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My Trip to the Pot Shop
Townhall.com ^ | March 26, 2014 | Michelle Malkin

Posted on 03/26/2014 4:01:42 AM PDT by Kaslin

PUEBLO WEST, Colo. -- It's 9 a.m. on a weekday, and I'm at the Marisol Therapeutics pot shop. This is serious business. Security is tight. ID checks are frequent. Merchandise is strictly regulated, labeled, wrapped and controlled. The store is clean, bright and safe. The staffers are courteous and professional. Customers of all ages are here.

There's a middle-aged woman at the counter nearby who could be your school librarian. On the opposite end of the dispensary, a slender young soldier in a wheelchair with close-cropped hair, dressed in his fatigues, consults with a clerk. There's a gregarious cowboy and an inquisitive pair of baby boomers looking at edibles. A dude in a hoodie walks in with his backpack.

And then there's my husband and me.

The dispensary is split in two: "recreational" on one side, "medical" on the other. Medical customers must have state-issued cards and doctor's approval. The inventory is not taxed, so prices are lower on that side. On the recreational side, where I'm peering at mysterious jars of prickly green goods, "Smoke on the Water" is thumping from stereo speakers. Yes, there's a massive banner advertising a Tommy Chong appearance, and issues of "High Times" are on display. But the many imposing signs posted on the wall emphatically warn: No smoking, no open drug consumption, and absolutely no entry allowed into the locked lab where the cannabis plants sit under bright lights.

Before I tell you how and why my hubby and I ended up at Marisol Therapeutics, some background about my longtime support of medical marijuana: More than 15 years ago in Seattle, while working at The Seattle Times, I met an extraordinary man who changed my mind about the issue. Ralph Seeley was a Navy nuclear submarine officer, pilot, cellist and lawyer suffering from chordoma, a rare form of bone cancer that starts in the spine. He had undergone several surgeries, including removal of one lung and partial removal of the other, and was confined to a wheelchair.

Chronically nauseous from chemotherapy and radiation, weak from a suppressed appetite, and suffering excruciating pain, Seeley turned to marijuana cigarettes for relief.

Contrary to cultural stereotype, Seeley was far from "wasted." While smoking the drug to reduce his pain, he finished law school -- something he couldn't have done while on far more powerful "mainstream" narcotics, which left him zonked out and vomiting uncontrollably in his hospital bed after chemo. Seeley had the backing of his orthopedic doctor and University of Washington School of Medicine oncologist Dr. Ernest Conrad. He took his plight to the Washington state supreme court, where he asserted a constitutionally protected liberty interest in having his doctor issue a medical pot prescription.

The court rejected Seeley's case for physician-prescribed marijuana, arguing that the government's interest in preserving an "interlocking trellis" of costly and ineffective War on Drug laws trumped his right to individual autonomy and physician treatment. After a decade-long battle with cancer, Seeley died in 1998. But his spirit persevered. Seeley bravely paved the way for medical marijuana laws in nearly two dozen states, including Washington's Initiative 692, approved by voters 10 months after he died, and Colorado's Amendment 20, passed by popular referendum in 2000.

Support for these ballot measures and similar efforts (like the newly enacted Charlee's Law in Utah legalizing medical cannabis oil) transcends political lines. Why? Because cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other chronic and terminal diseases have no partisan affiliations.

This brings us back to Pueblo. For the past three months, my mother-in-law, Carole, whom I love with all my heart, has battled metastatic melanoma. After a harrowing week of hospitalization and radiation, she's at home now. A miraculous new combination of oral cancer drugs seems to have helped enormously with pain and possibly contained the disease's spread. But Carole's loss of appetite and nausea persist.

A month ago, with encouragement from all of her doctors here in Colorado, she applied for a state-issued medical marijuana card. It still hasn't come through. As a clerk at Marisol Therapeutics told us, there's a huge backlog. But thanks to Amendment 64, the marijuana drug legalization act approved by voters in 2012, we were able to legally and safely circumvent the bureaucratic holdup. "A lot of people are in your same situation," the pot shop staffer told us. "We see it all the time, and we're glad we can help."

Our stash included 10 pre-rolled joints, a "vape pen" and two containers of cheddar cheese-flavored marijuana crackers (they were out of brownies). So far, just one cracker a day is yielding health benefits. Carole is eating better than she has in three months. For us, there's no greater joy than sharing the simple pleasure of gathering in the kitchen for a meal, with Grandma Carole at the head of the table.

Do I worry about the negative costs, abuses and cultural consequences of unbridled recreational pot use? Of course I do. But when you get past all the "Rocky Mountain High" jokes and look past all the cable-news caricatures, the legalized marijuana entrepreneurs here in my adopted home state are just like any other entrepreneurs: securing capital, paying taxes, complying with a thicket of regulations, taking risks and providing goods and services that ordinary people want and need. Including our grateful family.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: dope; medicalmarijuana
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1 posted on 03/26/2014 4:01:42 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Glad to hear her mother-in-law is doing better. Seems that compassion outside of having to go through something like that is rare though.


2 posted on 03/26/2014 4:20:01 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: Kaslin

There should be a double emphasis that the author is MM herself!!!!!!!!!

The law abiding suffer while all the effort and money goes into beating up the dealers, producers, and users, to what end?

Please remember this article is about a single product that has nothing to do with narcotics trafficking.

A product by the way that is still a federal crime to possess.

