Read the story, School officials, others cite prevalence of medical marijuana as drug violations spike on K-12 campuses. Here’s a look at the data behind the findings:

• Spreadsheet showing all incidents, including drug violations, reported to the Colorado Department of Education over the past 10 years. Here’s the CDE report.
• Spreadsheet showing suspensions resulting from drug and other violations reported to the state over the past 10 years. Here’s the CDE report showing suspensions, expulsions and referrals to law enforcement for the past ten years – click on 10-year Trend Data.
• Chart showing expulsions resulting from drug and other violations reported to the state over the past 10 years.
• Chart showing referrals to law enforcement resulting from drug and other violations reported to the state over the past 10 years.
• Spreadsheet showing Denver Police Department arrests for drug violations at Denver Public Schools in 2010-11. Police began separating marijuana incidents from other drug incidents in 2010. Only schools listed in police records as the locations of drug arrests are shown here. Here are the reports compiled by Denver police for Aug. 1, 2010 – Dec. 31, 2010 and for Jan. 1, 2011 – June 30, 2011.

In addition, this spreadsheet shows a listing of all K-12 public schools located within 1,200 feet of a medical marijuana facility licensed by the state. This story about the recently announced federal crackdown includes an explanation of how the spreadsheet was created.

You can also look up your school’s drug violation history for the past four years on our database and check our interactive map to see any school location and any medical marijuana facilities located nearby.

Last year two Republicans, Reps. Tom Massey of Poncha Springs and Robert Ramirez of Westminster, joined Democrats to kill House Bill 11-1270. That plan would have allowed a bare majority of families at a low-performing school to petition their local school board to close the school or convert it to a charter or innovation school. A school board would have had limited grounds for rejecting an appeal, and a rejection could have been appealed to the State Board of Education.

This year’s bill, also sponsored by Rep. Don Beezley, R-Broomfield, is milder. It would authorize the parents of students enrolled in a school with a priority improvement or turnaround plan for two consecutive years to submit a petition to the SBE requesting the school be reconfigured. The state accountability system is set up for the SBE to take action on such schools after five years on either accreditation status. Schools are rated annually and required to file improvement plans.

The parent petition would have to be signed by more than 50 percent of the families of the students at the school. The state board could deny the petition, direct an action to take effect in the next school year or reconsider the petition in the next school year.

Beezley pitched the bill to the committee as a plan that fits within the accountability system.

“Help me offer a little bit of hope … to parents with children in some of our lowest performing schools,” Beezley said.

Committee Democrats quizzed Beezley about why local school boards weren’t part of the process and about details of the parent petition process, such as who would verify signatures.

Rep. Don Beezley, R-Broomfield / File photo

“I didn’t look at it as bypassing the local board,” Beezley said, predicting such parent activism would spur administrators and school boards to more actively engage parents. He also said he expects there would be few such petitions.

Michelle Murphy, a staff lawyer for the Colorado Association of School Boards, testified against the bill, saying, “We do feel strongly about this bill; we oppose this bill.”

She added, “This bill allows a parent group to sidestep and potentially derail” a school improvement plan. Existing law “provides for parent input on numerous occasions and strong state oversight.”

Julie Whitacre, a lobbyist for the Colorado Education Association, also opposed the bill, saying the idea is good but her group has concerns with the details.

Vinny Badolato, lobbyist the Colorado League of Charter Schools, and Denver parent Nola Miguel, representing Metropolitan Organizations for People, testified in support.

“It injects some parent rights into the process,” said Badolato, adding that such a process could be helpful to improving the quality of charter schools.

Miguel said the current five-year turnaround process is “way too long.”

Whitacre said, “A lot of studies have shown that turnarounds need more than three years.”

The bill goes next to the House Appropriations Committee, because a legislative staff analysis has estimated it could cost the Department of Education about $23,000 a year to handle the parent appeals (see fiscal note). Some 105 schools currently are on priority improvement or turnaround status. The state accreditation system has gone through two years of school ratings.

If the bill passes the House, its prospects in the Senate are uncertain, given that chamber’s Democratic majority and expected lobbying efforts by CASB and other mainline education groups.

New bills

Three new education-related bills were introduced Monday.

House Bill 12-1235 would schools built in 2013 or later to meet certain energy efficiency standards. House prime sponsor Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, has unsuccessfully tried variations of this bill before.

House Bill 12-1225 would establish a model charter school authorizer program under which schools districts could apply to be model authorizers. If designated as such by the Department of Education, decisions by such districts on charter applications would carry an additional presumption of validity in appeals to the State Board of Education.

