During her eight years with Planned Parenthood, Abby quickly rose in the organization’s ranks and became a clinic director. She was increasingly disturbed by what she witnessed. Abortion was a product Planned Parenthood was selling, not an unfortunate necessity that they fought to decrease. Still, Abby loved the women that entered her clinic and her fellow workers. Despite a growing unrest within her, she stayed on and strove to serve women in crisis.

All of that changed on September 26, 2009 when Abby was asked to assist with an ultrasound-guided abortion. She watched in horror as a 13 week baby fought, and ultimately lost, its life at the hand of the abortionist. At that moment, the full realization of what abortion was and what she had dedicated her life to washed over Abby and a dramatic transformation took place.

Desperate and confused, Abby sought help from a local pro-life group. She swore that she would begin to advocate for life in the womb and expose abortion for what it truly is.

Planned Parenthood did not take Abby’s exodus sitting down. They are fully aware that the workers who leave are their greatest threat. Instantly, they took action to silence Abby with a gag order and took her to court. The lawsuit was quickly seen as the sham it was and thrown out of court.

The media was, and continues to be, intensely interested in Abby’s story as well as her continued efforts to advocate for the unborn and help clinic workers escape the abortion industry. She is a frequently requested guest on Fox News and a variety of other shows and the author of the nationally best-selling book, Unplanned, which chronicles both her experiences within Planned Parenthood and her dramatic exit.

Today, Abby travels across the globe sharing her story, educating the public on pro-life issues, advocating for the unborn, and reaching out to abortion clinic staff who still work in the industry.  She is the Chief Research Strategist for Live Action Films, Senior Policy Advisor for American United for Life and works on projects for various pro-life organizations.  Abby lives in Texas with her husband and precious daughter. She is grateful to God for her calling to speak for life and considers herself to be incredibly blessed.

Abbey Johnson spoke at CSU on February 21, 2012. You can watch Abbey Johnson’s speech at CSU on YouTube.

After retiring from a long and successful career in law enforcement and after retiring from being mayor of a Colorado city for six years, I began my quest to find my biological mother. Having tried various searches in the past, which had always dead-ended, my motivation was renewed by the success of another person’s search. I began an earnest pursuit of finding my biological mother in April 2005.

I put investigative skills acquired from years of working in law enforcement to the test and coupled them with dogged persistence. The journey to finding my missing heritage made me  travel to small towns in Colorado, created new relationships that continue today, and revealed new perspectives to me about my life.

The most significant outcome of my search was the reuniting with my mother. It took my desire and determination to search and the courage of a mother, who was told that her newborn had died, to put the pieces of an incomplete life together.  My mother was violated against her will, but that didn’t stop her from giving me life instead of taking   my life.  I’ve published a book, Baby Boy-R, that is available on this website and all other bookstores, i.e. Barns and Noble, Amazon.com, etc.  I encourge you to read the rest of the story.

I have worked diligently to enforce and educate people about substance abuse since 1973 when I was an undercover drug agent for Colorado. Let’s be honest, people are misled about the genuine use of marijuana for medicinal use. There was a point and time where our society used to believe that cigarettes were safe and harmless, and some of the tobacco industry led us to believe it was healthy for us to smoke. Sound familiar with marijuana today? Many years ago, people would sell bottles of drinks that were suppose to cure everything, better known as “snake oil”. Today we are faced with the 21st century “snake oil” that proponents want you to believe that marijuana cures everything from minor pains to curing cancer. Snake oil never lives up to the sellers’ hype.

There must be a gate-keeper of all medicines. We shouldn’t allow doctors to write notes or prescriptions for medicine that is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and sold through a pharmacy; the FDA is our existing gate-keeper. The pressure to ask doctors to issue permits or notes for their patients to use marijuana because it was approved by a popular vote in Colorado is egregious and unprecedented.

Even though I think there are people who really need marijuana for medicinal purposes, most people use it as a recreational drug and as a social lubricant. The great news is that most of our youth do not use marijuana; that in itself is refreshing.

