Colorado Board Of Health Holds Emergency Meeting To Determine Definition Of Medical Marijuana "Caregiver"

Update: The AP reports that the Colorado Board of Health has voted to eliminate the regulation that defines a 'care-giver' as anyone who supplies medical marijuana. The decision will be made final on December 16.

Westword paints a colorful picture of proceedings inside the Colorado Department of Public Health:

But when they announced that they wouldn't be taking public comment, the meeting quickly devolved into a shouting match between attorney and medical marijuana advocate Rob Corry and Glenn Schlabs, the chairman of the Board of Health, who was not at the meeting, but on the phone via teleconference.

Corry eventually backed off when Schlabs told him he was out of order and police began to walk toward him. Corry, who was soon surrounded by TV cameras, eventually declared the entire proceeding illegal and told Schlabs he would see him in court.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Colorado Board of Health is planning to hold an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss removing a regulation that defines who can legally sell marijuana. The meeting comes in response to a ruling by the Colorado Court of Appeals last week in which the court decided that, in order to qualify as a 'primary caregiver' who can sell medical marijuana, one must do more than simply sell pot to patients.

According to a document released by the court, the purpose of the meeting is "to remove the rule's conflict with the Colorado Court of Appeals decision." The rule currently states that "shopping or making any necessary arrangement for access to medical care or services or provision of medical marijuana" is enough to qualify as a legal provider.

Westword reports that the medical marijuana group Sensible Colorado is interpreting the meeting as a significant threat to medical marijuana in Colorado. The group's web-site declares "This is not a drill, people. Threat Level Red!"

Comments

[ncmom54]

12:46 AM on 11/04/2009

Marijuana will never cause the level of damage to the country as the Wall Street Banks have.
and they're not going to jail?

[CRUMBOWSKI]

12:26 PM on 11/10/2009

Absolutely Correct!

Your point..in my opinion..Speaks to the HEART of the issue.."What..IS..Dangerous?"..

In other words..IF..Political Power..Media...law Enforcement..Social Policy..etc..are going to be based on..the "Threat Level' of a Substance..tool...behaviour..TO HUMAN HEALTH..as in a "HEALTH AND SAFETY" issue..then..CLEAN UP THE AIR...Clean up the WATER...Cure CANCER...END the selling of EXTREMELY hight Fat-high Cholesterol FOOD..ESPECIALLY to CHILDREN...

I mean..the AMOUNT..of basic..RIGHTS...that are being infringed upon with the....just...PLAIN AS DAY..DISNINGENUOUS 'RATIONAL"..that its...BAD FOR YOU..So...WE'LL make SURE..you CANNOT HAVE IT.....it's STUNNING..it really is..

IF..the Government..is SO..oh so.."Concerned" with MY HEALTH..then...ummm..why do I have to PAY so much for it? Oh..and then there are those 500 OTHER REASONS why the "Argument" they've been utilizing for 75 years is so..ummmm...well..you know what?

...The HEALTH..of these "LAWS"..should be Addressed...cause I think..it is my..umm..Medical Opinion..and my opinion should count as least as much as some SENATOR...in my opinion..the "LAW" COULD USE A LITTLE..'DIGITAL DISIMPACTION'...BECAUSE IT IS...SERIOUSLY...BACKED-UP....AS ARE THOSE MAKING THESE 'LAWS'...A SERIOUSLY CONSTIPATED BUNCH....SO BACKED-UP IN FACT...THEY HAVE DEVELOPED 'OCULAR-FECALITIS'...OR "O.F."...THE PRIMARY 'PRESENTING' PROBLEM? A $H!TTY OUTLOOK...

[RevRayGreen]

10:19 PM on 11/03/2009

Breckenridge voters OK marijuana decriminalization

[jellyrollq]

07:41 PM on 11/03/2009

The BOH is creating a law enforcement nightmare. This is not going to stick--as Breckenridge and other communities legalize marijuana, local law enforcement officials are going to get so fed up with the baloney coming out of Denver that they will just throw up their hands and stop enforcing.

Find out who appointed these BOH officials and avalanche their office with calls, emails letters. Let them know they will not be re-elected until they a) jerk the BOH's chain and get them to stop this nonsense b) replace these appointees if they don't get their heads on straight.

The people ultimately have the power, we just have to exercise it.

[Nicon]

05:32 PM on 11/03/2009

This is Crazy! The Ruling from last week applied to the OLD LAW. The Provides Medical Marijuana bit was only added this summer! It has only been in place for 3 months.

Why are we allowing a small group of zealots to screw with our Constitution?

[RevRayGreen]

05:31 PM on 11/03/2009

Police nearly ejected lawyer Rob Corry, who handled the Court of Appeals case for a medical marijuana grower that led to Tuesday's switch. Corry tried to speak but was ruled out of order. He sat down when two police officers approached him.

"What we saw here today is not democracy. It was government by illegality," Corry said. "We weren't even allowed to speak."

[confidance government]

04:50 PM on 11/03/2009

So is there no now legal protection for MM growers since the health board decided to suspend the regulations concerning their operation?

[RevRayGreen]

04:16 PM on 11/03/2009

is there an exit poll yet ?

[RevRayGreen]

04:26 PM on 11/03/2009

Breckenridge

[confidance government]

04:08 PM on 11/03/2009

Why is the health board trying to criminalize the majority of, what until recently was, the legal supply of medical marijuana in Colorado.

In order to meet the demand, growers need to be free to operate with fear of prosecution for providing to legitimate buyers.

With regard to the complaints regarding the number of young patients with may appear to be minor medical complaints, I ask the question.

Do you prefer these people purchasing off the black market and potentially forever having the stigma of a drug conviction if they are arrested for possession or minor cultivation?

Even a misdemeanor drug charge can forever limit a young person's options by disqualifying them for federal education assistance.

[rdpuck]

04:04 PM on 11/03/2009

The Kingdom of Breckenridge will change the tone in Colorado. They will pass legal pot today.
I hope the rest of the communities in Colorado follow suit. Then the carpet baggers in Denver won't be able to do much...

[Runruff]

01:38 PM on 11/03/2009

Seventy years of kicking cannabis around by cops and corporations, have only served to it bring to the forefront in the American consciousness.

Year by year more and more great stuff emerges about the many uses of this most useful plant, both in medicine and industry. It is the enemy of the status quo!

The drug czar says legalization is not in his vocabulary. Unemployment [for him] and reduced drug war budgets are not in his vocabulary either. Marijuana prohibition funds 80% of the war on drugs.

[Z-Liberator]

01:33 PM on 11/03/2009

Keep your dirty government hands of my sticky green!!!

[occasional]

12:37 PM on 11/03/2009

Why are folks so scared of marijuana? Are they really still stuck in the "Reefer Madness" mentality? Can anyone explain to me why it is acceptable to prescribe SPEED (Ritalin) to a kid with ADD, why it is legal to prescribe Zolaft (may cause suicidal thoughts and/or feelings) to a suicidally depressed patient, it is legal to fill your body with POISONS such as nicotine and alcohol (which I choose to) but I can't get a script for MJ to help my insomnia because I happen to live in Arizona? Instead, I have found the only legal remedy that works for me is, of course, a pill that my 12 year old sister could buy and overdose on if she wanted to. WTF PEOPLE?!?!?!?

[Cantab81]

01:09 PM on 11/03/2009

Not fear of MJ ,fear of its marketeers. Every drug user in the US shares some of the blame for the Mexican drug problem.If its just legal, fine; lets impose a sin tax ( like soda pop users)

[Durango]

03:07 PM on 11/03/2009

Bull.

The best stuff comes from within the USA.

As long as you are using domestic pot, or even better, growing your own you are hurting the Mexican drug cartels.

[missouriwatcher]

12:30 PM on 11/03/2009

The solution is really quite simple (a real problem for government and "industries" hoping to capitalize on the plant): Legalize it and get the cops out of the doctors' business. Anyone should be free to grow whatever amount he/she wants to use without being hassled.

[fredamae]

12:26 PM on 11/03/2009

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2009/11/3/0042/91510

Starting in 4 minutes,,,,,Dial:
"2) Call-in to the Meeting. While we strongly prefer that you attend in person, you can also call-in at 1-866-899-5399, conference code 3529725"

I am told that you must enter the conference code as *3529725*

[Bradson]

11:58 AM on 11/03/2009

The silliest aspect of this entire brouhaha is that the plant in question is non-toxic, and that even smoked cannabis does not cause the health problems associated with tobacco use. All this legal fuss and bother over a plant that causes few if any problems to the user...other than the legal problems, of course. And, it's a common plant, for God's sake, not a pharmaceutical pill or powder!

[PocketWatch]

12:26 PM on 11/03/2009

Ah, and you have put your finger firmly on the problem. Since it's essentially a common weed, generally easy to grow and anyone can do it, the pharma's really can't control it, bill you for it, or otherwise make money on it. Same thing with herbal medicines that you can go out and collect and prepare for yourself.

Follow the money, friend.

[Durango]

03:21 PM on 11/03/2009

I don't think the problem is Big Pharma not being able to make a profit on weed.

The problem is more basic.

Originally marijuana was outlawed for strictly racist purposes. As a way of keeping "Mexicans" in their place.

Later, through the Nixon years marijuana became a synonym for the youth culture. And Nixon and conservatives made a whole lot of political hay by their War on Drugs. it was a way of being seen as tough on crime without hurting your constituents.

Then of course with the increased bureaucracy involved on the War on Drugs serious money got involved in funding the DEA, and state and local efforts. Find out how much money gets appropriated to your Multijurisdictional Drug Task Force and you will begin to see where the real money is.

Looting the taxpayers for bureaucratic fiefdoms.

And as if that wasn't enough look at the laws allowing law enforcement to confiscate property and use the proceeds for their own funding.

That was terrible law under Nero or caligula. It has no place in the "Land of the Free."

I agree with you that we should follow the money. But I don't think the money is in Big Pharma but the multi billion dollar bureaucracy set up and the need to control the taxpayer fianced turf they they have created.

And the fact that politicians never pay a price for being "Tough On Drugs."

[Cantab81]

12:37 PM on 11/03/2009

The problem arises from its marketing and corrupting influnce from dealers or drug users buying medical marijuana and resellin g to minors or other users. One only need look at Mexico's drug dealers or Afghanastans economic dependence on heroin to realize that the market generates the criminals. If its just legal say so, If its for medical use ,lets make sure Dr and caregiver are the same person.

[Durango]

03:11 PM on 11/03/2009

Show me one, just one documented case where medical marijuana was resold to minors.

Not to mention: Why this devolution to the lowest common denominator? As an adult I cannot smoke pot because some minor may get his/her hands on it?

That is a ridiculous argument.

And comparing medical marijuana to the opium trade of Afghanistan?

Ludicrous, simply ludicrous.