Denver Post’s alarmist worries about a “marijuana minefield”

(Denver Post) As we’ve said before, lawmakers need to shape regulations that hew closely to the intent of Amendment 20, which voters passed in 2000.

We do not believe the escalation in the number of certified medical marijuana users — now more than 14,000 — and the proliferation of dispensaries is what voters had in mind when they supported the measure.

The measure was aimed at people who suffered from severe pain — people who were perhaps undergoing chemotherapy and needed relief from nausea.

We don’t have that. What we have appears to be a system in which a whole lot of people are making claims of pain and muscle spasms, paying a nominal fee and getting a medical marijuana card.

It is not anywhere near what voters approved — and legislators need to get a grip on the situation.

Medical marijuana was an act of compassion by Colorado voters who were offering an avenue of relief to the sickest people among us. The system that comes out of regulatory efforts — be they by lawmakers or administrative action — must honor that intent.

Ah, once again the mythical claim of “abuse” of the medical marijuana system, as if somehow 14,000 people who suffer from pain and other ailments is too many.  How many medical marijuana patients is the right number in a state of nearly five million?  By my reckoning, that’s less than three-tenths of a percent of the state’s population.

Just how many medical marijuana patients should there be?  According to Colorado’s Central Cancer Registry, there were over 18,000 diagnoses of cancer in 2005.  There are likely hundreds of thousands of potential patients if you consider all qualifying conditions under Amendment 20.

Or could some of those 14,000 actually be — gasp! — healthy people who just paid $90 to the state and more to a doctor or two for the privilege of being left alone to smoke a joint?  Let’s see, 14,000 patients times $90 is $1.26 million annually that Colorado brings in.  Plus the sales and excise taxes the attorney general just said were perfectly legal for Colorado to enact, which might bring in another $15 million for the state and $45 million for cities.  Sounds more like a “marijuana moneyfield” to me.

But even then, surveys show that nearly 13% of Coloradoans will use marijuana this year.  That would be 650,000 pot smokers, probably less since the 13% figure is people 12 and older and some of the 5,000,000 Coloradoans have to be between 0-11, so I think we can safely say at least half a million.  14,000 patients, then, would be 2.8% of all Colorado tokers “abusing” the system.

Finally, I’m always amused when people use time traveling telepathy to tell us what voters were thinking when they voted in medical marijuana.  The actual words the voters read on the ballot in 2000 were:

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution authorizing the medical use of marijuana for persons suffering from debilitating medical conditions, and, in connection therewith, establishing an affirmative defense to Colorado criminal laws for patients and their primary care-givers relating to the medical use of marijuana…

…defining “debilitating medical condition” and authorizing  the state health agency to approve other medical conditions or treatments as debilitating medical conditions…

And of course in the actual text of the constitutional amendment:

(a) “Debilitating medical condition” means:

(I) Cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or treatment for such conditions;

(II) A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition, or treatment for such conditions, which produces, for a specific patient, one or more of the following, and for which, in the professional opinion of the patient’s physician, such condition or conditions reasonably may be alleviated by the medical use of marijuana: cachexia; severe pain; severe nausea; seizures, including those that are characteristic of epilepsy; or persistent muscle spasms, including those that are characteristic of multiple sclerosis…

Now the Denver Post may quibble with “debilitating” and “severe” when it sees a young person with a medical marijuana card.  My dictionary says “debilitating” is “to make weak or feeble” and “causing a loss of energy and strength”.  “Severe” means “intensely bad or unpleasant”.  Does a young lady’s carpal tunnel syndrome pain from secretarial work count as “bad or unpleasant” enough?  Does a young man’s chronic migraines from college football collisions count as “causing a lack of energy and strength”?  This notion that young people can’t suffer from injuries and maladies serious enough to deserve medical pot is ridiculous.

So what were the voters thinking when they approved Amendment 20 nine years ago?  I’m sure there were some who thought it was just for bedridden cancer and AIDS patients.  But given that 13% of the population smokes recreationally and 40% of voters statewide later approved a full tax and regulate model, I believe a majority of the voters who supported the measure supported it as a step toward legalization.  Medical marijuana proponents should always remember that no state initiative has passed without the strong support of people who favor even broader adult access to cannabis, and that number is growing every year.

If there is a huge rush in acquiring a medical marijuana card, that is the sign of a successful program!  It’s not surprising that people who have been self-medicating with cannabis for years, successfully managing their symptoms, would suddenly rush to become legal in the eyes of the law when there is a working system to do so and access to marijuana without buying from a street dealer.