The bill is sponsored by the unlikely due of Rep. Robert Ramirez, R-Westminster, and Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver.

House Bill 12-1227 would authorize the state community college system to design a certificate program through which students who are identified as needing basic skills remedial course work or who are eligible for adult literacy education may obtain a career and technical education certificate within 12 months.

Use the Education Bill Tracker for links to bill texts and status information.

Staff  Sergeant Mary McNeely joined the military, went to Iraq and served her country with honor. While there, she was injured in a car bombing.

Upon returning to Colorado Springs, physicians at the Veteran’s Administration prescribed her narcotic pain medications to treat her various injuries. Nonetheless, her health kept deteriorating. The drugs did not effectively treat her pain, made her irritable, nauseous and unable to function. She grew distant from her daughter and husband.

Through Colorado’s medical marijuana system, she discovered that cannabis controlled her pain and nausea with minimal side-effects. As a result, she was able to stop taking several high-risk prescription drugs including percocet and vicodin. Medical marijuana allowed her to regain a semblance of a normal life.

Colorado’s medical marijuana program is here for Mary and the tens of thousands of patients like her. While neither pariah nor panacea, medical cannabis provides substantial relief to the sick and injured, and is void of many toxic side-effects common to prescription drugs. Regulated and taxed, medical cannabis also improves public safety and provides Colorado with a sorely needed source of revenue and jobs.

Cannabis Indica has been used as medicine for thousands of years. For most of American history, the United States Pharmacopeia recommended it for conditions as diverse as asthma, nervous disorders and insomnia. In 1937, amid propaganda steeped in institutional prejudice, all uses of cannabis were outlawed by the federal government.

In light of failed attempts at national reform, Colorado voters approved a state constitutional amendment allowing for medical marijuana in 2000. Currently, 16 states and the District of Columbia allow medical marijuana, encompassing about one-third of all Americans. Conservative estimates forecast as many as 25 states will have adopted medical marijuana laws by 2014. As reflected by an October 2010 Gallup poll in which 70 percent of Americans favor making medical cannabis legally available, Colorado’s regulated model reflects a national trend.

In 2010 and 2011, the Colorado General Assembly, in a bipartisan effort, codified the licensing, regulation and taxation of medical marijuana businesses. These regulations created a closed-loop system that requires local and state licensing, establishes “good moral character” standards for ownership and employment, and mandates rules for security and surveillance aimed at eliminating illicit activity. Nationwide, Colorado has the most comprehensive and effective medical marijuana regulatory framework.

In Colorado, regulated medical cannabis has provided medicine to 473 HIV/AIDS patients, 9,771 patients suffering from severe nausea, 14,112 patients suffering from muscle spasms, 75,424 patients suffering from severe or chronic pain, and 2,181 patients with cancer. Despite all the accusations of abuse surrounding this issue, less than 2 percent of Colorado’s population are registered patients. According to state statistics, the average age of a medical marijuana patient in Colorado is 42.

As medical marijuana becomes more accepted, its medicinal uses become more apparent. Recent studies have shown the potential of cannabis to treat premenstrual syndrome, insomnia, migraines, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, alcohol abuse, arthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, depression, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, sickle-cell disease, sleep apnea, anorexia nervosa and many forms of cancer. With so much potential, it’s not surprising that the federally funded National Institute of Health currently holds U.S. Patent 6,630,507 B1 for “Cannabinoids as Antioxidants and Neuroprotectants.”

In addition to providing a mechanism for safe and legal access, regulated medical cannabis is a net positive for the state. It contributes to deferred prosecution and incarceration, as well as providing a source of revenue in hard budgetary times.

In total, Colorado medical marijuana businesses have paid approximately $20 million in local, state and federal taxes, and another $9 million in licensing and application fees. With regard to jobs, some estimates indicate that the medical cannabis industry has created upwards of 20,000 new jobs, as well as a boom in ancillary businesses such as real-estate, accounting, carpentry, engineering, plumbing, law, medicine and security.

With regard to health and safety, a recent University of Colorado study indicates that states which pass medical marijuana laws see on average a 9 percent reduction in traffic fatalities. In addition, a 20-year study documented in the Journal of the American Medical Association (January 2012) indicates that smoking cannabis on an occasional basis does not appear to produce adverse effects on lung function. Moreover, the increase in criminality predicted by opponents of regulated medical marijuana has simply not materialized.

Though much has been made of the supposed link between medical marijuana and teen use, new research by CU professor Daniel Rees finds no evidence that medical marijuana laws are related to the use of marijuana by minors. Other studies show that, on average, teen usage decreases after states pass medical marijuana laws.

