TRUE COST OF DRUG USE IS AT ISSUE

Kevin Duggan correctly reported in his article (Oct. 16) that I did
not become so involved in the effort to close the marijuana
dispensaries in our town because my daughter became involved in drugs.
That may have happened anyway.

What didn't get reported is the reason I did become so involved. As I
told him, I became involved because I looked at the numbers and became
convinced that the dispensaries have caused an explosion in drug abuse
(0 to 500 cardholders in Larimer County over an eight-year period
before dispensaries opened, and then 500 to 8,000 cardholders in the
two years since they opened; 0 to 5,000 cardholders statewide over an
eight-year period before dispensaries opened, and then from 5,000 to
130,000 cardholders statewide in the two years since they opened, plus
a 300 percent increase in drug-related expulsions in Poudre School
District since they opened).

I know from my own experience the kind of misery those figures
represent. That 300 percent increase in expulsions doesn't even
include my daughter, or any of the many other teens involved in drug
abuse that I have become aware of since this happened to our daughter
(whose parents aren't able to speak out due to privacy concerns),
because none of them were caught at school.

The problem is much worse than the numbers show, and the numbers are
sufficiently horrifying to anyone who has ever dealt with drug abuse.
My daughter told me that it's easier to get marijuana than alcohol in
our town these days. She has been in treatment for six months now and
is doing great. Last week, she told me, "Mom, I am so sorry for what I
did." I replied, "That's OK, honey. I understand that wasn't you. That
was you on drugs. You're not alone. It happens to everyone who becomes
addicted to drugs. They do things they would never do otherwise."

As reported in the Oct. 18 paper, ("Medical marijuana dispensaries
join union"), marijuana dispensaries are backing an effort to get a
constitutional amendment on the Colorado ballot next year that would
regulate and tax recreational marijuana to raise money for schools.
Anyone who thinks that's a good idea doesn't understand the true cost
of drug abuse.