Colorado Mom Shares Concerns About Medical Marijuana
By: Marci Manley, KARK 4 News
Updated: November 1, 2012
Medical marijuana dispensaries can be found throughout Colorado, and to get into one, you have to have a red card and an ID.
A Colorado mom is wondering just how easy is it to get this red card and why are doctors so much medical marijuana.
Chasity Ross's family ritual with her kids is a far cry from her childhood.
"I'm in Kindergarten, 5 years old, and I said, 'Pot's not bad because' -- and I stopped myself," she says.
Ross struggled to reconcile obeying the law and protecting loved ones.
"I knew that pot was not right, but I grew up in that where pot was OK," she recalls.
Which changed the dynamic for her as a daughter.
"If they ran out or didn't have enough money, they were a different person," she says of her parents.
She says this eventually lead to an illness for her father: addiction.
"What's really sad is the person I really liked was the person who was on it when they were taken in," Ross recalls.
So when she hears about abuse in Colorado's medical marijuana system and the number of recommended red cards doled out by doctors, she says she can't help but feel a certain amount of fear.
"I've seen too many people take advantage of it," she says. "I know too many people that have cards that don't actually need it. I think there should be a definite protocol for how physicians write the script; what qualifies a patient for receiving that."
According to Sergeant Jim Gerhardt, that fear may exist for good reason, as some marijuana users have reported a "high hangover" when they run out, which officers believe could be connected with a number of child abuse cases.
"They're in a recovery period and discipline goes too far," Sgt. Gerhardt says.
While Chasity's experience wasn't physically brutal, she doesn't want her kids to think cannabis is the only answer when life's pains seem to be near overflowing.
"I have seen the affects it has on people and changing their attitudes," she says. "Don't want my kids seeking out that high from that."
Chasity says she's not completely opposed to marijuana as a medical treatment, but she would like to see the system looped up a little bit and have more protocols for doctors who are prescribing or recommending these products.
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A Colorado mom is wondering just how easy is it to get this red card and why are doctors so much medical marijuana.
Chasity Ross's family ritual with her kids is a far cry from her childhood.
"I'm in Kindergarten, 5 years old, and I said, 'Pot's not bad because' -- and I stopped myself," she says.
Ross struggled to reconcile obeying the law and protecting loved ones.
"I knew that pot was not right, but I grew up in that where pot was OK," she recalls.
Which changed the dynamic for her as a daughter.
"If they ran out or didn't have enough money, they were a different person," she says of her parents.
She says this eventually lead to an illness for her father: addiction.
"What's really sad is the person I really liked was the person who was on it when they were taken in," Ross recalls.
So when she hears about abuse in Colorado's medical marijuana system and the number of recommended red cards doled out by doctors, she says she can't help but feel a certain amount of fear.
"I've seen too many people take advantage of it," she says. "I know too many people that have cards that don't actually need it. I think there should be a definite protocol for how physicians write the script; what qualifies a patient for receiving that."
According to Sergeant Jim Gerhardt, that fear may exist for good reason, as some marijuana users have reported a "high hangover" when they run out, which officers believe could be connected with a number of child abuse cases.
"They're in a recovery period and discipline goes too far," Sgt. Gerhardt says.
While Chasity's experience wasn't physically brutal, she doesn't want her kids to think cannabis is the only answer when life's pains seem to be near overflowing.
"I have seen the affects it has on people and changing their attitudes," she says. "Don't want my kids seeking out that high from that."
Chasity says she's not completely opposed to marijuana as a medical treatment, but she would like to see the system looped up a little bit and have more protocols for doctors who are prescribing or recommending these products.
Related Links:
Comments
I look at it this from a very practical and realistic way.
If you think it is wrong for me to possess marijuana to consume under my own freewill and that it should be illegal, you have not only obligated yourself into the position of accepting responsibility for the damages and deaths associated with what you believe to be right for me to consume and legal for me to purchase and possess, you have entitled me the right to demand proof that you can and will accept responsibility for them. Man up or quit invading my right to be individually different.
Randy B.
October 31, 2012 at 10:22 pm
I look at it this from a very practical and practical way.
If you think it is wrong for me to possess marijuana to consume under my own freewill and that it should be illegal, you have not only obligated yourself into the position of accepting responsibility for the damages and deaths associated with what you believe to be right for me to consume and legal for me to purchase and possess, you have entitled me the right to demand proof that you can and will accept responsibility for them. Man up or quit invading my right to be individually different.
Randy B.
October 31, 2012 at 10:21 pm
