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 veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 13,985
Loc: 
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 Colorado Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to stay open! *Update*
#10697725 - 07/18/09 12:05 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Colorado Hearing Monday on Plan to Limit Dispensaries Expected to Draw Loud Opposition
July 17, 2009 - Drug War Chronicle
On Monday, the Colorado Board of Health will hold a key public hearing on a controversial proposal to impose restrictions on the state's medical marijuana providers. The board is likely to get an angry earful from patients and providers worried that the restrictions will effectively shutter the state's burgeoning dispensaries and make it more difficult for patients to obtain their medicine.
Colorado authorities tried the same thing five years ago, but a state judge slapped them down for failing to hold any hearings. They are also somewhat hamstrung because the measure passed as a constitutional amendment, making any alteration of it constitutionally suspect.
The hearing comes as participation in Colorado's medical marijuana program has gone into overdrive. The number of registered patients is rapidly approaching 10,000, up from only 1,700 a few years ago. The number of physicians making medical marijuana recommendations is nearing 600. The number of dispensaries in the state has undergone a jump in recent months, and is now approaching 40.
If approved, the draft proposal from the Department of Public Health and Environment would put a real crimp in the Colorado medical marijuana boom. Two provisions of the proposal that are earning the most denunciations from patients and providers: One would tighten the definition of who qualifies as a licensed caregiver; the other would limit the number of patients a caregiver can provide for to five. There is currently no limit on the number of patients for whom a caregiver can grow or otherwise provide.
"There are two major problems with the proposal," said Denver attorney Warren Edson, one of the coauthors of the voter-approved constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana in the state. "The biggest problem is their redefinition to include the requirement that caregivers provide other services. The second biggest problem is the attempt to regulate a five patient limit."
"The proposed caregiver limit is a solution in search of a problem," said Mason Tvert, executive director of SAFER (Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation), which while concentrating on recreational use, also supports the state's existing medical marijuana program. "It would actually create several problems for the thousands of Coloradans whose doctors recommended they use marijuana to treat their debilitating conditions. Imagine walking into a pharmacy to pick up the medicine your doctor recommended, only to be turned away because it has already helped five people," he said.
"As if such a patient limit isn't ridiculous enough, these state bureaucrats have failed to provide even a single justification for why it's necessary," Tvert continued. "After all, pharmacies distribute countless medications that are potentially dangerous and frequently abused, whereas medical marijuana dispensaries distribute a substance less toxic and less addictive than beer."
The Department of Public Health and Environment indeed steadfastly refused to comment on its proposals. "The department's position will be outlined at a public hearing on July 20," was all it would say, which is a bit odd since the department's position is already outlined in the draft proposal set to be slammed on Monday.
Denver attorney Robert Correy has crafted an alternate to the department proposal (see it at the proposal link above), and is warning the board it would be wise to adopt his and not the department's. "My proposal would guard caregivers' anonymity, and was prompted by the murder of caregiver Ken Gorman," he said. "It would be much better for caregivers and patients, and it is much more consistent with the constitution than the health department proposal."
Adopting the health department proposal would amount to amending the constitution, said Correy. "While the Health Board can pretty much vote independent of what the public wants, it can't amend the constitution through regulation, which is what this proposal would do. The changes are radical and diametrically opposed to the constitutional definitions of caregivers and patients' rights," he argued.
The Monday hearing was originally set for March, but officials rescheduled it when it became apparent that the controversial proposals would draw a huge number of people wanting to offer public comments on it. Now, it has been relocated to Denver college campus conference room that can fit 500 people, but medical marijuana supporters say that may not be enough.
One person who will be there is Jim Bent, co-owner of the Patients Choice dispensary on South Broadway in Denver, which provides for some 300 patients. "I'll be handing out bottled water and snacks to help people stay there through the day so the board can see the level of support the current approach has," he said.
"If those proposed rules went into effect, I would have to lay off employees," said Bent, "We wouldn't be able to provide the services we currently do," which currently include massage therapy, music therapy, acupuncture, and nutrition classes. "With so many patients, we can get a discount rate, but if we were only taking care of five people, as the proposal recommends, we couldn't afford to do that."
