For my second blog, I thought I would dig into some of my key observations from my first blog.
“There is contention between recreational marijuana and medical marijuana. This contention is also complimented by conflicts of interest”
A contentious, but respected, Chinese finger trap seemed to have once existed between the recreational and medical marijuana industries. That was, until the lone voice of Cindy Sovine Miller raised into a squeak above the noise. The constant push and pull of a mega industry ashamed to admit all it wanted was “more” and a medical community who didn’t want to give up any more ground – Ms. Sovine Miller, a patient/caregiver lobbyist, made the disastrous mistake of, *gasp* being honest about the relationship in a recent Westword article Lobbyist Cindy Sovine-Miller Is a Growing Force at the Colorado Legislature. Being the vocal lobbyist on anything related to marijuana is no small task and I commend Ms. Sovine Miller for having the courage to tell it like it is.
One of the other observations I made in the first blog underscored that, “Loyalty and civility are the only ingredients you won’t find included in the seemingly endless different types of marijuana available.” which was an even more keen insight than I initially anticipated.
How many other voices were crushed or silenced by telling the truth? In the future, Ms. Sovine Miller will likely be one of them as the recreational marijuana industry came down on her hard: they threatened her with unethical claims after she called them out for client conflicts of interest. It is a pity they cannot simply do their jobs but they must resort to Canna-balizing a fellow professional. It is clear that the Wild West is most pervasive under the gold dome of the Capitol where not even the nearly sole marijuana patient lobbyist can do her job without being under constant threat.
Bottom line, I get it, there is this big contentious and “complex” atmosphere but anytime the “big guys” go after the practically singular oppositional voice, I just can’t stand it. I thought we were done with school yard bullying… didn’t we learn that in the 3rd grade or something, c’mon!
Surely there are other “Cindy Sovine Miller’s” in Colorado, right? Maybe they are not lobbyists, but community members, families, business owners or merely Coloradans willing to question what’s happening? Are there other voices that are willing to stand up?
