Pubdate: Sun, 08 May 2011 Source: Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO) Copyright: 2011 The Gazette Contact: http://www.gazette.com/sections/opinion/submitletter/ Website: http://www.gazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/165 Author: John W. Suthers A POINT OF CLARIFICATION Just a point of clarification to your May 6 editorial: You state that "Colorado voters amended the state constitution in 2000 to allow the buying, selling and use of medical marijuana." The fact is that nothing in Amendment 20 allows for the commercial sale or purchase of marijuana. The 2000 Blue Book underlines this conspicuous fact, stating, "The proposal does not provide any legal means by which a patient may obtain marijuana. Under state criminal law, it will still be illegal to sell marijuana or marijuana plants to another individual, including a patient on the state registry." If there was any uncertainty in spite of the plain text of the Colorado Constitution - which the editorial fails to quote from - the Colorado Court of Appeals underlined the Blue Book's plain reading of Amendment 20 in an October 2009 ruling in People v. Clendenin, 232 P.3d 210 (cert denied by the Colorado Supreme Court). Dispensaries come to us courtesy of the Colorado General Assembly, not the Colorado Constitution. Even the most ardent adherents of a living constitution would be hard pressed to argue that the plain language of Amendment 20 means what you suggest it does. John W. Suthers, Attorney General of Colorado Colorado Springs EDITOR'S NOTE: The editorial quoted a passage from Section 14(b) of Amendment 20, which states: " 'Medical use' means the acquisition, possession, production, use, or transportation of marijuana..." The Gazette's editorial board asserts that one cannot acquire, possess, produce, use and transport marijuana without the ability to buy and sell it, and therefore commerce appears implicit in the law. The Ogden memo instructed U.S. attorneys against focusing federal resources on those who comply with existing state laws providing for the use of medical marijuana. It did not instruct U.S. attorneys to comply with Blue Book summaries of state laws. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.