In 2000, Colorado voters approved Amendment 20 of the Colorado Constitution to allow medical marijuana use. The amendment doesn’t allow distribution through dispensaries. Since that decision, parents and schools, substance abuse treatment providers and police officials have experienced significant negative effects plaguing our youth and our community.

The decision to allow or deny these dispensaries represents a significant public policy issue for any community. The voters deserve the opportunity to vote as to whether they want to allow these marijuana distribution centers in their community.

What others are saying about the book:

“Ray should be commended for exposing the dangers and myths surrounding marijuana.  The forces pushing for states to legalize “medical marihuana” are hiding their true agenda.  Marijuana is a cash crop to these organized criminal forces.  Their concern is not for their fellow man but for their bottom line. It is ironic that the rampant abuses “medical marijuana” laws only serve to make our communities and society sick and less productive.”

Cliff Riedel
Career Prosecutor
Assistant District Attorney, 8^th Judicial District of Colorado

“The loss of one youth’s potential is a tragic loss to that individual, his family, and the community at large, and as you know, those lost souls often become a never-ending burden to those that love them and society as a whole… National Geographic has given so much air time and sympathy to the marijuana folks, limiting you to sound bites, omitting the many times you would have told them the impact on our youth… I am so glad you are writing the book and doing so in such a short amount of time.”

Nancy Smith, Ph.D.
Therapist in Fort Collins, Colorado
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Colorado
Founding director of the Center for Family Care, Ft. Collins, Colorado

“Ray candidly brings to light the dangers and adverse affects of the use of marijuana and the abuses committed by medical marijuana distribution facilities. This book should be mandatory reading for our elected representatives who make decisions relating to proposals for legalization of marijuana and/or the creation of medical marijuana outlets”.

Stu VanMeveren
Former elected District Attorney and criminal defense attorney

“Ray is a gifted writer who has authored many superb self-help and inspirational books. Ray’s new book thoroughly unmasks the medical marijuana myth. Ray points out that the idea of medical marijuana is a mirage. It is not prescribed by the family physician, but by typical pill-pushing doctors traveling the circuit. It is not dispensed by licensed pharmacies. It is about drug pushers selling marijuana for profit. It is about marijuana abusers getting stoned. It is about stoned drivers causing carnage on the highways. It is about ruined lives. You will find this to be a useful reference book.”

Loren Schall
Former Deputy, Chief Trial Deputy, and Assistant District Attorney (1970-2009), Eighth Judicial District of Colorado (Larimer and Jackson Counties)

This show, prescription addiction radio.com, is for both affected individuals and family members who live with the daily consequences. The Prescription Addiction Radio Show continues to be dedicated to the thousands of families who are being or have been affected by the misuse of prescription drugs.

The Prescription Addiction Radio Show is here to explore some of the challenges we face in trying to turn the explosion in the misuse of prescription drugs around. The radio show continues to reach out to business and taxpayers for creative solutions to stop the economic destruction too many drugs bring to a community.

The Prescription Addiction Radio Show believes that addiction is a predisposed disease, whether created by poor personal choices or created from following the advice of your doctor. No individual wishes it upon themselves.

Listen to the radio show today. Ray’s introduction into the show is approximately 32 minutes into the program; approximately 20 minute interview about marijuana in Colorado and Fort Collins–the illegal operation of MMDs (medical marijuana dispensaries):

04/01/12 Guest Ray Martinez – Former Mayor Fort Collins – Sheriff Bob Gualtieri Does His Job – Chimpanzees Rule! – An Enjoyable Show

Below on government report:

“Medical” Marijuana – The Facts
Medical marijuana already exists. It’s called Marinol.
A pharmaceutical product, Marinol, is widely available through prescription. It comes in the form of a pill and is also being studied by researchers for suitability via other delivery methods, such as an inhaler or patch. The active ingredient of Marinol is synthetic THC, which has been found to relieve the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy for cancer patients and to assist with loss of appetite with AIDS patients.
Unlike smoked marijuana–which contains more than 400 different chemicals, including most of the hazardous chemicals found in tobacco smoke-Marinol has been studied and approved by the medical community and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the nation’s watchdog over unsafe and harmful food and drug products. Since the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, any drug that is marketed in the United States must undergo rigorous scientific testing. The approval process mandated by this act ensures that claims of safety and therapeutic value are supported by clinical evidence and keeps unsafe, ineffective and dangerous drugs off the market.

