cannabisnews.com: CO Lawmakers Look at Regulating Pot Dispensaries
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CO Lawmakers Look at Regulating Pot Dispensaries
Posted by CN Staff on January 28, 2010 at 16:14:26 PT
By Colleen Slevin, The Associated Press
Source: Aspen Times 
Denver -- Lawmakers will likely be asked to back rules regulating the hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries that have popped up around Colorado, rather than trying to get rid of them.Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, plans to introduce a bill next week that would require criminal background checks for people selling medical marijuana, along with regular inspections and audits of the businesses.
The details are still being worked out, but Massey and the bill's co-sponsor, Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, say they would also like to convert dispensaries into clinics. Clinics typically have doctors and nutritionists on hand to treat patients, and Romer said many dispensaries could still decide to close rather than convert.Massey had considered limiting the number of people medical marijuana suppliers serve to five or 10, which would have shut down dispensaries that many medical marijuana users have come to depend on. With the numbers of registered users growing, Massey said he wanted to make sure people who need the drug are able to have access to it.Demand is growing so fast for medical marijuana cards that officials aren't sure how many people now have them. At least 17,000 do, but another 20,000 or so have applied and are waiting for approval. At the current rate, analysts expect 75,000 people to apply in the next fiscal year. Lawmakers are concerned that some of the growth is coming from recreational users who have gotten a doctor's permission to use the drug.Massey's approach is opposed by Attorney General John Suthers, a fellow Republican, who fears passing any regulation of dispensaries will legitimize them. He said voters didn't sanction the commercial growth and sale of marijuana when they passed Amendment 20 in 2000.Amendment 20 allows people who suffer from severe pain and debilitating medical conditions, including cancer, glaucoma, HIV and multiple sclerosis, to use marijuana in private once they get a doctor's note and register with the state, paying a $90 fee and receiving a card.The law doesn't address how patients obtain their marijuana and it doesn't mention dispensaries, which have grown since the Obama administration said it wouldn't target medical marijuana users in states that allowed it.Suthers said lawmakers should leave dispensaries alone and voters could pass another measure to get rid of them later.Massey said lawmakers have to deal with the situation as it is now, as well as make sure Amendment 20 is respected."The status quo is not good for us at this point," he said.Romer said it was time to "stop the 30-year war on drugs and have commonsense ground rules."On Friday, the full Senate is expected to vote on another proposal aimed at preventing recreational marijuana users from getting permission to become legal users of medical marijuana.The measure (Senate Bill 109) would require doctors to give medical marijuana patients a full exam and provide follow-up care. The bill would also bar doctors from setting up shop in dispensaries.People who are convicted of a crime would also lose their medical marijuana cards, which must be renewed annually.Romer believes that as many as a third of the current users would be unable to get their cards renewed under the proposed new rules.Source: Aspen Times (CO)Author: Colleen Slevin, The Associated PressPublished: January 28, 2010Copyright: 2010 Aspen TimesWebsite: http://www.aspentimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/VksdjQ5TContact: http://drugsense.org/url/zKpMPhQ7CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on January 30, 2010 at 05:15:30 PT:
(Robot voice) "Pun-ish. Pun-ish. Pun-ish."
The sado-moralists that comprise the prohibs can think in only one way, and that's to exact a 'pound of flesh' for every action they deem 'immoral'...like enjoying yourself. I guess they figure that if Great Maker doesn't strike a cannabist dead for the effrontery of using something said Great Maker put here in It's wisdom, then they'll have to step in and do the best they can to take up the slack.The unconscious arrogance of these people is absolutely breathtaking...
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on January 29, 2010 at 10:17:41 PT
weather good.
The weather is good.The roads and power outages are bad.?
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 29, 2010 at 06:12:30 PT
Dankhank
I think they changed the title but I have it posted. I saw on the news you are having bad weather out in your state.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread25373.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by Dankhank on January 29, 2010 at 00:33:07 PT
OT and interesting ...
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/145434/tending_%27the_grow%27%3A__marijuana_at_a_crossroadsseen this, yet?power has been off and on, lately, so I have been away ...
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Comment #1 posted by EAH on January 28, 2010 at 21:18:06 PT:
So tired
I'm so tired of people who panic at the idea that someone who might be considered a recreational user might obtain cannabis legally. These people have lost all rational perspective.These rules that say anyone convicted of a crime cannot use this herb legally are 
delusional and spectacularly unfair. They think the conviction reliably sorts those who have EVER transgressed from those who haven't. This is a fallacy. Many have transgressed and never been caught or convicted. The dealer that hasn't been arrested or convicted will be able to dispense and the one who has can not. The distinction is arbitrary and capricious in reality and practice. It only seems reasonable and logical. Why must we suffer these fools?
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