Regardless, regulation remains the most effective way to limit unauthorized access and abuse. After all, street dealers do not check IDs. The most comprehensive solution likely involves education and prevention initiatives, restrictions on advertising and increased penalties for illicit diversion to minors.

Though Colorado Attorney General John Suthers opposes the state’s medical marijuana program, consider the alternative – the continuation of a failed policy that criminalizes patients and subsidizes a violent black market operating clandestinely out of homes and public lands. This emboldened black market would pose an immediate threat to public safety and further strain our state’s limited resources.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has issued recommendations to U.S. Attorneys to use their prosecutorial discretion, in light of limited resources, to focus on those individuals and organizations who are not in “unambiguous compliance with state law.”

Meanwhile, in Colorado, the democratic process has made regulated medical cannabis the law of the land, and it is the duty of our state officials and our chief executive to implement the Colorado Medical Marijuana Code.

Patients and providers hold hope that with time the institutional resistance from the federal government and certain state elected officials will be reoriented to conform with the interests of patients, economic realities, and the values of justice, dignity, and tolerance.

Eleven years ago the citizens of Colorado passed an amendment to the Colorado Constitution called Amendment 20. The amendment simply created an affirmative defense against the enforcement of state marijuana laws for people with debilitating medical conditions who have physician approval to use the drug. But in recent years, a series of policy decision at the state and federal levels have opened the door to the creation of a medical marijuana industry in Colorado.

We have gone, over the course of a half decade, from a state that had roughly 1,700 medical marijuana patients and a system of individuals or caregivers growing small amounts of the drug to a state with tens of thousands of patients and hundreds of marijuana dispensaries and industrial-scale grow operations.

Why should you care? Are dispensaries just gaudy, neon-green eyesores that we should just learn to live with? And is the occasionally whiff of marijuana smoke nothing more than a passing annoyance?

Many Coloradans, including myself, think otherwise. Indeed, I am convinced that the adverse consequences of legalization of marijuana, or de-facto legalization through widespread distribution of medical marijuana, will far outweigh the benefits in terms of social costs, and that belief stems largely from my concerns about the impact of marijuana use on adolescents.

We know from decades of experience that adolescent use of marijuana is a function of two things: accessibility and acceptability. Marijuana has always been highly accessible to adolescents, but medical marijuana dispensaries on every street corner have taken that to a new level. The majority of teenagers in marijuana addiction treatment indicate that marijuana patients are their primary source of the drug.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment indicates the number of persons between 12 and 25 who used marijuana in the past year in Colorado is now 38.5 percent — 10 percent above the national average. The widespread use of medical marijuana has also significantly impacted the acceptability of the drug to adolescents. By acceptability I mean the perception of risk. When the perception of the risk of the drug decreases, teenage use increases.

As marijuana has become abundantly more available and acceptable, we have seen youth use rate reverse a decades-long downward trend and start to creep back up among eighth, 10th and 12th graders. Even as tobacco and alcohol use among teens has declined, marijuana use has continued to rise among eighth, 10th and 12th graders, according to statistics the National Institute on Drug Abuse released in December.

Coloradans need only to look to Alaska for why widespread use and acceptance of marijuana use are bad for the state. When Alaska decriminalized marijuana use for adults in the 1970s, teenage use of the drug increased tremendously – to twice the national average. Today Alaska has the highest per capita use of illicit drugs in the United States.

This is an alarming trend, nationally and as seen through the Alaska experience, for a number of reasons, including the effects marijuana can have on a developing brain and what it will mean for drug addiction rates among today’s youth.

I am not an expert on the neurological development of teenagers, but doctors have joined me at public events throughout the state and have explained the ill effects marijuana can have on developing brains.

The teenage years are when our brains develop pleasure sensors that have lifelong significance. Typically a teenager derives a small hit of dopamine when parents provide affirmation for doing a good job babysitting, taking out the trash or doing other chores to help the family. These hits of dopamine train us, in a way, to do what is helpful or expected of us and to appreciate relationships.

Marijuana, like other drugs, throws this reward system off. Our bodies and natural sources of dopamine cannot compete with the intense high they induce. As a result, a young person is more likely to eschew normal, positive behaviors and instead seek to get high.

Researchers, including Dr. Bertha Madras of the Harvard Medical School, also have shown that the consequences of marijuana use among youth are dramatic in terms of language, memory, motor coordination and other learning skills. Their work also indicates marijuana is much more addictive than many people think, particularly for adolescents

For those who may have used marijuana in the past and say it is a harmless, youthful dalliance, they need to understand that today’s marijuana is substantially more potent than what they may have encountered in the past. In 1979 when marijuana use was at an all-time high, the average THC potency was 2 to 2.5 percent. In 2009 the average THC potency was 10 percent.

And for those who say marijuana is not a gateway drug, they are simply wrong. In my decades in law enforcement and my time as the director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, I have seen how youth use of marijuana is a strong predictor of future addictions. And research has borne out my experiences. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, one in four Americans who begin using drugs before age 18 become addicts compared with one in 25 who begin using after age 21.

Simply put, today’s medical marijuana industry and the possibility that Colorado could approve marijuana legalization at the polls in November does not bode well for our children and their prosepects down the road.

Years later when policymakers look at Colorado’s rising dropout rates and stagnant graduation rates, how many will consider their decision to create a state-sanctioned marijuana industry? Unfortunately, many will not, but the seeds of these trends have already been sewn in our state.

Coloradans need only look to their local schools districts, where drug-related expulsions and suspensions have skyrocketed since 2007. As the marijuana industry becomes even more widespread despite the best intentions of lawmakers and local leaders, expect these trends to continue.

Marijuana and other drugs have a deleterious effect on youth. Even if marijuana has some palliative benefits for the medically debilitated, policymakers should do everything they can to keep it out of the store front and away from children and schools.

John Suthers is Colorado’s 37th attorney general.

Denver East High School students talk about student use of marijuana

MONDAY

7:30 a.m. – House Appropriations Committee, room LSB-A
- Consideration of bills making adjustments to 2011-12 budget, including for the departments of education and higher education
- House Bill 12-1201 – Adjustments in current year school funding

10 a.m. – House preliminary consideration
- House Bill 12-1061 – Requirement for annual report on alignment of workforce needs and college programs
- House Bill 12-1090 – Handling conflicts between enrollment count date and religious holidays

10 a.m. – Senate preliminary consideration
- Senate Bill 12-015 – Separate tuition rate for undocumented students (may be held over)
- Senate Bill 12-079 – Revisions to Safe2tell program

1:30 p.m. – House Education Committee, room 0112
- House Bill 12-1212 – Change in reimbursement for BOCES online programs
- House Bill 12-1149 – Modified parent trigger bill
- House Bill 12-1218 – Reauthorization of early childhood commission

WEDNESDAY

8 a.m. – Joint education committees, room 0112
- Briefings by Donnell-Kay Foundation and CDE

Upon floor adjournment – House Education Committee, room 0112
- House Bill 12-1043 – Creation of additional concurrent enrollment program
- House Bill 12-1072 – College credit for life experience
- Strategic plan recommendations for departments of education and higher education

Upon floor adjournment – Senate Education Committee, room 354
- Senate Bill 12-145 – Capping current year transfers from state lands revenues
- Senate Bill 12 – Changes in authorization and revocation procedures for charter schools
- House Bill 12-1001 – Ratification of educator evaluation regulations

1:30 p.m. – House Finance Committee, room LSB-A
- House Bill 12-1069 – Tax holiday for back-to-school purchases (second item)

THURSDAY

Upon floor adjournment – Senate Finance Committee, room 354
- Senate Bill 12-119 – PERA fiscal sustainability (first bill)
- Senate Bill 12-082 – PERA retirement eligibility age

1:30 p.m. – House Judiciary Committee, room 0107
- House Bill 12-1092 – Change in law on carrying concealed weapons, including on college campuses (third item)

1:30 p.m. – Senate Education Committee, room 354
- Senate Bill 12-036 – Parent consent for school surveys
- Senate Bill 12-045 – “Reverse transfer” of credits for AA degree
- Senate Bill 12-067 – Non-profit requirement for charter schools
- Senate Bill 12-106 – Expansion of authority for early colleges

Use the Education Bill Tracker for links to bill texts and status information.

Subscribe to the Capitol eNewsletter to receive calendar updates every weekday evening.

A group of Denver East High School students on a lunch break Jan. 19 display a package of wrappers used to roll marijuana. Photo by Joe Mahoney / I-News

But in 2009-10, something changed. The number of drug violations reported on K-12 campuses began to climb. It climbed again in 2010-11.

While nearly every other category of violations reported to state officials has dropped in the past decade, drug offenses veered in the opposite direction.

To find out why, reporters from Education News Colorado, Solutions and the I-News Network interviewed scores of school and district officials, health care workers and students across the state.

They repeatedly cited the proximity of medical marijuana dispensaries to their schools and the saturation of medical marijuana in their communities. Students, in particular, talked about their belief that medical marijuana is healthy.