There are no FDA-approved medications that are smoked. For one thing, smoking is generally a poor way to deliver medicine. It is difficult to administer safe, regulated dosages of medicines in smoked form. Secondly, the harmful chemicals and carcinogens that are byproducts of smoking create entirely new health problems. There are four times the level of tar in a marijuana cigarette, for example, than in a tobacco cigarette
Morphine, for example, has proven to be a medically valuable drug, but the FDA does not endorse the smoking of opium or heroin. Instead, scientists have extracted active ingredients from opium, which are sold as pharmaceutical products like morphine, codeine, hydrocodone or oxycodone. In a similar vein, the FDA has not approved smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes, but has approved the active ingredient-THC-in the form of scientifically regulated Marinol.

The DEA helped facilitate the research on Marinol. The National Cancer Institute approached the DEA in the early 1980s regarding their study of THC’s in relieving nausea and vomiting. As a result, the DEA facilitated the registration and provided regulatory support and guidance for the study.

The DEA recognizes the importance of listening to science. That’s why the DEA has registered seven research initiatives to continue researching the effects of smoked marijuana as medicine. For example, under one program established by the State of California, researchers are studying the potential use of marijuana and its ingredients on conditions such as multiple sclerosis and pain. At this time, however, neither the medical community nor the scientific community has found sufficient data to conclude that smoked marijuana is the best approach to dealing with these important medical issues.

The most comprehensive, scientifically rigorous review of studies of smoked marijuana was conducted by the Institute of Medicine, an organization chartered by the National Academy of Sciences. In a report released in 1999, the Institute did not recommend the use of smoked marijuana, but did conclude that active ingredients in marijuana could be isolated and developed into a variety of pharmaceuticals, such as Marinol.
In the meantime, the DEA is working with pain management groups, such as Last Acts, to make sure that those who need access to safe, effective pain medication can get the best medication available.

IMPORTANT LEGAL FACTS
• In 2000, Colorado voters approved Amendment 20 (allowing medical marijuana) by 53% to 47%
• In 2006, Colorado voters defeated Amendment 44(decriminalizing the possession of one ounce or less of marijuana) by 59% to 41%
• In 2009, the unelected Colorado Board of Health, contrary to the provisions of Amendment 20, decriminalized mass commercial distribution of marijuana in Colorado.
• In 2009, the unelected US Attorney General arbitrarily announced that he would no longer prosecute marijuana distribution cases in Colorado.
• In 2011, pro marijuana legalization advocates have announced they will be attempting to place an initiative on the statewide ballot legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana in Colorado.
SUMMARIZED CONCERNS
• The marijuana available today is anywhere between 5 and 10 times more potent than was seen in the 1970s.
• Long-term national studies since the 1970s has established that teen drug usage decreases proportional to the perceptions of harm. As Colorado has allowed commercial dispensaries, those perceptions of harm have decreased and usage by teen is increasing proportionally.
• Researchers have recently discovered long-term, negative medical and psychological impacts of marijuana usage on young persons
• Since the decriminalization of commercial marijuana distribution in Fort Collins, school officials and substance abuse providers have witness alarming increases in illegal marijuana use by our youth.
• Local law enforcement officials are seeing a startling increase in violent or dangerous crimes relating to marijuana usage since the decriminalization of these commercial distributors at the same time that other crimes are generally going down and overall public safety budgets are decreasing.
Does marijuana cause the “Reefer Madness” that we were told about in the 60s? No. Does long-term marijuana use or use by teens cause long-term, medical and psychological harm? The ongoing medical research indicates yes.