Patients Choice is a shining example of the wave of dispensaries that have opened in Colorado since the Obama administration made it clear that it was not going to sic the DEA on medical marijuana providers operating in accord with state laws. More than 30 dispensaries have opened this year, transforming the face of medical marijuana in the Rocky Mountain state.
"When Obama said he would leave this alone, we had a shift from people in the black market trying to squeeze over," said Edson. "But now it is business people running real businesses. Thanks to Obama and the poor state of the rest of the economy, this is really snowballing. We added 1,200 patients and four big dispensaries in May alone."
Patients and providers are of the opinion that if it ain't broke, don't fix it, said Edson. "We have a system that is working, and I think the Board of Health is going to find out Monday that there will be a thousand people there telling them not to approve those changes," he said.
That would be a clear sign of the importance of the existing program for patients and providers, he said. "The board has never had more than a dozen people at its hearings for anything, but when they had 200 people show up for the pre-hearing earlier this year, that was a loud signal. Now, they've rescheduled in a room that holds 500, and that isn't going to be enough. They are supposed to go by public opinion, and public opinion will be incredibly lopsided telling them not to adopt these changes," Edson warned.
If, in the face of the expected near universal condemnation of the proposal, the Health Board members adopt it, Robert Correy will be waiting for them. "I will be ready to serve them with the lawsuit in person right after the vote," he vowed. "We'll be in court Tuesday morning before the same judge who slapped them down when they tried this in 2004."
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 Legalize
Metalhead
Registered: 12/10/08
Posts: 2,017
Loc: USA
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
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Re: Colorado Hearing Monday on Plan to Limit Dispensaries Expected to Draw Loud Opposition [Re: veggie]
#10697852 - 07/18/09 01:08 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Why limit dispensaries? Do they limit pharmacies? Come on people, stop thinking of it as an illicit street drug. It's legitimate now!
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Opiate free since 8/26/10 
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PreparationH
apply daily
Registered: 03/28/05
Posts: 13,205
Loc: Amsterdam
Last seen: 5 hours, 27 minutes
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Re: Colorado Hearing Monday on Plan to Limit Dispensaries Expected to Draw Loud Opposition [Re: Legalize]
#10698794 - 07/18/09 09:20 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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last gasps of a dying breed.
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come say that at the gathering, see what happens
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EdgeChaos
Still a stranger
Registered: 08/04/06
Posts: 2,060
Last seen: 1 month, 10 days
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Re: Colorado Hearing Monday on Plan to Limit Dispensaries Expected to Draw Loud Opposition [Re: PreparationH]
#10698933 - 07/18/09 10:00 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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I still think medical cannabis is bullshit.
Yeah... I guess I would love a nice legal loophole so I could smoke pot and laugh in a cops face.
It just seems so fake. I'm sure lots of people that have nausea and pain are actually using the medical but all I ever see is a bunch of stoners.
I'm open to ideas on this help me understand.
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darius33
Cogito Ergo Nom
Registered: 04/04/09
Posts: 128
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Re: Colorado Hearing Monday on Plan to Limit Dispensaries Expected to Draw Loud Opposition [Re: EdgeChaos]
#10699124 - 07/18/09 10:54 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
I'm sure lots of people that have nausea and pain are actually using the medical but all I ever see is a bunch of stoners.
A side effect of smoking marijuana as medicine is getting stoned.
LOL
But, in all honesty there are people out there who have conditions where MMJ is the ideal solution to their problems. It's non-toxic and treats multiple conditions at once with no negative side effects. Also, a lot of people self-medicate with marijuana without realizing that they have depression or chronic pain and when they stop they discover these problems that marijuana has been treating.
<--- Start: Soapbox --->
Quote:
I guess I would love a nice legal loophole so I could smoke pot and laugh in a cops face.
Why do this? All you're going to do is keep the people who we need to change their minds about marijuana hostile. Everyone needs to think about the bigger picture. They've stopped calling it a war but we still have at least a decade of prohibition. We can all do our part to remove the social stigma of marijuana.
<--- End: Soapbox --->
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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 13,985
Loc:
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Re: Colorado Hearing Monday on Plan to Limit Dispensaries Expected to Draw Loud Opposition [Re: veggie]
#10710258 - 07/20/09 02:43 PM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Update. Still ongoing...
