school officials used descriptions such as “drowning” and “under siege” to portray their battle with the increase in drug violations and what they view as a seismic shift in student attitudes about marijuana.

“When I grew up, it was horrible if you got caught with pot,” said East teacher Matt Murphy. “Now there are little green medical signs everywhere. It seems healthy. We’re at the front lines of this huge shift where kids think it’s OK.”

Among other findings of the investigation:

Suspensions for drug violations in Colorado schools rose 45 percent between 2007-08 and 2010-11 while expulsions for drug violations increased 35 percent and referrals to police increased 17 percent. In contrast, the overall suspension rate for all other violations was down 11 percent while expulsions and police referrals for other violations dropped 25 percent.
In Denver, the increase in referrals to law enforcement for drug violations was particularly high, spiking 71 percent in four years. Denver police in 2010 began listing marijuana arrests at city schools separately from other drug incidents – their records show 179 arrests for marijuana possession or sale at 43 Denver Public Schools between Aug. 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011, with a third of those arrests occurring at elementary, middle and K-8 schools.
Suburban and rural areas are not immune. Grand Junction schools saw a 55 percent increase in drug violations in four years while they’ve doubled in the St. Vrain Valley district. Thornton High School in Adams 12 Five Star reported three drug violations per 100 students in 2007-08 and eight violations per 100 students in 2010-11 while Cherry Creek’s Overland High School saw its rate per 100 students rise from two to more than five in four years.
Up to 53 medical marijuana dispensaries are within 1,000 feet of Colorado public schools. Statewide, 95 elementary schools are within a half-mile of a dispensary while 27 middle schools and 23 high schools are that close.

Located along downtown Denver’s busy Colfax Avenue, a hotspot for marijuana businesses, East is among the schools statewide surrounded by multiple dispensaries. But East is far from alone.

Disagreement on effect of dispensaries near schools

The investigation found some of the schools with the biggest increases in drug violations have multiple medical marijuana dispensaries within a mile or closer.

East, seen by many as Denver’s premier public high school, has had up to five medical marijuana dispensaries within a three-block radius of its campus. The number of drug violations at the school has tripled since 2009.

Palmer High School in downtown Colorado Springs is within a mile of as many as eight dispensaries. The school reported one or two drug violations in 2007-08 and 2008-09, then 75 violations in 2009-10 and 45 violations in 2010-11.

But not all schools with nearby dispensaries saw an increase in drug violations and some reported their numbers of drug-related incidents declined.

Brian Vincente, director of Sensible Colorado, an advocacy group pushing for the legalization of marijuana for adults, said dispensaries are not to blame for increases in student drug violations.

“There’s never been a recorded case of dispensaries selling marijuana to high school kids,” he said. “That is not the problem. Dispensaries are a highly regulated industry.”

Vincente says students are getting marijuana the same way they’ve gotten it for the past 50 years – illegally.

Others see a clear link between the dispensaries and increased student use of the drug.

“Of course there’s a correlation,” said Rebecca Hea, executive director of the Denver Children’s Home, which provides a drug and alcohol counselor at East.

“It’s a lot easier to get access to marijuana,” she said, noting the number of referrals to the East counselor “is growing so astronomically, she’s unable to meet the need.”

“There is a perception that if it’s medically sanctioned, it can’t be that bad,” Hea added.

“It seems condoned because the name medical is in front of it.”

Nicole Veltze, principal at Denver’s North High School, which also has a number of dispensaries nearby, said the actual location of the dispensaries doesn’t matter as much as the fact they’re widespread.

“The kids aren’t going to the dispensaries,” she said. “The kids have access to other people who have access to dispensaries. So whether you live near or far from a dispensary, if you have a friend, you can get it.”

Veltze is particularly concerned about long-term repercussions for kids.

“When marijuana is found on students, we have to call law enforcement,” she said. “Due to the rise in availability of marijuana, we’re making more and more calls to law enforcement for this, and so we’re contributing to the criminalization of our kids.”

Students say medical marijuana cheaper, easier to obtain

Youngquist, who was principal at East for five years until getting a promotion in December, is convinced that dispensaries near schools increase use.

“They create a context for students that is all about marijuana, a context that says this is healthy,” he said. “There’s just a very, very large amount of marijuana present in our community and there’s easy access for young people.”

The school has taken a proactive stance, with administrators frequently patrolling nearby Colfax Avenue during lunch. It’s then, and driving to and from the school, that Youngquist noticed students hovering near some dispensaries.

“It’s as easy as standing outside,” he said. “If you keep your eyes open and drive by, kids will be out front waiting for the possibility” to buy.

Some East students have a term for it. They call it “shoulder-tapping.”

“You stand there and when someone goes in, you say, ‘Hey, will you get me some weed in there?’” explained a 17-year-old boy.

Some older students, older siblings and recent graduates have medical marijuana cards, the boy said. There are even coupons to sweeten the transaction.

“Buying through dispensaries is cheaper than buying on the streets,” he said. “You call people who have a card. There are buy-one, get-one free deals.”

Managers of dispensaries near East did not return calls for comment.

East students are divided over whether nearby dispensaries are fueling an increase in marijuana use.

“The fact that they’re close by makes it easier for it to happen at school,” said one 16-year-old girl, but she added, “If kids really want to do it at school, they’ll find a way to do it.”

Another boy, 16, said he thinks the sheer number of dispensaries may make the drug more attractive.

“That’s probably the effect that dispensaries have,” he said. “It’s like Starbucks. You think what’s so good about Starbucks? And you’re going to go try some.”

More than a dozen students interviewed said they see a growing number of their classmates using marijuana.

“It’s become more of a thing to do at school, to rebel or if you don’t like a class,” a 16-year-old girl said. “It’s a way to not skip class, but not be there in a way.”

Some communities ban dispensaries, others disregard school buffer

Schools are singled out in contradictory local, state and federal regulations governing the use of marijuana.

While Colorado voters have approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, and voters will consider an initiative this fall to legalize it altogether in this state, federal law still views it as illegal.

State laws regulate medical marijuana businesses to some extent, including creating a 1,000-foot buffer around schools, but they also allow leeway for local authorities. So while 85 municipalities have banned dispensaries altogether, others have allowed them as close as 400 feet to schools.

In Denver, City Councilwoman Jeanne Robb said city officials acted only after the dispensaries began proliferating – so they compromised in allowing dispensaries already less than 1,000 feet from a school to continue operating.

Robb supports the federal crackdown but isn’t sure it will make a difference.

“Once medical marijuana was accepted in the dispensary form, it can be 1,000 feet from a school or 1,005 feet from a school. The youth who are inclined to find it will find it,” she said.

“Our society has said it’s medicine. I’m afraid it removes the idea that it’s still a drug. Now the question is how do we deal with the fallout on our youth? I’m not sure we can really go back.”

Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown, a key sponsor of city’s medical marijuana regulations, said he was “shocked and disappointed” by the increase in drug violations in schools.

“We need to get the people out of the business who shouldn’t be in the business,” he said. “Our job is to clamp down and make sure they don’t abuse it and if they are, we’re going to close them down.”

The federal action is likely to shut down only one dispensary near East. But for Youngquist, that’s a start.

For years, he said he felt nobody was listening as his staff struggled to respond to the growth in medical marijuana dispensaries around the school.

“I’ve gone and spoken with members of city council and state legislators and asked the question regarding the impact on youth,” Youngquist said. “They told me, ‘It’s not something we thought about.’

“I’m disappointed that young people weren’t considered when our government decided to implement a law and make medical marijuana legal.”

SOURCE: KUNC