For those who reason- “Hey, I smoked some weed when I was growing up and it didn’t hurt me”, let me offer this. Most of us grew up in a time when there were no child car seats and almost no one wore seat belts and hey, we’re all still here! Did we use that logic to justify not protecting our kids in child car seats and seat belts? 30-some years later, we continue to learn more and more detrimental effects of marijuana. Should we protect our children and grandchildren from those like we do from unnecessary injuries from car crashes?
The evidence shows that sanctioned legal distribution of marijuana in our state increases marijuana usage by our youth. As a conscientious, health conscious community, shouldn’t we make decisions for future generations that will reflect those values?

Alcohol tax collected nation wide is 14.5b, but the social and health cost is $185b. The Smoking tax collected $25b, however, the social cost us $200b (Colorado sheriffs , Colorado Drug Investigators Assoc., ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske statement, March 4, 2010).

On September 18, 2002, The New York Times printed as a full-page ad, An Open Letter to Parents about Marijuana:
“Marijuana puts kids at risk. It is the most widely used illicit drug among youth today and is more potent than ever. Marijuana use can lead to a host of significant health, social, learning, and behavioral problems at a crucial time in a young person’s development… Kids can get hooked on pot… More teens enter treatment for marijuana abuse each year than for all other illicit drugs combined.”

The ad is signed by eighteen organizations. Among them are American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, Child Welfare League of America, National Center for School Health Nursing, National Medical Association and the National Parent Teachers Association.

I care about the seriously ill, and I also care about the health of our youth. We cannot afford the social cost and ramifications of our young adults’ future by closing our eyes to the truth being undermined. Next we will see other habit forming drugs being considered as medicine through popular votes instead of the FDA.
The heavy marketing that you see today is only the beginning. We never see doctors and pharmacists doing sign dancing on our streets promoting drugs. Pharmacies don’t entice a person to take drugs through tantalizing candy wrappers that simulate other popular brands of candy. Let’s e honest, the intent is wrong and it is up to us to correct it and bring out the truth.

Marijuana NIDA
Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. It is a dry, shredded green and brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. The main active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol; THC for short.

How is Marijuana Abused?
Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (joint) or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana. Since the blunt retains the tobacco leaf used to wrap the cigar, this mode of delivery combines marijuana’s active ingredients with nicotine and other harmful chemicals. Marijuana can also be mixed in food or brewed as a tea. As a more concentrated, resinous form it is called hashish, and as a sticky black liquid, hash oil.* Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor.

How Does Marijuana Affect the Brain?
Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body.

THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the “high” that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thoughts, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.1

Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.2 As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.

Research on the long-term effects of marijuana abuse indicates some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs. For example, cannabinoid withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system3 and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine.4 Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.

Addictive Potential 5
Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction; that is, compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite its known harmful effects upon social functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities. Long-term marijuana abusers trying to quit report irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which make it difficult to quit. These withdrawal symptoms begin within about 1 day following abstinence, peak at 2–3 days, and subside within 1 or 2 weeks following drug cessation.

Marijuana and Mental Health
A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia. Some of these studies have shown age at first use to be a factor, where early use is a marker of vulnerability to later problems. However, at this time, it is not clear whether marijuana use causes mental problems, exacerbates them, or is used in attempt to self-medicate symptoms already in existence. Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses, including addiction, stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence. At the present time, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders.6 High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction; in addition, use of the drug may trigger the onset or relapse of schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals.

What Other Adverse Effect Does Marijuana Have on Health?
Effects on the Heart
Marijuana increases heart rate by 20–100 percent shortly after smoking; this effect can last up to 3 hours. In one study, it was estimated that marijuana users have a 4.8-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking the drug.7 This may be due to the increased heart rate as well as effects of marijuana on heart rhythms, causing palpitations and arrhythmias. This risk may be greater in aging populations or those with cardiac vulnerabilities.

Effects on the Lungs
Numerous studies have shown marijuana smoke to contain carcinogens and to be an irritant to the lungs. In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50–70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke. Marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, which further increase the lungs’ exposure to carcinogenic smoke. Marijuana smokers show dysregulated growth of epithelial cells in their lung tissue, which could lead to cancer;8 however, a recent case-controlled study found no positive associations between marijuana use and lung, upper respiratory, or upper digestive tract cancers.9 Thus, the link between marijuana smoking and these cancers remains unsubstantiated at this time.
Nonetheless, marijuana smokers can have many of the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness, and a heightened risk of lung infections. A study of 450 individuals found that people who smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers.10 Many of the extra sick days among the marijuana smokers in the study were for respiratory illnesses.

Effects on Daily Life
Research clearly demonstrates that marijuana has the potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person’s existing problems worse. In one study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement including physical and mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status.11 Several studies associate workers’ marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers’ compensation claims, and job turnover.

What Treatment Options Exist?
Behavioral interventions, including cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational incentives (i.e., providing vouchers for goods or services to patients who remain abstinent) have shown efficacy in treating marijuana dependence. Although no medications are currently available, recent discoveries about the workings of the cannabinoid system offer promise for the development of medications to ease withdrawal, block the intoxicating effects of marijuana, and prevent relapse.

The latest treatment data indicate that in 2006 marijuana was the most common illicit drug of abuse and was responsible for about 16 percent (289,988) of all admissions to treatment facilities in the United States. Marijuana admissions were primarily male (73.8 percent), White (51.5 percent), and young (36.1 percent were in the 15–19 age range). Those in treatment for primary marijuana abuse had begun use at an early age: 56.2 percent had abused it by age 14 and 92.5 percent had abused it by age 18.

How Widespread is Marijuana Abuse?
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)***
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2007, 14.4 million Americans aged 12 or older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed, which is similar to the 2006 rate. About 6,000 people a day in 2007 used marijuana for the first time—2.1 million Americans. Of these, 62.2 percent were under age 18.

Monitoring the Future Survey****
The Monitoring the Future survey indicates that marijuana use among 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders—which has shown a consistent decline since the mid-1990s—appears to have leveled off, with 10.9 percent of 8th-graders, 23.9 percent of 10th-graders, and 32.4 percent of 12th-graders reporting past-year use. Heightening the concern over this stabilization in use is the finding that, compared to last year, the proportion of 8th-graders who perceived smoking marijuana as harmful and the proportion who disapprove of the drug’s use have decreased.

1 Herkenham M, Lynn A, Little MD, et al. Cannabinoid receptor localization in the brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA 87(5):1932–1936, 1990.
2 Pope HG, Gruber AJ, Hudson JI, Huestis MA, Yurgelun-Todd D. Neuropsychological performance in long-term cannabis users. Arch Gen Psychiatry 58(10):909–915, 2001.
3 Rodríguez de Fonseca F, Carrera MRA, Navarro M, Koob GF, Weiss F. Activation of corticotropin-releasing factor in the limbic system during cannabinoid withdrawal. Science 276(5321):2050–2054, 1997.
4 Diana M, Melis M, Muntoni AL, Gessa GL. Mesolimbic dopaminergic decline after cannabinoid withdrawal. Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA 95(17):10269–10273, 1998.
5 Budney AJ, Vandrey RG, Hughes JR, Thostenson JD, Bursac Z. Comparison of cannabis and tobacco withdrawal: Severity and contribution to relapse. J Subst Abuse Treat, e-publication ahead of print, March 12, 2008.
6 Moore TH, Zammit S, Lingford-Hughes A, et al. Cannabis use and risk of psychotic or affective mental health outcomes: A systematic review. Lancet 370 (9584):319–328, 2007.
7 Mittleman MA, Lewis RA, Maclure M, Sherwood JB, Muller JE. Triggering myocardial infarction by marijuana. Circulation 103(23):2805–2809, 2001.
8 Tashkin DP. Smoked marijuana as a cause of lung injury. Monaldi Arch Chest Dis 63(2):92–100, 2005.
9 Hashibe M, Morgenstern H, Cui Y, et al. Marijuana use and the risk of lung and upper aerodigestive tract cancers: Results of a population-based case-control study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 15(10):1829–1834, 2006.
10 Polen MR, Sidney S, Tekawa IS, Sadler M, Friedman GD. Health care use by frequent marijuana smokers who do not smoke tobacco. West J Med 158(6):596–601, 1993.
11 Gruber AJ, Pope HG, Hudson JI, Yurgelun-Todd D. Attributes of long-term heavy cannabis users: A case control study. Psychological Med 33(8):1415–1422, 2003.
Five Things Every Voter Should Know about Question 300:
1. Medical Marijuana Dispensaries (MMDs) are ILLEGAL by Federal Law as marijuana is a Controlled Substance, Schedule 1, illegal drug.
2. Amendment 20: Voter Intent did NOT allow for MMDs.
**MMDs have increased crime with marijuana as noted in law enforcement reports.
**MMDs have brought increased crime and delinquency in Ft. Collins since opening in 2009.
3. Poudre school district has experienced a 300% increase in expulsions from MJ related activity around our schools since the MMDs popped up.
4. Patients will still be Abe to receive MJ from a Caregiver, as allowed in amendment 20.
5. More than 75 Colorado communities have already closed MMDs. There have been no reports of an increased neighborhood crime in those communities.

LET’S BE HONEST…We Need to Protect Our Children, Youth, Young Adults, Families and Elders.

US Attorney’s Offices in California are ordering MMD shops to close within 45 days or face seizure.
Denver Post article on Unions and MMDs joining together.
Article about Marinol also known as Delta-9-THH; a medical marijuana that already exists through pharmacies and a doctor’s prescription–approved by the FDA.

What are students saying:
The following are public statements made by our local high school students–
1. “Medical Marijuana dispensaries have made marijuana more accessible and acceptable.”
2. “I am disturbed that when I Googled ‘ice cream stores’ and MMDs that there were just as many.”
3. “It definitely has affected our conversations in class” — noting that students are talking about how they have access to the MMDs.
4. “Lot of my friends get high during lunch (as a sophomore)”. “You’re the only person that can make the decision.”
5. “I look-up to the people in the community. The power of influence is by the way you act. I hope I have influenced other students by the way I act.”
6. “For a lot of kids, it’s not easy to walk away from…” (referring to the use of marijuana)
7. “The way to solve this is to find an alternative.”
8. “There are those who get it and sell to kids, even when they themselves don’t use it.”
“What we have seen is a bright future in the palms of our hands.” (Scoot, Director of Team Fort Collins)

Many of you are aware that a petition is being circulated to ask voters if they want to allow voters to decide as to whether marijuana distribution centers are allowed in the City of Fort Collins or not; this was never voted on before by the people. In fact, it was decided, in 2009, by unelected officials who overturned your vote, thus departing from Amendment 20, and allowing storefront marijuana distribution.

In 2000, Colorado voters approved Amendment 20 of the Colorado Constitution to allow medical marijuana use. The amendment doesn’t allow distribution through dispensaries. Since that decision, parents and schools, substance abuse treatment providers and police officials have experienced significant negative effects plaguing our youth and our community.

The decision to allow or deny these dispensaries represents a significant public policy issue for our community. The voters deserve the opportunity to vote as to whether they want to allow these marijuana distribution centers in their community.

The June 26th Coloradoan quote: “Banning medical marijuana centers would deprive patients of the medicine and professional guidance they need to treat ailments such as chronic pain and muscle spasms, said Terri Gomez, campaign manager for the group”, is misleading. Colorado is the only state that allows commercialized marijuana. All other states are functioning very well with providing marijuana to people who truly need it without the commercialized stores. The “professional guidance” is given by doctors, not marijuana store clerks.

