• 29
  • July
    2010

A recent report by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) revealed some very interesting information about the owners of medical marijuana centers in Colorado: More than half have some type of arrest record or conviction.

Specifically, the report revealed the following information about the owners of medical marijuana centers:

• 18 percent have been convicted of felonies
• 28 percent have prior histories of drug-related offenses (compared with only 8 percent of adults in Colorado)
• Several have been arrested for serious felonies, including assault, rape or weapons charges
• At least four were previously arrested for attempted murder, murder and involvement in a homicide

According to Kevin Merrill, assistant special agent for the DEA's Denver office, "This business seems to have an inappropriate number of people with criminal backgrounds involved as business owners. I would be hard-pressed to find any other business group where their members have so many criminal violations, arrests and convictions."

While the number of medical marijuana center owners with criminal records may seem disproportionately high, this number is poised to be cut down considerably when the new rules regarding ownership go into effect this Sunday.

Under the new rules, those who have been convicted of a felony within the past five years and those who have been convicted of a drug felony cannot obtain a license to operate a medical marijuana center in the state of Colorado.

However, these new medical marijuana laws have drawn criticism from many medical marijuana advocates and may be the subject of a legal challenge in the near future.

"A lot of people have been convicted of felonies, or any crime, and they have done their time, they've paid their debt to society, and now want to move one and work in this field and aren't able to do so," said Brian Vicente, executive director of Sensible Colorado , a nonprofit group dedicated to promoting an effective drug policy.

Stay tuned for further developments ...

Related Resources: 
 
• Criminal Records Abound for Owners of Colorado Medical Marijuana Centers (The Denver Post)