Pubdate: Thu, 29 Aug 2013
Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)
Column: Weed Between the Lines
Copyright: 2013 Boulder Weekly
Contact:  http://www.boulderweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/57
Author: Leland Rucker

COLORADO READIES RETAIL REGULATIONS WHILE FEDS DITHER

When retail cannabis shops open in Colorado, most likely in 2014, 
adults will be able to buy it over-the-counter in Nederland, which 
recently approved an ordinance governing the sales of retail 
marijuana within its borders. "We passed what we feel is a solid 
piece of legislation that works for the town," Mayor Joe Gierlach 
said of Ordinance 720, which was passed by the town's Board of 
Trustees in a 6-1 vote.

That's good news for cannabis consumers around here who are ready to 
give up the black market. In Boulder County, Superior and Longmont 
have already banned retail sales, Louisville is still considering 
retail, and moratoriums in Lafayette, Lyons and Erie expire Oct. 1.

It looks like every area of the state, save perhaps the eastern 
plains, will have some towns offering retail products. Breckenridge, 
which decriminalized cannabis consumption several years ago, will 
have shops, and Telluride, Steamboat Springs, Durango, Carbondale, 
Frisco, Leadville, Eagle and Aspen are expected to offer retail 
outlets, too. Manitou Springs is leaning toward accepting retail, and 
it would instantly become a magnet location after Colorado Springs 
banned retail sales in July.

Several cities - Thornton, Westminster and Parker among them - have 
also already banned retail sales, but others are waiting to see what 
happens on a state level and with other cities. Ft. Morgan's 
moratorium extends to Dec. 31 of this year, Aurora's goes through May 
2014, and Broomfield's until January 2015.

But as Colorado moves toward opening retail cannabis outlets, the 
federal government continues its basic opposition to cannabis law 
reform. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Attorney General Eric 
Holder's announcement of changes to federal sentencing policy, in 
light of the general change in American attitudes toward the war on 
cannabis. (Since then yet another Rasmussen study indicates that 82 
percent of the American population believes the drug war has been a 
failure, and just 4 percent say the U.S. is winning the War on Drugs.)

Those who had hoped that Holder's plan might signal a thaw in the 
White House's drug war policies found out differently last week. When 
a CNN reporter asked White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest 
if getting cannabis off the list of Schedule I drugs was on the White 
House agenda, Earnest said that the president, though serious about 
not going after low-level users in states where it's now legal, 
hasn't even thought about rescheduling.

And the federal government continues, against all available evidence, 
to point out only cannabis's dangers. The National Institute for Drug 
Abuse (NIDA), which has as its mission statement "to lead the nation 
in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and 
addiction," told Politifact last week that there is no evidence that 
alcohol is any more toxic to humans than cannabis.

This came in a piece Politifact published that looked at the claims 
of a television commercial aired by the Marijuana Policy Project for 
NASCAR audiences that suggested that marijuana was less toxic than 
alcohol. The organization looked to the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, which 
reported 41,682 alcohol-related deaths in 2010, and no deaths from 
marijuana ingestion, as well as Dr. Robert Grable's study of toxicity 
levels of all illegal drugs, which found cannabis to be 100 times 
less toxic than alcohol or cocaine. Politifact concluded that the 
statement was "mostly true."

Politifact's story also included an email response from NIDA that 
said, "Claiming that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol cannot be 
substantiated, since each possess their own unique set of risks and 
consequences for a given individual."

It's not hard to find studies or statistics to back either side of 
the cannabis argument, but comments like this are good reasons why 
people have soured on the drug war and don't offer a lot of hope that 
the federal government will loosen its grip, even if the 
commander-in-chief is a former cannabis user.

Meanwhile, what of Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical 
correspondent, whose change of attitude towards medical cannabis was 
documented on his Weed special earlier this month? After a lengthy 
study, Gupta offered convincing evidence that cannabis should be 
studied seriously as medicine, and he admitted on national television 
that the federal government has been basing its cannabis policies 
solely on politics and not on science.

For as mainstream a figure as Gupta to admit this was pretty bold, 
and it got a lot of media traction. But no one else has spoken up, 
media are on to something else, so Gupta is left with recognition of 
a different kind.

Boulder's Helping Hand Herbal dispensary has named a special indica 
strain, Gupta Kush, after him. Indica strains are naturally higher in 
cannabidiol, or CBD, which is what researchers believe might be the 
key to cannabis's medical benefits. Gupta joins a limited list of 
luminaries like Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg/Lion and Barack Obama, all 
who have strains named after them. Let's just hope Gupta's research 
and brave admission don't just go up in smoke.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom