Debate: Medical marijuana dispensaries

Are medical marijuana dispensaries a good idea?

Background and context

Industry: Should the medical marijuana industry be encouraged?

Pro

• Marijuana dispensaries are not drug dealers. Darcy Hughes, who used to manage the dispensary B Green in Los Angeles, said in 2010 after her and other's dispensaries were closed: "It's like treating us like drug dealers. It's not right."[1]

• Medical marijuana dispensaries are professional institutions Jesse McKinley. "Don’t Call It ‘Pot’ in This Circle; It’s a Profession." NYTimes. April 23, 2010: "Like hip-hop, health food and snowboarding, marijuana is going corporate. As more and more states allow medical use of the drug, and California considers outright legalization, marijuana’s supporters are pushing hard to burnish the image of pot by franchising dispensaries and building brands; establishing consulting, lobbying and law firms; setting up trade shows and a seminar circuit; and constructing a range of other marijuana-related businesses."

• Marijuana dispensaries should be regulated, but allowed The answer to the many possible challenges faced by Marijuana dispensaries - including fraudulent prescriptions and crime outside of dispensaries - is regulation. The answer is not to ban dispensaries out right.[2]

• Marijuana is natural; dispensaries should be allowed. Cedaredge Town Council Trustee Nancy Sturgill said in 2009: "This [marijuana] is a very natural product, said Sturgill, and I don’t feel confident in denying Cedaredge residents access at this point.”[3]

• Marijuana dispensaries are key to pain relief. Art Santa Cruz, a 66-year-old Lansing man, said he would like to open a dispensary. He said he has severe back pain from a military stint in Vietnam or perhaps a car crash: "If it weren't for medical marijuana, I wouldn't be able to sleep. There has to be dispensaries. This is an important issue. The marijuana industry should be allowed to flourish. When pain goes away, I thank God."[4]

Con

Crime: Is crime outside of dispensaries manageable?

Pro

• Crime outside of dispensaries no different then outside banks. Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion joined the Maine Civil Liberties Union, said on June 17th of 2010: "Medical marijuana is a public health issue, it's not a law enforcement problem. The data from California suggests that the risk of crime outside a dispensary is no greater than what we'd experience at a bank. So I think we should just move forward and exercise the common sense that the voters have demonstrated in repeated votes on this measure."[5]

• Raids on marijuana dispensaries have collateral damage Steph Sherer, medical marijuana patient and executive director of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the nation's largest medical cannabis advocacy organization: "There has been a lot of collateral damage in the federal campaign against medical marijuana patients. We need to stop the prosecutions, bring the prisoners home, and begin working to eliminate the conflict between state and federal medical marijuana laws."[6]

• Marijuana dispensaries will exist whether legal or not. Marijuana dispensaries are popping up in places whether it is legal or not. It is better to legalize and regulate these dispensaries then to let them exist under the radar.

Con

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Economics: Are these dispensaries economical?

Pro

• Marijuana dispensaries will create many jobs Aaron Randle is tending to his new shop, Sunnyside Alternative Medicine: "There's a lot of jobs created because of medical marijuana. You have employees that work at the dispensaries, then you have vendors that are getting paid. ... Real estate is booming right now. Warehouses are getting rented out for grow operations."[7]

Con

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Pro/con sources

Pro

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Con

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See also

• Debate: Legalization of Marijuana
• Debate: Medical marijuana

External links and resources

• Jesse McKinley. "Don’t Call It ‘Pot’ in This Circle; It’s a Profession." NYTimes. April 23, 2010