US CO: OPED: Boulder Is The Real Mile 'High' City

8/29/2010

BOULDER IS THE REAL MILE 'HIGH' CITY

Five years ago, I took a chance and relocated to Boulder from another state in hopes of providing a better living environment for my children and me. As a single mother, I wanted the best for my children in education, a small town environment, a sense of community, exposure to cultural arts and a fresh start all of which I had hoped Boulder provided.

The public schools and associated sporting activities here in Boulder did not let me down and we are grateful for the education and friends we've made along the way. I've successfully seen one son through an area high school and am now faced with an unprecedented and unforeseen reality that is forcing me to consider leaving Boulder in order to best preserve the innocence of my middle-school son and give him the best opportunity for a productive and giving future.

The growing presence of legalized marijuana in Boulder and the plethora of dispensaries, the drug's overall acceptance and its lucrative allure is predatory and destructive for our youth.

With the welcoming of over 100 dispensaries swarming this town, I am disgusted to call Boulder our home. My teenage son and each one of his friends and their friends have their own "medical" marijuana licenses, most received under the age of 18. They even receive daily emails alerting them of the newest "hot" bud. None have cancer or a debilitating disease.

We, as parents, need to wake up and smell the weed that infects our children. Sadly, some parents endorse dope and are regular users themselves. Our children are driving high; some parents are driving high with their children in tow. Our youth are sitting on couches smoking dope rather than working or studying or helping in the community. I've watched many of our youth grow up with an unfamiliar sense of entitlement and no effort toward giving back or having a good work ethic.

Where are manners and respect for our elders and each other?

And now, there is marijuana and it's legal.

It's hard to compete with a drug, so easily and legally obtained, contaminating the cells of your child's body as you try to parent and teach them differently.

There is a new language associated with Boulder's "legal" drug trade that reminds me of the emergence of Starbucks and its own special language but in a far darker way. Many business acquaintances have "second" incomes from baking cookies to leasing "pot" condos here in Boulder and are making fast money.

Did I mention that those tasty chocolate chip cookies that you made for the trade are ending up in students' backpacks being sold to their friends on school campuses?

It bothers me that our university has a day devoted to pot smoking. When a dispensary opens its doors next to a GameStop store where the patrons are mostly children, I know it is time for me to make a change and leave this town I've called home. I can't change what "is" in Boulder but I can take a stand for our children and shout out that this drug trade is not OK whether legal or illegal.

I can change my location and what I choose to expose to my family.

And, I can embrace the values of yesterday and let the youth in my town of Boulder know that one parent will not follow or endorse this trend of fast, dirty money and believes in them, their abilities and their drug-free future.

I understand the premise for legalizing marijuana was to assist cancer patients in pain management but I suggest that perhaps the true premise was based on greed and a way to make a quick buck. Is it worth the further degradation of our youth?

Is it worth the quick buck? We are immediate to condemn others for our current state of affairs but in this regard what we are producing for the next generation is something we can't cast off. We own it. What part of dope smoking is positive and healthy for us? The negative effects on our society far outweigh the medicinal benefits for the few.

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