While Colorado voters approved marijuana for limited medicinal purposes in 2000, it wasn’t until 2009 that medical marijuana dispensaries began spreading across the state. More than 700 now dot the landscape.

In January, U.S. Attorney John Walsh announced the first federal crackdown on medical marijuana its approval a decade ago. In doing so, he pointed to a dramatic rise in student abuse of marijuana.

This special report on medical marijuana focuses on Colorado’s K-12 public schools:

• School officials, others cite prevalence of medical marijuana as drug violations spike on K-12 campuses includes a timeline of medical marijuana in Colorado and a video of students discussing marijuana use
• In Carbondale teen: Marijuana “something to do,” a student talks about dealing medical marijuana – and getting caught
• In Denver dad: “Nobody thought about the kids,” a parent whose son was busted with marijuana says students are bombarded with mixed messages
• Search an interactive database to see your school’s history of drug violations over the past four years
• Use an interactive map to find your school and see any medical marijuana facilities located nearby

You can also read our coverage of the federal crackdown, including a spreadsheet showing K-12 public schools within 1,200 feet of dispensaries.

As it is, the Roaring Fork High School sophomore has just completed a stint in juvenile detention, is back in school and eager to get his life back on track. He’s hoping to join the military after high school, and he knows a drug conviction could scuttle those plans.

“But the DA worked out a deal where, as long as I don’t get in trouble for the next six to eight months, I’ll be fine,” he said, referring to the district attorney or prosecutor. “I’ll be allowed to go in the military.”

Much has changed for the one-time honor student, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition that his last name is not used.

A year ago, he’d never smoked pot. But then came the night of the party. Someone offered him a joint and, when he didn’t know what to do with it, showed him. “I took a hit,” he said. “I felt the high. I wasn’t in love with the feeling. But I liked it.”

A week later, the older brother of a friend made Charles an offer. “He told me ‘Hey, if you’re willing to sell for me, I’ll give you money.’ I go ‘All right.’ So he’d go down to the dispensary once or twice a week and get his marijuana, then give it to me and I would distribute it.”

The brother, who is in his 40s, had sold marijuana for decades, he said, but began selling medical marijuana exclusively after obtaining a state-issued registry card for back pain.

“They’re really easy to get them around here,” Charles said of the cards. “You can get them for headaches.”

Far from the Front Range population centers, Colorado’s resort communities are dealing with their own medical marijuana dilemmas.

The number of drug-related incidents in the 5,000-student Roaring Fork School District, which includes Glenwood Springs, Basalt and Carbondale, spiked at 61 during the 2009-10 school year, up from 11 the year before. Last year, drug incidents were down to 36.

Other indicators of drug usage have not trended downward.

In 2010-11, the number of teens with marijuana charges referred to Youth Zone, a diversion system for young offenders, was up 58 percent over the year before, said Lori Mueller, program director.

“It could be that judges just decided to send more kids to us,” she said. “It could be that police officers are more focused on stopping the kids smoking marijuana. I don’t want to assume that the only reason is because more kids than ever are smoking pot.”

But whatever the reason, Mueller sees teens’ attitudes toward marijuana changing rapidly.

“Marijuana is no big deal to them,” she said. “And it’s very hard to work with kids who truly believe – or whose parents believe – that marijuana is medicine. If it’s medicine, how can it be wrong? When they see a medical marijuana shop on every other block, and they have friends or parents of friends who have medical marijuana cards, it doesn’t feel to them like there’s anything to worry or be nervous about.”

Based on what referred teens tell her, she said, marijuana seems to be everywhere in the Roaring Fork Valley. Getting it is as easy as helping yourself to the stash your parents or a friend’s parents keep.

Or you could have called Charles, one of the teens referred to Mueller’s program. He would get it for you.

“A kid could call me and say ‘meet me here.’ Or would say ‘I left some money under the front left tire of my dad’s truck.’ And I’d go and get the money and leave the marijuana,” Charles said. “There were unlimited ways for me to distribute it.”

Sometimes his clients asked for marijuana-infused candy or other edibles. But mostly, the smoke-able kind was what they wanted.

It’s certainly the kind he wanted. And he smoked a lot.

“Kids are always looking for something to do, and smoking marijuana is something to do,” he said. “It calms you down, and it’s fun. Most kids won’t refrain from it. But what that leads to – I never got any of my homework done. None of it. I would rather be out with friends. I stopped really caring what people thought about me”

Charles’ fling with marijuana didn’t last long. He’d only been smoking – and selling – for about six months when he was busted. “A kid told on me,” he said. “His parents found the marijuana and they asked where he got it, and he told them it was me. Three days later, I was getting in a car and police cars pulled up and said ‘Come with us.’ ”

He spent a month in juvenile detention, has been on home detention since before Christmas and went back to school Jan. 23. He’s got a court date in February, but he’s hopeful that his record will eventually be expunged if he can stay clean.

