Everett residents will be casting a vote on Election Day on Question 3 – by voting yes or no on a proposed law that will eliminate state criminal and civil penalties for the medical use of marijuana by qualifying patients.
Only those who are sick with a variety of debilitating and painful medical issues such as cancer, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, hepatitis C, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s, ALS and Multiple Sclerosis would be eligible to receive marijuana from medical treatment centers that would provide it.
The State Department of Health would allow patients who qualify to have a 60- day supply for their personal medical use. Caregivers 21 or over that are designated by the person using the medical marijuana could administer it but cannot use it. Both patients and caregivers would have to register with the DPH and would be required to provide as well a physician’s certification.
The law would require and allow medical marijuana treatment centers to grow, process and to provide marijuana.
If passed, the law goes into effect in 2013. Only 35 cultivation and growing centers will be sanctioned with no more than 5 centers and no less than one in each county statewide.
The arguments for the question to pass are simple – a Yes vote will stop a lot of suffering from those who are extremely ill and need the clinical use of marijuana to relieve pain, nausea, seizures and a wide variety of ailments that inhibit a human being from getting on with their lives from day to day and for some, from hour to hour.
The strict regulation by the DPH is expected to limit fraud and inappropriate use. Marijuana, supporters say, will decrease the need for highly addictive narcotics like morphine and OxyContin.
A NO vote will stop the easy access to marijuana, will stop others from feeling they have a license to grow marijuana and despite all the restrictions placed on its illegal use, it is inevitable that illegal use of marijuana will grow.
Also, those against the measure view 35 medical marijuana outlets – pot shops – as simply not necessary. In addition, opponents say medical marijuana would require tighter restrictions and physician oversight.
Question 3 is important to Everett residents because of two competing reasons.
There are many here suffering from serious diseases that might be aided by the availability of medical marijuana.
On the other hand, this neighborhood has suffered from substance abuse for decades.
Make sure you vote on Question 3.
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Read the law. It allows for those with "other" conditions to get a medical marijuana card. This is the same loophole in Colorado and California's law. Today Colorado has over 100,000 medical marijuana card holders. The profile of the average card holder is a healthy, white male, age 32 with a history of substance abuse. Less than 3% of cardholders have Cancer. Less than 5% have a listed true, chronic illness. 95% of those 100,000 card holders have medical marijuana cards for "other" conditions: insomnia, anxiety, headaches....
Question 3 would be capped at 35 pot stores in year 1, but more could be allowed in "a future year". Same loophole as California. Los Angelos now has over 900 pot dispensaries....
Question 3: no age limit, no refill limit, no parental consent required in the law. This means any child could get a lifetime membership to a marijuana dispensary without their parents knowing.....
Question 3: Pot stores would be non-profit. No matter how much money they make, or how rich their owners are - they would NOT be subject to property or sales tax. A pot shop in Almeda County, CA opened in 2007 brought in $97,000 the first year, 1.2 million the second year, and 21 million the 3rd year. This is really big business that is tax free for the business owners....
74% of kids in treatment for addiction in Denver report getting their pot supply from a medical marijuana holder a median of 50 times....
Question 3 would be impossible to fix or repeal if it passes because of its "severability clause" - final paragraph of the law. Any piece judged to be invalid is the only piece that could be adjusted or tossed, the rest would stay in tact. Other state like CO and CA are furiously working to reverse course but to no avail. Big businesses can lawyer-up when a municipality wants to put restrictions on something to protect its community. That's why the State of Ri is in legal battle with the ACLU over their medical marijuana law.
No Zoning: Pot stores could be located next to schools, public parks, ball fields, libraries, hospitals, churches....
Anyone over the age of 21 with no special training could own and operate a pot store. In Colorado they recruit high school graduates and college kids to work in them....
Shopping sprees: Because Question 3 would circumvent the prescription monitoring program so there'd be no tracking system in place to avoid abuse - nothing would stop a person with a medical marijuana card to build up a large supply very quickly by purchasing their 60 day supply from multiple stores in the same day (or the same store at different times). This begs for people to build up a stash and sell it on the street for personal, illicit profit.