Under the law, patients are allowed one primary caregiver. The absence of regulatory practices has resulted in some “patients” registering with numerous caregivers, allowing them to purchase more marijuana than recommended by the intended primary caregiver. This has created an abundant supply of marijuana for sale in what is now known as the “new Black Market”.

On April 26, 2011, the US Attorney for Colorado, reversed course in a memo to the Colorado Attorney General advising state officials that they will not condone distribution of marijuana in the state and will federally prosecute, because of the growing problems. Why is the City Council acting in defiance of the law, when they were sworn into office to uphold the law? The City Council approved some of the most lax regulations in the state on the marijuana shops (overriding almost all restrictions on proximity to schools, daycare centers, etc).

Local law enforcement officials are seeing an increase in violent or dangerous crimes relating to marijuana usage since the decriminalization of these commercial distributors, while at the same time, other crimes are generally falling and overall public safety budgets are decreasing with many law enforcement agencies.
Now more than ever is the time for our elected officials to act, and if they can’t, then let the voters decide.
The following is by:

John A. Howard, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow The Howard Center on Family, Religion and Society
Member of The National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (1971-73)
In September of 1998, Current Concerns,[2] a periodical published in Zurich, Switzerland, printed a statement by Professor Henri Baylon, President of the French National Academy of Medicine. It includes excerpts from the general conclusions arrived at in the 1992 International Colloquium on Illegal Drugs co-sponsored by the National Academy of Medicine and the City of Paris. Among those conclusions: “The harmfulness of cannabis (marijuana) is very well documented today, experimentally and clinically. This drug damages the central nervous system, the lungs, the immunological resistance and the reproduction functions… It is absolutely essential to start an information and prevention campaign which takes into consideration the legal as well as the health risks of using cannabis.”

William Buckley claims that nobody has ever been found dead of marijuana. As one physician has remarked, “Saying no one ever died from smoking marijuana is like saying no one ever died from smoking tobacco.” The April 2003 issue of The Australian Family Association’s newsletter[1] provides its current report on “cannabis-related deaths:” 184 in Australia, 664 in the United States in 1999 (reported by the Drug Abuse Warning Network) and six cannabis-related cardiovascular deaths in Norway.

Chronic cannabis smoking can produce sinusitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis, emphysema and other respiratory difficulties in a year or less, as opposed to ten to twenty years of cigarette smoking to produce comparable complications. (Dr. Forest Tennant, Jr. Officer in Charge of the Drug Abuse Program for the U. S. Army Europe, 1971-72; Dr. William T. Moore, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine).

So do we keep adding healthcare costs in the future with the influence on children–thinking “it’s OK to do because look at all of the marijuana stores in Fort Collins.” Dr. Wison of PSD already reported the significant impact it is having in their schools.

Dr. D. Harvey Powelson was asked what he would say to high school kids if you had the opportunity…he replied: “…that it damages your chromosomes, it damages your immunity system–all of this at the rate of something i the neighborhood of 20 times as rapidly as alcohol.”

On September 18, 2002, The New York Times printed as a full-page ad, An Open Letter To Parents About Marijuana. The text begins:

Marijuana puts kids at risk. It is the most widely used illicit drug among youth today and is more potent than ever. Marijuana use can lead to a host of significant health, social, learning, and behavioral problems at a crucial time in a young person’s development…And don’t be fooled by popular beliefs. Kids can get hooked on pot. Research shows that marijuana can lead to addiction. More teens enter treatment for marijuana abuse each year than for all other illicit drugs combined.

The ad is signed by eighteen organizations. Among them are American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, Child Welfare League of America, National Center for School Health Nursing, National Medical Association and the National Parent Teachers Association.

Ray Martinez, Former Mayor of Fort Collins, CO

In this era of our life and community, we are looking for leaders that will represent the voice of the people.  Leadership is a voice of reason and commitment that is inclusive and understanding of our needs.  That’s why I am supporting Sue Pawlak for City Council in district-2.