Charles says his days dealing marijuana are behind him – “It’s not worth spending a month in detention to make $20 a day” – but smoking is another thing.

“I have court-appointed (drug tests) for now,” he said. “But it’s so widely available. After I finish those, I’ll try not to use again because I don’t want to go down that road, but I can’t say for sure I’ll be 100 percent clean.”

Charles refused to identify his supplier to police and said he hasn’t talked to him since his arrest. He said he didn’t know of any other students dealing drugs for him.

A man advertises medical marijuana Feb. 2 on Leetsdale Drive, a few blocks from George Washington High School in southeast Denver.

“It was the hardest day of my life,” he said.

The man’s son, an East High School freshman, had been busted with baggies of marijuana at a Colfax Avenue parking garage adjacent to the school.

His arrest was one of 18 at East for marijuana possession last year and among the 179 arrests for marijuana possession or sale at 43 Denver schools during 2010-11, according to Denver police records.

The boy said he purchased the marijuana from a senior at school. He was naïve enough to divide it into smaller bags and write friends’ names on them.

“His whole intention was to sell it and make some money. There are quite a few kids there with a lot of money,” the boy’s dad said. “He was trying to fit in and make some money.”

The names of the father and son are being withheld because the boy is still a juvenile.

While Colorado schools report an increase in drug-related incidents and both national and state surveys show a rise in marijuana use among young people, this father has a message to other parents and kids.

“The stakes are a lot higher than you think,” the dad said. “You’re doing something illegal and you’re playing with fire. Sooner or later, you’re going to get burned.”

He believes young people are confused by mixed messages that bombard them. On the one hand, medical marijuana dispensaries are located near schools and advertise their products as “healthy” on storefronts, online and on radio stations with young audiences.

On the other hand, East officials are taking a proactive stance against the use of marijuana by students and federal law enforcement officials in January announced a crackdown on medical marijuana shops within 1,000 feet of schools.

The 36-year-old father said he never had a strong opinion on the marijuana debate before, but now thinks medical marijuana dispensaries should be illegal.

“Nobody thought about the kids,” the dad said. “How do you tell your kids this is wrong when you’ve got a guy with a sign dancing around and saying, ‘Come get this’?”

On the day the boy was caught, school resource officers hauled the 15-year-old back to East, arrested him, and charged him with two felonies: attempted distribution and attempted distribution to a minor.

The dad couldn’t bear to watch as the officers loaded his son into the police car and drove him to the Gilliam Youth Detention Center.

Because of a holiday, the boy ended up spending four days locked up before a judge in Denver’s juvenile court could hear his case. He experienced some bullying that led to a fight and some minor injuries.

Ultimately, he was confined to house arrest for two weeks, expelled from East and later harassed online for being a snitch. He had rocks thrown at his car and had to miss weeks of practice for his elite club sports team.

“It’s been devastating for him,” the dad said.

The boy transferred to another Denver high school and his grades plummeted.

“He had never been in trouble before. He had great grades. He went from a 4.0 to a 2.5” grade point average, the father said.

The boy is now on probation. If he can stay clean for two years, the felonies will be expunged from his record. He returned to East this year and is doing well again in school.

“I don’t want to see other kids go through that,” the dad said. “You don’t realize how this impacts the rest of your life. It impacts him getting into college and getting jobs. This has affected both of us pretty heavily.”

A student walks past a sign advertising medical marijuana on Denver’s Colfax Avenue Jan. 20. Photo by Joe Mahoney / I-News

A handful of students from Denver’s East High School recently spent a warm January lunch period huddled against a brick home two blocks from the school, passing a joint and discussing the merits of medical marijuana.

It smells better than what you get on the street, they say, and is more potent. The buds are whole, not ground up like oregano.

“I get top shelf,” boasts a 16-year-old boy. “My cousin works at a dispensary. So he brings maybe two zips (plastic bags) a day that they’re just going to throw out.”

Across the street is a medical marijuana dispensary that advertises “a trip to the moon” for customers. It is exactly 753 feet from East, according to the school’s former principal, who has measured it several times. Another dispensary is 1,010 feet away.

“This is not in any sense healthy for our young people,” said John Youngquist, the former principal who has pleaded for years for help in protecting schools from the proliferation of dispensaries.

Federal prosecutors echoed those concerns in January when they targeted medical marijuana dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools for their first crackdown since hundreds of shops with names like “Dr. Reefer” and “Ganja Gourmet” began spreading across the state in 2009.

U.S. Attorney John Walsh cited a “dramatic increase in student abuse of marijuana” in warning 23 dispensary operators to move within 45 days or face criminal action and seizure of their property. That deadline expires Feb. 27.

Scores of other dispensaries can expect shutdown notices soon. In all, Walsh now says he plans to target over 100 Colorado dispensaries located within 1,000 feet of a school, relying on federal law that creates stiffer penalties for any drug use near schools, playgrounds and places where young people gather.

The federal Drug-Free Schools Act applies to public and private schools from grades 1-12, along with both public and private colleges and universities. For now, Walsh says he is committed only to cracking down on dispensaries near public and private schools and higher education campuses, and not other gathering places.

An investigation by Education News Colorado, Solutions and the I-News Network shows the number of drug violations reported by Colorado’s K-12 schools have increased 45 percent in the past four years, even as the combined number of all other violations has fallen.

The statewide data do not distinguish between marijuana and other drugs but interviews with school and district officials, healthcare workers and students across Colorado depict marijuana as the overwhelming cause of the increase.

Some school officials used descriptions such as “drowning” and “under siege” to portray their battle with the increase in drug violations and what they view as a seismic shift in student attitudes about marijuana.

“When I grew up, it was horrible if you got caught with pot,” said East teacher Matt Murphy. “Now there are little green medical signs everywhere. It seems healthy. We’re at the front lines of this huge shift where kids think it’s OK.”

Among other findings of the investigation:

• Suspensions for drug violations in Colorado schools rose 45 percent between 2007-08 and 2010-11 while expulsions for drug violations increased 35 percent and referrals to police increased 17 percent. In contrast, the overall suspension rate for all other violations was down 11 percent while expulsions and police referrals for other violations dropped 25 percent.
• In Denver, the increase in referrals to law enforcement for drug violations was particularly high, spiking 71 percent in four years. Denver police in 2010 began listing marijuana arrests at city schools separately from other drug incidents – their records show 179 arrests for marijuana possession or sale at 43 Denver Public Schools between Aug. 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011, with a third of those arrests occurring at elementary, middle and K-8 schools.
• Suburban and rural areas are not immune. Grand Junction schools saw a 55 percent increase in drug violations in four years while they’ve doubled in the St. Vrain Valley district. Thornton High School in Adams 12 Five Star reported three drug violations per 100 students in 2007-08 and eight violations per 100 students in 2010-11 while Cherry Creek’s Overland High School saw its rate per 100 students rise from two to more than five in four years.
• Up to 53 medical marijuana dispensaries are within 1,000 feet of Colorado public schools. Statewide, 95 elementary schools are within a half-mile of a dispensary while 27 middle schools and 23 high schools are that close.

Located along downtown Denver’s busy Colfax Avenue, a hotspot for marijuana businesses, East is among the schools statewide surrounded by multiple dispensaries. But East is far from alone.

No clear trend for schools near multiple marijuana dispensaries

The investigation found some of the schools with the biggest increases in drug violations have multiple medical marijuana dispensaries within a mile or closer.

East, seen by many as Denver’s premier public high school, has had up to five medical marijuana dispensaries within a three-block radius of its campus. The number of drug violations at the school has tripled since 2009.

Palmer High School in downtown Colorado Springs is within a mile of as many as eight dispensaries. The school reported one or two drug violations in 2007-08 and 2008-09, then 75 violations in 2009-10 and 45 violations in 2010-11.

But not all schools with nearby dispensaries saw an increase in drug violations and some reported their numbers of drug-related incidents declined.

Brian Vincente, director of Sensible Colorado, an advocacy group pushing for the legalization of marijuana for adults, said dispensaries are not to blame for increases in student drug violations.

“There’s never been a recorded case of dispensaries selling marijuana to high school kids,” he said. “That is not the problem. Dispensaries are a highly regulated industry.”

Vincente says students are getting marijuana the same way they’ve gotten it for the past 50 years – illegally.

Others see a clear link between the dispensaries and increased student use of the drug.

“Of course there’s a correlation,” said Rebecca Hea, executive director of the Denver Children’s Home, which provides a drug and alcohol counselor at East.

“It’s a lot easier to get access to marijuana,” she said, noting the number of referrals to the East counselor “is growing so astronomically, she’s unable to meet the need.”

“There is a perception that if it’s medically sanctioned, it can’t be that bad,” Hea added. “It seems condoned because the name medical is in front of it.”

