What started out as a very difficult thing to establish a medical marijuana dispensary, has turned into a rather common thing to see in Grand Junction. With a little over 30 dispensaries in the Grand Valley alone, it is very easy to get medical marijuana. Almost too easy.
In order to obtain a card, prospective patients must have an appointment with a doctor to determine what they need. An appointment may cost up to $200, while the card itself costs $90.  However, gaining an appointment with a doctor is easier than ever and just about any doctor can grant permission for a registry card. A face-to-face appointment with a doctor isn’t even needed; plenty of patients have gained a card a phone interviews. This makes it easier than ever to lie and doctor never knows.
It is possible to get a card for anything ranging from cancer to severe nausea and severe anxiety. So where is the line drawn? How honest and truthful are the patients that come in searching for a registry card? In all honesty, the only thing needed to obtain a card is the $300.
The Grand Valley is slowly turning into a scene straight out of the Showtime special Weeds. Soon company executives, neighbors and house moms alike will be eating brownies or even licking suckers and getting a high off of it and as far as the doctors know they have anxiety problems and need it to relax. A line needs to be drawn.
In addition to the ease of getting a card to begin with, it is easier than ever to locate a medical marijuana dispensary. With over 30 dispensaries in Mesa County, the moratorium was put into place not soon enough, but is going to do wonders for the businesses already established. With the moratorium in place, no new dispensaries are allowed to be established for at least a year. This will help current dispensaries in town establish a clientele and name for themselves, giving the city of Grand Junction the information needed to shut down some of the dispensaries so there are not so many. Over 30 dispensaries in a town the size of Grand Junction is completely unnecessary.
It is important for government to put bigger restrictions on gaining a medical marijuana registry card and filter out some of the dispensaries. At the current rate, you will be in a minority if you don’t have a card and there will be more dispensariProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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than gas stations.

afriar@mesastate.edu