Pubdate: Wed, 10 Oct 2012
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2012 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Monte Whaley

2 ANTI-MARIJUANA EXPERTS TO SPEAK

Berthoud - Round 3 in the fight over medical marijuana in this 
Larimer County town of 5,000 is set for Wednesday night, with a forum 
featuring two notable anti-pot experts.

Speakers include Tom Gorman, director of the Rocky Mountain 
High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and Dr. Christian Thurstone. 
Thurstone is medical director of one of Colorado's largest youth 
substance-abuse treatment clinics and an associate professor of 
psychiatry at the University of Colorado Denver, where he researches 
youth substance abuse and addiction.

Both are coming at the request of Dwayne White, a Berthoud 
grandfather who launched an effort to rid the town of its lone 
dispensary, Herb's Medicinals.

"I've got eight grandkids in Berthoud, and lastweek a teenagerwas 
over at the school trying to line up customers to buy marijuana," 
White said. "This is something I don't want my kids to be around."

Berthoud andHerb'sMedicinals became a hot destination for medical 
marijuana users this year, after Fort Collins banned dispensaries in 
city limits. White says that has led to an outbreak of drug-related 
crime in the town, an allegation backed by a Berthoud police report 
that says pot-related police calls are up 57 percent since the 
dispensary opened.

"This is a small town, and these are caseswe didn't see in the past," 
Berthoud Police Chief Glenn Johnson said.

Round 1 in the pot battle happened this spring when White and others 
began gathering signatures for a ballot issue aimed at putting Herb's 
out of business.

Enough signatures were gathered- 468when only 413 were needed-to 
place Question 300 on the ballot. That ushered in Round 2, a pro 
medical marijuana town forum in September.

A Herb's patient spoke about how medical pot made dealing with his 
colon cancer bearable. Another speaker was Dr. Alan Shackelford, a 
Harvard-trained physician who advocates the use of medical pot.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom