High Up Volume One

Page 8 www.HighUpColorado.com High Up V1Q1
marijuana's inception in 2000, effectively eliminating
caregiving status and reducing total medical plant
count per household to 12. Intended to prevent black
market activity, it is seen by some as an assault on medical
freedom. They argue if a cancer patient were to
need 12 plants a month to make a highly concentrated
cannabis oil to manage pain, appetite, or sleep issues,
that patient wouldn’t have enough medicine to last
through a three-month harvest cycle. They would be
forced to buy their medicine from a dispensary which
costs much more than growing their own supply. The
17,000 medical patients in the state would be dependent
upon the dispensary system for their medicine,
forcing them to contribute revenue to the state, rather
than contributing to their personal health.
Taking the lead from the state legislature, local law
enforcement has made some interesting choices. On
March 3, 2017, the Trinidad Police Department took a
firm stance on the issue of a local industry night, where
vendors and participants consumed marijuana. For the
larger part of the year, these industry nights, a community
gathering strictly for people who use cannabis,
were treated by the police as a non-issue. The gatherings
were informative, safe, and absent of illicit sales or
criminality under current statutes.
A cease and desist letter was sent to the businesses
which host these events. Two excerpts from that letter
are important to note: “It has come to our attention recently
that you have been hosting at your place of business
either a marijuana consumption/smoking club or
an ’industry night’ i.e. a social gathering where marijuana
is purportedly given away to people after a cover
charge is being paid ostensibly to gain entrance.”
The letter goes on to outline the consequences going
forward. “It is, therefore our intent to criminally prosecute
the people who hold, organize, or preside over
such events. The charge will be sale or distribution of
marijuana without a license, or conspiracy to commit
in contravention of C.R.S section 18 -18-406. Also, subsection
5.5 (a) of that statue makes it a criminal offense
to transfer marijuana or marijuana concentrates at no
cost to a person if the transfer is in any way related to
remuneration for any other service or product.” After
treating the events as a non-issue, the change in attitude
of the Trinidad Police Department is a mystery.
Going forward from here, things seem pretty
cloudy. There is, however, a silver lining to this cloud.
The past three years of tax revenue in Colorado, created
thanks to Proposition 64, are as follows: 2014 saw
$76,152,466; 2015 grossed $135,100,467; and, in 2016,
$154.4 million in revenue was created, statistics that are
undeniable. If those numbers are a measure of the success
of the industry and the support of the general population,
legal marijuana and its large tax contribution
should be here to stay.