Katie Schultz
News Editor

Since the passage of the 20th Amendment to the Colorado State Constitution in 2000, the line that separates the issue regarding the use and regulation of medical marijuana is still blurred. The gray areas that surround the issue have grown in both size and number.
Amendment 20 permits the use of medical marijuana to lessen the debilitating symptoms of certain medical illnesses. Such diseases include glaucoma, cancer, severe nausea, HIV/AIDs, seizures, chronic pain, and muscle spasms which is often related to multiple sclerosis. The amendment also allows Medical Marijuana Registry holders to have no more than two ounces of usable marijuana, as well as six marijuana plants with no more than three or four being mature and usable.
Yet, the battle over the use of medical marijuana is far from over as the state pushes through legislation that will regulate not only how patients obtain their registry cards but also the number and types of dispensaries that have appeared all over the state.
Here in the Grand Valley both Nature’s Medicine and God’s Gift, two of about 30 local dispensaries, have their own views about the issue. Both dispensaries were started and owned by military veterans, and according to them most of their clients are either veterans or a part of the older generation. Nature’s Medicine is even a part of a growing dispensary chain here in Colorado.
“Why, after ten years is the state now all of a sudden coming after (the dispensaries)?” said Royce Young, employee at Nature’s Medicine. “They are going to lose a lot of money.”
One new senate bill proposed Feb. 3 to state legislature would convert all medical marijuana dispensaries to nonprofit organizations. The bill sponsored by Sen. Chris Romer (D) would put an 18 month hold on any new commercial dispensaries. It also defines small-scale providers, those serving three to four patients, as “caregivers.” This protects them under the state constitution, which does not require them to become a licensed business. This separates them from the large-scale providers, or dispensaries, which under the new bill would be regulated or even banned by the cities that they occupy.
“I can’t wrap my head around it,” said Shawn Kizer, manager of Nature’s Medicine. “I don’t know why (the state) would do that.”
According to Kizer, if the state turns dispensaries into nonprofit organizations, they will not have to pay as great an income tax as they are currently. This would cause the state to lose money that it would receive from commercial dispensaries.
Other dispensaries that occupy Mesa County do not agree.
“Nonprofit, that’s awesome,” said Travis Chambers, owner of God’s Gift. “I can actually get rich.”
According to Chambers, who made more money being a street dealer, the switch to nonprofit is a positive, because it would convert the dispensaries to a state organization and the majority of what the dispensary makes would come back to him as salary.
Here in Mesa County, the idea of putting a hold on licensing new dispensaries is not new. Back in November 2009 the city of Grand Junction approved a moratorium to restrict the opening of any new dispensaries here in Mesa County for one year.
“I think the moratorium is great,” Kizer said, “because there are (dispensaries) that aren’t doing this for the right reasons.”
He, also, feels the moratorium could have been put in place sooner.
“We are here for the medical part of it,” said Glen Greuling, volunteer at God’s Gift, who, like many across the nation, is unemployed. He, like Kizer, feels that there are many dispensaries that are out there just doing it for the money.
Yet, the controversy doesn’t stop there as Senate Bill 109 makes its way through the new legislation being proposed this month. Already gaining approval from the State Senate and on its way to the House, under this bill a patient would need to have a long lasting relationship with a doctor in order to receive their registry card. This would require the doctor to check the patient’s full medical history and provide a full exam to the patient.
Both God’s Gift and Nature’s Medicine fear that this will only raise the price of medical marijuana for their patients.
“Not all doctors are on board,” Kizer said. “Patients would need two primaries.” According to Kizer, patients spend an average of $290 per year in order to receive their card and medical marijuana, and these new measures would raise that cost to $500-$1000 per year. “Most patients can’t afford that,” he said.
Greuling expressed the same concern for the patients who come to God’s Gift. “It brings tears to your eyes,” he said, “because some of the patients who come in are messed up.”
The bill, also sponsored by State Sen. Chris Romer and State Rep. Tom Massey, would regulate how medical marijuana patients who have been convicted would receive their approval for use. It also requires patients 18-21 years-of-age approval from two doctors in order to receive their registry card.
Yet even if these bills were to pass, regulation on medical marijuana is still in the gray. Under federal law the use and possession of marijuana is still illegal, even if documented.
“We see (dispensaries) as a legal business,” said Kate Porras, Grand Junction police information coordinator. “They are just like any other business, and they will be treated like any other business.”
According to Police Sgt. Pua Utu, if Mesa State students have marijuana and their registry card, they are legal. Yet, police would like to see the campus become both marijuana-and-tobacco free.
With the growth of dispensaries opening in the Grand Valley law enforcement and the city are trying to monitor the issue.
According to Chambers, with police and city breathing down their necks, they just want to provide a good service to their clients. “We try to give a different (environment in our shop) instead of something that is medical,” Chambers said. “We want people (with illness) to come in and forget their worries about the day. If they can come in and laugh at themselves for a couple of minutes and feel good about themselves, that’s all we want.”
Where does that leave students at Mesa State College? See next week’s issue for the next installment of “Medical Marijuana: From Washington D.C. to Mesa State College,” to see Mesa State’s policies on the issue as well as how students who have their registry cards deal with the issue daily.
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kschultz@mesastate.edu