Denver Pot Dispensaries: 390; Colo. Starbucks: 208

7NEWS ^ | January 4, 2010 | Alan Gathright,

[george76]

Marijuana advocates are hailing the Mile High City as "America's Cannabis Capital."

Denver smokes mega-cities like Los Angeles -- which has "Hollywood hype" and an estimated 1,000 medical marijuana dispensaries -- when the number of medical pot dispensaries are calculated per capita...

That means Denver pot dispensaries outnumber by nearly 2-to-1 the 208 Starbucks in state of Colorado.

And there may be more dispensaries operating in Denver that haven't applied for a sales-tax license...

So, while the city of Los Angeles, with a population of 4.02 million, has one dispensary for every 4,065 residents, Denver (Pop. 598,707) boasts 1 dispensary per 1,535 residents.

In December alone, 200 dispensary entrepreneurs applied for Denver sales-tax licenses, Ellington said. The city is getting on average 25 sales-tax applications a day from dispensaries operators.

Why the rush?

The draft ordinance would bar dispensaries from operating within 1,000 feet of "any school or child-care establishment," or another pot dispensary. Dispensary owners also would have to undergo a criminal background check for felony convictions within the past five years.

But the draft ordinance would allow dispensaries that applied for a sales tax license before Jan. 1, 2010 to avoid the 1,000-foot restrictions.

That means a dispensary that was already licensed before last Friday and located near a school or child-care center could continue operating under the proposed law.

[ChrisInAR]

God bless Denver...the home of the NUGGETS! (In more ways than one, LOL)

[familyop]

Any pot smokers who want to be disabled can get high at taxpayers’ expense. Must be quite a few of them out there.

[familyop]

Not to mention their other expenses.

[Tolsti2]

Lots of them on this site it seems. Post above yours for instance.

[padre35]

Exactly, what is funny about the so called “medical marijuna” effort is...where it is implemented, it’s not like the local traditional pharmacies close their doors.

Folks wish to get high, I can understand, but not agree, with that, what I do not like is the use of “medicine” to cover it’s usage.

[Balata]

That outnumbers the liquor stores.

[ChrisInAR]

Thank you. :-)

[squirt]

Half of the donkeys were on the stuff yesterday.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Currently, medical marijuana is NOT covered by taxpayer funds. It is treated like other herbal remedies and is subject to taxation, hence the rush in Colorado to tax sales of it.

[OrangeHoof]

No wonder Allen Iverson’s career went downhill so fast...

[ChrisInAR]

I’ve never had much respect for A.I.

[Richard Kimball]

I don't think pot should be illegal.

Soliloquy:

Pot's not good for you, nor are Twinkies, Jack Daniels or Sex in the City DVD collections.

The "Hemp is the crop that will get California out of the financial mess" and "Marijuana is a miracle drug that works on SO MANY DISEASES" arguments are garbage. People make these arguments as an end around to get marijuana legalized.

It's not worth the effort and expense to keep marijuana illegal, though.

[familyop]

Revenues for disability benefits come from taxpayers. Taxpayers do not want their money spent on pot.

[Ueriah]

So much money ends up in Mexico or Canada or Jamacia.

Legalize it already.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Once a society decides to give them cash, they can do with it as they with, legally. If you have a dispute with giving them cash, that is one thing. But the comment that taxpayers were paying for it is misleading. And, not all card holders are receiving disability payments.

[Nate505]

Oh boy, are you proposing some sort of taxpayer approved list on what someone can spend their disability on?

[Molon Labbie]

So when are they going to put in the crack, heroin, and meth dispensaries?

That will make for some interesting Youtube video.

[PA Engineer]

Did you have to include Jack Daniels?

[WVKayaker]

So when are they going to put in the crack, heroin, and meth dispensaries?

Typical straw man argument which has nothing to do with marijuana, and everything to do with ignorance. Some people just want to get high (what a terrible thought!). Others may have have different LEGITIMATE reasons. Opiates are already used to successfully treat all types of illness.

YMMV!

Nov 10, 2009- ...Houston, TX -- The American Medical Association (AMA) voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana be retained as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by its Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, "Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes," which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research. The CSAPH report concluded that, "short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis." Furthermore, the report urges that "the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods." ... AMA

*******

... Public opinion on the medical value of marijuana has been sharply divided. Some dismiss medical marijuana as a hoax that exploits our natural compassion for the sick; others claim it is a uniquely soothing medicine that has been withheld from patients through regulations based on false claims. Proponents of both views cite “scientific evidence” to support their views and have expressed those views at the ballot box in recent state elections. In January 1997, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) asked the Institute of Medicine to conduct a review of the scientific evidence to assess the potential health benefits and risks of marijuana and its constituent cannabinoids (see box: Statement of Task). That review began in August 1997 and culminates with this report. ...
http://www.medmjscience.org/Media/pdf/marimed.pdf