Crowd stands up for access to medical marijuana
July 20, 2009 - Denver Post
 About 350 people signed up to testify at the Colorado Board of Health's meeting today about proposed changes to the state's medical-marijuana laws.
The most controversial of those planned changes would effectively shut down medical-marijuana dispensaries and could potentially cut off access to the drug for some of the 7,630 Coloradans registered as patients who can legally use marijuana.
Public testimony started around 2 p.m. at the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria campus, which was standing room only as more than 500 spectators filled all of the seats in a large auditorium and balcony.
Despite slips of paper distributed by Sensible Colorado — a pro-marijuana, nonprofit advocacy group — reminding those in attendance to "be respectful and professional" and not to "speak out of turn or taunt speakers," the audience often broke out in cheers, hisses, or boos.
The board is contemplating a number of changes to Colorado's Amendment 20, passed by voters in 2000. The amendment allows those with debilitating medical conditions to either grow their own marijuana or appoint a "caregiver" to do the growing for them. The proposed changes to that amendment would limit caregivers, which sometimes take the form of dispensaries serving hundreds of patients, to supplying five patients at a time.
Eleven people were scheduled to testify in support of the proposal, but two were not present when their names were called, and one, the owner of Cannabis Therapeutics in Colorado Springs, seemed to have accidentally signed up on the wrong side.
"This must be a mistake," said Glenn Schlabs, the president of the board of health.
Holly Dodge, the deputy district attorney for El Paso County, spoke in support of the proposal on behalf of 20 other DAs on the Colorado District Attorneys' Council. She said the proposed changes would clarify, not change, the intention of the original amendment.
"There is no way of appropriately protecting a patient when they have a caregiver with 300 other patients," she said. "That's not caregiving, that's marijuana growing."
Her comments were met with boos from the crowd.
Other supporters who spoke, including police officers and spokespeople for anti-drug advocacy groups, emphasized the proposal's ability to help law-enforcement officers control marijuana growing operations. Because there is no limit on a caregiver's size, several speakers said police officers have had difficulty determining whether a growing operation is legal.
"While Amendment 20 is clear in its intent, its definition is vague enough that district attorneys cannot meaningfully advise people on the street who are enforcing marijuana laws," said Helen Morgan, Denver's chief deputy district attorney.
In addition, the board heard testimony from Ned Calonge, chief medical officer of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment; Ron Hyman, registrar of vital statistics at the state health department; and representatives from Sensible Colorado and the Colorado branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
In his presentation to the board, Hyman said the state's marijuana registry does not have enough resources to manage what he called the "explosive growth" of registered marijuana patients.
The registry has grown by about 1,000 patients a month this year, including 2,000 new patients in June, Hyman said. He predicted that the state would have 15,000 registered patients by the end of the year.
"We're doing the same amount of work in a day that we used to do in over a month," he said.
Calonge then explained why the proposal sets the patient cap for caregivers at five.
"We define a primary caregiver as significantly participating in a patient's everyday care," he said. "If those caregivers are making home visits to each patient, considering travel time, they could visit five patients a day."
Calonge cited numerous examples where a caregiver is defined as seeing five patients a day, including Rhode Island's medical-marijuana law and the number of patients nurses from a home-health care company sees.
"We believe we have ample precedent and supportive evidence for this number," he said.
The board then heard testimony from those opposed to the proposal, including a doctor, a police officer, a caregiver and a medical-marijuana patient.
"More regulation drives people to the black market, and that means patient care suffers," said Dr. Paul Bregman.
"If this law passes, patients will lose their access to safe medicine and some will die," said the owner of a Colorado dispensary. "Please be compassionate."
The dispensary owner said that although his dispensary serves more than five patients, he believes he provides significant care to each one. When asked by the board where he would set his own patient limit, he said that even 5,000 patients would not be too many.
"I'd like to be under the same standards as Walgreens or a Wal-Mart pharmacy," he said.
Lauren Davis, a former senior district attorney in Denver said the proposal would not address the concerns raised by the other law-enforcement officials who had testified.
"Limiting caregivers will increase the number of small-grower operations," she said.