Sue’s experience with managing a large company for 26 years and her volunteerism with CSU by completing an endowment of a scholarship in the engineering department, and now Co-Chairing the Veterans Plaza of Northern Colorado, while teaching at Front Range Community College, illustrates her commitment and in-depth knowledge of our community.  Also, as a past firefighter and paramedic, I think she has a qualified understanding of emergency services.

In addition, she has taken the time to attend most council meetings and study session for the last two years.  Why, because Susan Pawlak has a passion to learn and apply her knowledge to serving the community; even today she is serving as the president of the homeowners association in her neighborhood.

I admire Sue’s open mindedness, sense of balance, and stick-to-itiveness when she takes on a task.  She will hear all sides of an issue before making a decision and her support in favor of or opposition will  always be in the best interest of everyone without being one-sided towards any special interest group.

Please join me in voting for Sue Pawlak–it’s time for a true change and a reason to be heard.

Ray Martinez
Former Mayor of Fort Collins, CO

The reaction of the community should have sent a clear message of disappointment of your decision to allow such profane art in a City Museum.  The type of artwork that depicts a cultural leader in pornographic behavior belongs in a pornography store, not a public museum.  In the future, I would hope you don’t allow future “junk art” in a historical museum.  I doubt if this would have been allowed if the subjects in the graphic artwork were of other great people like Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., or Abraham Lincoln.  What were you thinking?  In this era of our lives, people are sensitive to cultural respect, regardless if that culture is religion, race, heritage, disabilities, or age.  You owe the public an apology.  If I was your mayor, my apology would have came quickly with a promise and commitment of sensitivity and creating a blue ribbon committee to review future art.  If this was approved by an existing art committee, then by all means, replace them.

Poudre School District is asking the voters to consider two tax measures – 3A Mill Levy and 3B Bond in this election. It is important that we pass these measures to help our children.

Last year, the district reduced over $12M (more than a 6% reduction). Their demonstrated efforts to cut their budget and yet improve the education of our children are well worth our investment to maintain the District’s minimal financial needs, just as we do with our personal budgets.

Recently I visited Lincoln Middle and Putnam Elementary Schools to see what variety of skills are used to help the students. I frequently coach and encourage students to continue their education. What I saw made me appreciate how PSD is helping our students. It is these kinds of programs that the mill levy will allow the district to continue with this support.

While visiting Lincoln, I observed English language learners who come from Mexico, Middle East countries and from South America being taught to speak English through the use of a Smart Board by viewing different pictures that they understood to help them use their vocabulary to express themselves. In another class students were developing goals as a part of a preparation lesson to read the book, “The Diary of MaYan: The struggles and hopes of a Chinese Schoolgirl” that would encourage them to value education. Through setting goals and appreciating the value of education, students are learning valuable life lessons.

I asked Principal Monique Flickinger about how she assures students are going to be prepared for success. Ms. Flickinger noted that teachers monitor all students’ progress by paying special attention to each student’s class work and tests to understand how to challenge them daily. I was impressed by how much Principal Flickinger knowledge about her students and the way students were working in their classes.

Principal Steve Apodoca at Putnam stated that they focus on how they teach students what they needed to learn in order to be proficient. Teachers meet regularly to measure and identify student progress and what the next step is for students to improve; this enables the teachers to plan their lessons administer instruction in these skills.

The mill levy will provide the resources our schools need to meet the district learning goals that assures students grow and learn what they need to be successful. For example, the mill levy would allow Lincoln to hire a full time teacher to help with learning interventions to support children’s additional classroom help. Putnam would also support their students with an interventionist, counselor, and classroom support.

I am not a big tax proponent, but I see a need to head off the curve of future problems. I want to see our kids move in the right direction and not into the judicial system because they chose to quit school at some point. Either way we pay for it as a society. Education is much cheaper that the alternative. PSD schools continue to offer our community quality schools that help all our children. I grew up in the neighborhoods where these children attend school and I know the challenges they face. I hope you will support 3A and 3B to keep our schools in good shape and to provide support for children that need the help.