Nicole Veltze, principal at Denver’s North High School, which also has a number of dispensaries nearby, said the actual location of the dispensaries doesn’t matter as much as the fact they’re widespread.

“The kids aren’t going to the dispensaries,” she said. “The kids have access to other people who have access to dispensaries. So whether you live near or far from a dispensary, if you have a friend, you can get it.”

Veltze is particularly concerned about long-term repercussions for kids.

“When marijuana is found on students, we have to call law enforcement,” she said. “Due to the rise in availability of marijuana, we’re making more and more calls to law enforcement for this, and so we’re contributing to the criminalization of our kids.”

Students say medical marijuana cheaper, easier to obtain

Youngquist, who was principal at East for five years until getting a promotion in December, is convinced that dispensaries near schools increase use.

John Youngquist

“They create a context for students that is all about marijuana, a context that says this is healthy,” he said. “There’s just a very, very large amount of marijuana present in our community and there’s easy access for young people.”

The school has taken a proactive stance, with administrators frequently patrolling nearby Colfax Avenue during lunch. It’s then, and driving to and from the school, that Youngquist noticed students hovering near some dispensaries.

“It’s as easy as standing outside,” he said. “If you keep your eyes open and drive by, kids will be out front waiting for the possibility” to buy.

Some East students have a term for it. They call it “shoulder-tapping.”

“You stand there and when someone goes in, you say, ‘Hey, will you get me some weed in there?’” explained a 17-year-old boy.

Some older students, older siblings and recent graduates have medical marijuana cards, the boy said. There are even coupons to sweeten the transaction.

“Buying through dispensaries is cheaper than buying on the streets,” he said. “You call people who have a card. There are buy-one, get-one free deals.”

A group of Denver East High School students on a lunch break Jan. 19 display a package of wrappers used to roll marijuana. Photo by Joe Mahoney / I-News

Managers of dispensaries near East did not return calls for comment.

East students are divided over whether nearby dispensaries are fueling an increase in marijuana use.

“The fact that they’re close by makes it easier for it to happen at school,” said one 16-year-old girl, but she added, “If kids really want to do it at school, they’ll find a way to do it.”

Another boy, 16, said he thinks the sheer number of dispensaries may make the drug more attractive.

“That’s probably the effect that dispensaries have,” he said. “It’s like Starbucks. You think what’s so good about Starbucks? And you’re going to go try some.”

More than a dozen students interviewed said they see a growing number of their classmates using marijuana.

“It’s become more of a thing to do at school, to rebel or if you don’t like a class,” a 16-year-old girl said. “It’s a way to not skip class, but not be there in a way.”

Some communities ban dispensaries, others disregard schools’ buffer

Schools are singled out in contradictory local, state and federal regulations governing the use of marijuana.

While Colorado voters have approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, and voters may consider an initiative this fall to legalize it altogether in this state, federal law still views it as illegal.

State laws regulate medical marijuana businesses to some extent, including creating a 1,000-foot buffer around schools, but they also allow leeway for local authorities. So while 85 municipalities have banned dispensaries altogether, others have allowed them as close as 400 feet to schools.

In Denver, City Councilwoman Jeanne Robb said city officials acted only after the dispensaries began proliferating – so they compromised in allowing dispensaries already less than 1,000 feet from a school to continue operating.

Robb supports the federal crackdown but isn’t sure it will make a difference.

“Once medical marijuana was accepted in the dispensary form, it can be 1,000 feet from a school or 1,005 feet from a school. The youth who are inclined to find it will find it,” she said.

“Our society has said it’s medicine. I’m afraid it removes the idea that it’s still a drug. Now the question is how do we deal with the fallout on our youth? I’m not sure we can really go back.”

Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown, a key sponsor of city’s medical marijuana regulations, said he was “shocked and disappointed” by the increase in drug violations in schools.

“We need to get the people out of the business who shouldn’t be in the business,” he said. “Our job is to clamp down and make sure they don’t abuse it and if they are, we’re going to close them down.”

The federal action is likely to shut down only one dispensary near East. But for Youngquist, that’s a start.

For years, he said he felt nobody was listening as his staff struggled to respond to the growth in medical marijuana dispensaries around the school.

“I’ve gone and spoken with members of city council and state legislators and asked the question regarding the impact on youth,” Youngquist said. “They told me, ‘It’s not something we thought about.’

“I’m disappointed that young people weren’t considered when our government decided to implement a law and make medical marijuana legal.”

Burt Hubbard of the I-News Network and Rebecca Jones of Education News Colorado contributed to this report.