Pubdate: Tue, 09 Oct 2012 Source: Fort Collins Coloradoan (CO) Copyright: 2012 The Fort Collins Coloradoan Contact: http://www.coloradoan.com/customerservice/contactus.html Website: http://www.coloradoan.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1580 Author: Ray Martinez Note: Ray Martinez if the former mayor of Fort Collins. LEGALIZING MARIJUANA NOT GOOD FOR US Please carefully consider the proposed Colorado constitutional Amendment 64 and Fort Collins marijuana ballot Question 301 that we will vote on in November. Since the amendment doesn't mandate taxing marijuana sales, there is no guarantee there will be any money at all. Banks will not accept the drug money, which makes it a cash business. Do you really think all of their profits will be reported? Alcohol costs the U.S. about $10 for every dollar it brings in taxes. Promised tax revenues from recreational marijuana sales in Amendment 64 and the medicinal stores (Fort Collins ballot Question 301) are misleading. The Colorado Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, or TABOR, makes it clear that Colorado voters would have to take a second vote to establish a new sales tax. Proponents could have easily added the taxation question onto the ballot with 64 but chose to disguise a porous piece of legislation and waste the voters' time with another election if 64 passes. Furthermore, the Colorado Educational Association and numerous school boards have come out against recreational marijuana and do not want the "drug money." For someone who owns a business that uses machinery, a drug-free environment is imperative. Amendment 64 and Question 301 directly interfere with a business owner's ability to function in a safe environment for their employees and those around them. If these two measures are passed, the employee could legally smoke marijuana during the weekend, test positive during the workweek and possibly sue for wrongful termination because their marijuana use did not occur "in the workplace." Now that's what I call a flawed system. Under the current law, medical marijuana card carriers can possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana (120 marijuana cigarettes). According to a story in the Denver Post, "Colorado patients, caregivers and dispensaries all have diverted medical marijuana to illegal use in 23 states," making Colorado "on track to become a primary source of supply for high-grade marijuana throughout the country." A study conducted by the University of Colorado School of Medicine found that three-quarters of the teens in two metro area substance abuse programs admitted that they used someone else's medical marijuana, either grown or purchased through a dispensary. The statistics reported by the Colorado Department of Education are even more compelling. Currently, there is no way for the state to verify how often a card carrier "pot-shop-hops" by purchasing marijuana and reselling it, which will intensify illegal drug trade here and in other states. Dr. John Martyny's team from National Jewish Health have reviewed 30 marijuana-growing operations in Denver, Littleton and Larimer County. They found mold levels at 100 times higher than what is considered safe. In some cases, the level was so high their instruments could not register the levels. On May 2, survey results released by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation found that past-month marijuana use - particularly heavy use - has increased significantly among U.S. high school students since 2008. Nine percent of teens (nearly 1.5 million) smoked marijuana heavily (at least 20 times) in the past month. Overall, past-month heavy marijuana use is up 80 percent among U.S. teens since 2008. The idea of my home state and community being known as the weed capital of America is contrary to our reputation of being healthy. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom