Colorado medical marijuana bill heads to Senate after marathon debate
DENVER — Urban legend has it that the U.S. Constitution was written on hemp fiber paper it was actually written on parchment, but were the Founding Fathers stoned when they were composing it?
That truth is self evident, says Alan Schwartz, a volunteer for Mile High NORML — John Adams and Thomas Jefferson came from a time when resources were precious and the most was made from them to avoid wasting anything that might be beneficial. Most paper in those days was made from hemp, and growing good hemp for paper, ropes, sails and the like required good strains of both male and female cannabis plants. And everyone knows what good female plants produce — a sense of elation in smokers.”
Back in those days, if you killed a deer, you used every part of the deer for something,” Schwartz said. The same is true with the plants they grew, he said. “You just know they were smoking cannabis.”
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The Cannabis Therapy Institute also provided the following statement on the proceedings:
The Colorado state Senate Local Government Committee took hoursof testimony yesterday on HB1284. One of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. ChrisRomer (D-Denver), was quoted in several articles yesterday saying that thebill is designed to shut down 80% of caregiving businesses in Colorado. TheCommittee hearing started at 2pm and finally adjourned at 11:30pm. TheCommittee voted in favor of HB1284 and some of its last minute amendmentsby a vote of 6 to 0, with Senator Cadman absent.
Laura Kriho of the Cannabis Therapy Institute says, “This is a sad day forpatients. Not only have they been sold out by their lawmakers, but theyhave been sold out by well-funded dispensaries, and they have been sold outby so-called patient rights groups. This bill will destroy patients’ accessto their medicine, drive prices up, and force patients back into the blackmarket. The will of the voters has been ignored once again by lawmakers,and sick and dying Colorado citizens will suffer.”
“This is taking patient rights back over 100 years,” says Timothy Tipton, apatient advocate with the Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative “Things aregoing in the wrong direction. Patients in the 1800s had better access tocannabis medicine than they will under this new law.”
In a departure from hearings in other committees, the Local GovernmentCommittee Chair, Sen. Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass), allowed disabled patientsto testify first. This was followed by several hours of testimony from lawenforcement, including the District Attorney for Adams and BroomfieldCounties, the District Attorney for El Paso and Teller Counties, theDistrict Attorney for Jefferson and Gilpin Counties, the County Sheriffs ofColorado, the Colorado Chiefs of Police Association, the North Metro DrugTask force, and more. Most of the law enforcement testified against thebill, saying that they didn’t believe the “dispensary model” was allowedunder Colorado’s medical marijuana constitutional amendment.
Several representatives of Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation, alobbying group hired by a handful of well-funded dispensaries who have been”working with” Senator Romer on gaining concessions friendly to bigbusiness. CMMR testified in favor of HB1284, but was against a dozen or solast-minute amendments to the bill that Senator Romer surprised them withthat morning. Also testifying on the CMMR team was Brian Vicente fromSensible Colorado, an organization which claims to be in support of patientrights. Sensible asked for several amendments, but overall was satisfiedwith the bill that would eliminate 80% of patient’s caregivers, forceprices up, and force patients to use only one dispensary for their medicine.
Laura Kriho, the director of the Cannabis Therapy Institute, urged theCommittee to kill HB1284 and urged lawmakers to form a statewide commissionto study programs that have been working locally and recommend a bill thathad a broad base of support. Mark Simon, an activist with the disabledcommunity, testified that neither Sen. Romer nor anyone else had reachedout to the disabled community to get their input on the bill.
Others who gave testimony against HB1284 were attorneys Robert J. Corry,Jr. and Lauren Davis; Laurel Alterman, owner of Altermeds dispensary inLouisville; Miguel Lopez of Mile High NORML; Robert Chase of ColoradoCoalition of Patients and Caregivers; and the Colorado Springs MedicalMarijuana Council. The mountain contingent was well-represented withKathleen Chippi, owner of One Brown Mouse dispensary in Nederland; JessicaLaRoux of Twirling Hippy Confections and Mark Rose of Grateful Medsdispensary in Nederland all testifying eloquently against the bill.
The bill now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee and then will bevoted on by the full Senate. CTI is urging patient rights supporters tocontact their state senators and urge them to vote No on HB1284.
“You just know they were smoking cannabis.”. . haayman thatis goodnufff lodgic fome.