When I lived in Denver, I looked forward to Wednesdays because that was when the free entertainment newspaper came out. Westword always had the best suggestions about places to eat, shows in town, and even some interesting reporting. So, it was no surprise that I picked up the latest copy as I was on my way to Candidate Campaign Finance Training sponsored by the Colorado Secretary of State.
The surprise was that a huge percentage of the ads in the weekly newspaper, which now comes out on Thursdays, were from marijuana dispensaries. They advertised everything from different kinds of buds to baked goods laced with the drug. Then I started noticing that there were storefronts everywhere where dispensaries had replaced the odd assortment of marginal retail shops.
The front page of the Denver Post had a picture of a kid lighting up at a rally while holding a sign in support of marijuana. The same newspaper had a story about a bill going to the House to support funding for a Colorado study of extra-terrestrial visitors. I don’t think the stories were related.
My brother-in-law is a union stage hand. He told me that one of the problems facing the union today is workers using marijuana on the job. He was worried about the over-head workers being a bit spaced out and endangering the workers below.
Colorado’s voters overwhelmingly supported a medical marijuana amendment to our constitution. Laws are just catching up with the amendment. Medical marijuana needs regulation so that people with legitimate prescriptions can have access to the drug. So that workers aren’t endangered by other workers. If we get real serious, we can even start to talk about how our marijuana laws are creating problems for our neighbor to the south. Or do a cost benefit analysis on the War on Drugs.
Homework:
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14631814
http://www.gjsentinel.com/opinion/articles/dispense_with_the_nonsense_on
http://www.westword.com/2010-03-04/news/denver-hits-the-million-dollar-jack-pot-with-235-medical-marijuana-dispensaries/
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/05/13/mexico.fox.marijuana/
http://www.hulu.com/watch/63039/reefer-madness <--Link to 1930’s film about marijuana, which became a cult favorite. (I saw it in an art theatre in the 1970’s.)
The surprise was that a huge percentage of the ads in the weekly newspaper, which now comes out on Thursdays, were from marijuana dispensaries. They advertised everything from different kinds of buds to baked goods laced with the drug. Then I started noticing that there were storefronts everywhere where dispensaries had replaced the odd assortment of marginal retail shops.
The front page of the Denver Post had a picture of a kid lighting up at a rally while holding a sign in support of marijuana. The same newspaper had a story about a bill going to the House to support funding for a Colorado study of extra-terrestrial visitors. I don’t think the stories were related.
My brother-in-law is a union stage hand. He told me that one of the problems facing the union today is workers using marijuana on the job. He was worried about the over-head workers being a bit spaced out and endangering the workers below.
Colorado’s voters overwhelmingly supported a medical marijuana amendment to our constitution. Laws are just catching up with the amendment. Medical marijuana needs regulation so that people with legitimate prescriptions can have access to the drug. So that workers aren’t endangered by other workers. If we get real serious, we can even start to talk about how our marijuana laws are creating problems for our neighbor to the south. Or do a cost benefit analysis on the War on Drugs.
Homework:
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14631814
http://www.gjsentinel.com/opinion/articles/dispense_with_the_nonsense_on
http://www.westword.com/2010-03-04/news/denver-hits-the-million-dollar-jack-pot-with-235-medical-marijuana-dispensaries/
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/05/13/mexico.fox.marijuana/
http://www.hulu.com/watch/63039/reefer-madness <--Link to 1930’s film about marijuana, which became a cult favorite. (I saw it in an art theatre in the 1970’s.)
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