Although the public-comment period of the meeting was set to begin at 12:50 p.m., by noon, the meeting was already an hour behind schedule. After public comments, the board will deliberate and then vote on whether to approve the proposal.
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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 13,985
Loc:
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Re: Colorado Hearing Monday on Plan to Limit Dispensaries Expected to Draw Loud Opposition [Re: veggie]
#10712032 - 07/20/09 08:37 PM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Health board rejects key medical marijuana changes
July 20, 2009 - Denver Post
A proposal that medical marijuana users feared would cut off their access to the drug was rejected by the Colorado Board of Health Monday night
In addition to rejecting a plan to limit medical marijuana caregivers to five patients, the board also refused to require caregivers also help patients with their daily activities.
The decision was met with a loud cheer from the 50 or so people remaining in the audience that had numbered 500. People stood up, jumped up and down and screamed.
Hundreds of patients authorized to use medical marijuana testified Monday that proposed changes to the state's medical-marijuana law would have devastating health implications for them.
The Colorado Board of Health meeting contemplated new definitions to parts of the law that governs who may grow medical pot and how many patients they serve.
The most controversial change to the amendment would have limited growers — known as caregivers — which sometimes take the form of dispensaries serving hundreds of patients, to supplying five patients at a time.
Jonathan Edens, an Iraq war veteran, is one of the 350 who signed up to testify at the meeting, held at the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria campus.
"When I came back from the war, I had real bad PTSD and torn ligaments," said Edens, a Colorado Springs resident who is a registered medical-marijuana patient. "I was so addicted to pills, I couldn't even look at myself in mirror without being disgusted. Now that I've started smoking marijuana, I've dropped 50 pounds and am off most of the medication I was on."
Another registered patient, James Potts of Erie, also warned the board of the consequences of closing dispensaries.
"Beyond the difficulty of producing quality medical cannabis, even fewer dispensaries produce consumables like tincture oils and baked goods that many patients depend on as their sole method of relief," Potts said.
Other testimony ranged from scientific explanations from biochemistry researchers to conspiracy theories.
Eleven people were scheduled to testify in support of the proposal, including Holly Dodge, the deputy district attorney for El Paso County, spoke represented 20 other DAs on the Colorado District Attorneys' Council.
The rule changes, Dodge said, would merely clarify the intention of the original amendment. "There is no way of appropriately protecting a patient when they have a caregiver with 300 other patients," she said. "That's not caregiving, that's marijuana growing."
Her comments were met with boos from the crowd.
Other supporters who spoke, including police officers and spokespeople for anti-drug advocacy groups, emphasized the proposal's ability to help law-enforcement officers control unlicensed pot growing operations.
Ron Hyman, registrar of vital statistics at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said the state's marijuana registry does not have enough resources to manage what he called the "explosive growth" of registered marijuana patients, which now number 7,630. He said that number could reach 15,000 by the end of this year.
Ned Calonge, the health department's chief medical officer, said the proposal sets the patient cap at five, because that is the number a caregiver can reasonably handle daily.
The board also heard testimony from those opposed to the proposed changes, including a doctor, a police officer, a caregiver and a medical-marijuana patient.
Lauren Davis, a former senior district attorney in Denver said the planned changes will not address the concerns raised by the other law-enforcement officials who had testified.
"Limiting caregivers will increase the number of small-grower operations," she said.
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TacticalBongRip
Curious Observer
Registered: 08/20/05
Posts: 527
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Re: Colorado Hearing Monday on Plan to Limit Dispensaries Expected to Draw Loud Opposition [Re: veggie]
#10712555 - 07/20/09 10:33 PM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Go Colorado!!
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Coaster
Baʿal
Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
Loc: Deep in the Valley
Last seen: 7 months, 17 days
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Re: Colorado Hearing Monday on Plan to Limit Dispensaries Expected to Draw Loud Opposition [Re: TacticalBongRip]
#10713178 - 07/21/09 02:24 AM (2 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
"When I came back from the war, I had real bad PTSD and torn ligaments," said Edens, a Colorado Springs resident who is a registered medical-marijuana patient. "I was so addicted to pills, I couldn't even look at myself in mirror without being disgusted. Now that I've started smoking marijuana, I've dropped 50 pounds and am off most of the medication I was on."
that guy needs to make a commercial
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