Rocky Mountain High.

• Author: Rundles, Jeff
• Position: RUNDLES [wrap-up]

Over spring break my neighbor welcomed her brother and his family from Ohio for a few days of Colorado joy. They were scouting colleges in Fort Collins and Boulder, visiting the mountains, seeing the sites in Denver.

Everyone from the flatlands gets a little Rocky Mountain High when they see the Rockies firsthand. But what amazed them the most--and surprised me the most--wasn't Vail or Telluride or the Eisenhower Tunnel or even an amazing spring snowstorm and its subsequent, almost immediate melting (not usual in Ohio). It was the marijuana. They were absolutely taken aback by all the medical marijuana clinics, the open marijuana attitude, and the near universal nonchalance everyone in Colorado seemed to have about it.

I guess through all of the haze I, too, have become nonchalant. And I shouldn't be, nor should anyone else. What's going on with all of this medical marijuana is a sham, one that government, at almost every level, is allowing because, as always, money talks.

I tried marijuana in college and didn't care for it, but I knew a ton of people then and still know quite a few people who are regular, if secret, users. But it's clear this budding pot business isn't about medicine.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

People have been saying for decades that marijuana has some valid medicinal properties for those people suffering chronic pain, the effects of chemotherapy, or those with glaucoma. Let's be honest, though: If we could put together a legitimate panel of medical people who could assess the need on medical terms, then perhaps the entire state of Colorado could keep--maybe--10 medical marijuana clinics in business, and that number is only that high to accommodate geography.

And yet, thousands of applications for dispensary licenses are coming in every week, and perhaps as many as 1,000 people a day are applying for a patient card, according to the Colorado Health Department. There is simply no way in the world there are that many chronic pain sufferers. The clinics, the doctors signing off on the permits, and the state itself should all be ashamed.

But, of course, when there's a fee involved, it's difficult to measure shame.

The people who really have no shame are those who backed the medical marijuana legislation. While they argued the medical points in the campaign, it was pretty clear then--and even more clear...