Please notice also that the federal push back on state sovereignty seems to be focused on an illegal substance rather than the pursuit of God given rights. On the one hand CO has legalized a federally prohibited product, and on the other cannot muster the proper vote on legislation that puts the fringe on “shall not be infringed”.


3 posted on 03/26/2014 4:22:37 AM PDT by wita
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To: wita

Clearly Michelle Malkin is just another one of those doper libtards who want to bring the country down. /s


4 posted on 03/26/2014 4:33:09 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: Wolfie

As I clicked on “new posts to you” I thought, here it comes.

Thanks for what IMHO is the correct response.


5 posted on 03/26/2014 4:39:05 AM PDT by wita
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To: Wolfie

What is a vape pen?


6 posted on 03/26/2014 4:41:12 AM PDT by workerbee (The President of the United States is DOMESTIC ENEMY #1!)
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To: Wolfie

PS, not only a ‘99er, but a Christmas day ‘99er.


7 posted on 03/26/2014 4:41:16 AM PDT by wita
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To: Kaslin

Truly tragic to see MM (who I admired greatly before this) support the Marxists effort to put the final nail in America’s coffin, by getting the population stoned on pot.


8 posted on 03/26/2014 4:47:12 AM PDT by Above My Pay Grade (The people have the right to tell government what guns it may possess, not the other way around.)
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To: workerbee

A refillable e-cigarette for pot. There’s no smoke and practically no smell so people frequently use them in public.


9 posted on 03/26/2014 4:47:52 AM PDT by varyouga
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To: workerbee

Same thing as an e-cigarette.


10 posted on 03/26/2014 4:49:12 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: wita

Just so we’re clear, I was being sarcastic. Others (see above) are not.


11 posted on 03/26/2014 4:51:33 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: workerbee

Like an e-cigarette, but instead of the cartridge delivering nicotine, it delivers weed.


12 posted on 03/26/2014 4:52:22 AM PDT by socal_parrot (I hate to say I told you so, but...)
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To: Kaslin

The staffers are courteous and professional.”

…the guy pictured may be couteous but he looks exactly like what I’d expect to see in a dope shop. And “professional” ain’t it.


13 posted on 03/26/2014 4:54:34 AM PDT by albie
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To: Kaslin
Nothing about it in the Constitution? Then let the states decide, individually. We have bigger problems wrong with this country that emanate from DC!
14 posted on 03/26/2014 5:01:28 AM PDT by ArtDodger
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To: Above My Pay Grade
Truly tragic to see MM (who I admired greatly before this) support the Marxists effort to put the final nail in America’s coffin, by getting the population stoned on pot.

Blast that Tenth Amendment!

15 posted on 03/26/2014 5:11:06 AM PDT by Ken H (What happens on the internet, stays on the internet.)
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To: Kaslin

16 posted on 03/26/2014 5:16:11 AM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
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To: Above My Pay Grade
Truly tragic to see MM support the Marxists effort to put the final nail in America’s coffin, by getting the population stoned on pot.

Oh, please. Pot wasn't even illegal until the 1920's, so it has been legal longer than it has been illegal.

The article has nothing to do with MM supporting 'getting stoned' either, which you would notice if you'd read the article instead of knee-jerking into melodramatic swill mode.

17 posted on 03/26/2014 5:21:52 AM PDT by MamaTexan (I am a Person as created by the Laws of Nature, not a person as created by the laws of Man)
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To: MamaTexan

I was born in the dark but it wasn’t last night. “Medicinal” marijuana was the camel’s nose in the tent. Marijuana use can cause nausea as well.
If momma can eat a cheese cracker and feel better, what does that have to do with some guy legally smoking skunkweed just to get stoned? If you want to legalize it, just legalize it. Don’t hide behind a medicine label.
If marijuana is just medicine, make it prescription only. Morphine and antibiotics are medicine. Why don’t we just legalize them so people can have them at will as well? FREEDOM! War on drugs!
“Marijuana cigarette”. Geez.


18 posted on 03/26/2014 5:35:14 AM PDT by AppyPappy
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To: Wolfie
I've seen the effects of chemo on people, and can vouch for the fact that MJ works to combat the side effects.

Many, many moons ago, my uncle was undergoing chemo and his doc "mentioned in passing" (wink wink) that pot would help. Of course it was illegal, but Unc said "Of course I'll try it. What are they going to do, give me cancer?" If nothing else, it kept him comfortable and helped him get to sleep.

The Feddle Gov't is foolish to regulate heavy-duty drugs that can actually work. Of course, they're equally foolish to de-regulate heavy-duty drugs simply for recreational use, as well. IMO, I agree with MM - the question is best left to the states.

19 posted on 03/26/2014 5:44:59 AM PDT by wbill
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To: Ken H

>>>Blast that Tenth Amendment!<<<

While there is a 10th Amendment argument that states rather than the Feds should ban this poison, MM is not making that argument.

She is essentially calling pot a “wonder drug” that makes Mom-in-law’s cancer an almost pleasurable experience and HELPS people achieve academically and graduate from law school.

The legalize and legitimize pot movement is in lockstep with the homosexualist movement to legitimize sodomy. It is a naked attempt to undermine American society and turn us into a nation of brain dead, semi-conscious fairies, unable to provide for themselves, much less defend our nation.

The only real question is whether we will be better off being enslaved by the Russians or the Chinese. I lean towards China...the food is better.


20 posted on 03/26/2014 5:52:18 AM PDT by Above My Pay Grade (The people have the right to tell government what guns it may possess, not the other way around.)
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