Colorado Medical Marijuana Bill Passes House, Will Be Sent To Governor Ritter

KUSA:

DENVER - Colorado lawmakers are sending to Gov. Bill Ritter (D-Colorado) a measure regulating the state's medical marijuana industry and he indicated to 9NEWS he is inclined to sign it into law.

The State House voted 46-19 on Tuesday afternoon to approve House Bill 1284. The legislation requires dispensaries to be licensed and monitored throughout the state but also gives local communities the ability to ban them.

Read the whole story: KUSA

Comments

[gimmeabreak444]

12:57 AM on 05/13/2010

thank goodness major corporations are starting to pull businesses out of denver/colorado because of the pot smokers. families will be leaving soon also.

[fumes]

03:28 AM on 05/13/2010

yeah right..

how about just the opposite!

there's a new gold rush going on in cali..

[Alien Nation]

04:48 PM on 05/13/2010

Kind of like how everyone moved to the dry counties after prohibition ended? oh wait, they didn't - in fact dry counties are some of the poorest, lowest populated areas of the united states.

[lungfish]

08:58 PM on 05/12/2010

Cops kill dozens. sometimes hundreds of people a year. From 2003 to 2005 they killed over 2000 - listed as police homicides...

Marijuana hasn't killed anyone.

[dim]

06:28 PM on 05/12/2010

As your doctor if Rocky Mountain high is right for you. Side effects include cravings for nuked 7-11 burritos at 4am.

[Randjamz]

05:54 PM on 05/12/2010

Rally and march to the Governor Mansion on saturday should show the outcry of this Bill or law IF Gov.Ritter shouild sign it !"RJM"

[dim]

06:19 PM on 05/12/2010

Yeah, wouldn't it be just terrible if patients could get the relief they need without being hounded by bone-headed prohibitionistas.

[ThatGuyisaGirl]

07:52 PM on 05/12/2010

Um...

You don't know what this law is about, do you?

Hell, you could have at least managed to finish reading the HuffPo summary that includes "gives local communities the ability to ban [local dispensaries]".

Wow, dude, just plain wow.

[Mydian01]

05:29 PM on 05/12/2010

legalize it already! stop giving all that non-taxed money to the drug cartels in mexico when we can regulate and tax it right here. it would stimulate jobs, it would produce revenues, it would decrease population in our overcrowded penal system.

its a win win.

and to anyone that wants to bring up the tired gateway-drug argument i will say this, anybody that ends up using cocaine and heroin and meth was probably an addictive personality or having serious personal problems long before they found marijuana.. if you take pot out of the equation, they might replace it with prescription drugs instead.

marijuana is natural, you cant overdose, you dont have withdrawal symptoms (at least not physically), its biggest side effects are laziness and the munchies (unlike the powders which contributes to crime and death), and slow driving.

as for paranoia, which has also been sited, its a matter of the chemical makeup of the particular strain. marijuana with cannibanoids in the THC produce euphoria and the giggles.. marijuana without the cannibanoids produce agitation, slight nausea and mild paranoia (nothing even close to meth and cocaine symptoms).

disclaimer: i am not a doctor, the information i am presenting is from both personal experience and medical studies. i am advocating the legalization, not the use of marijuana, that should remain a personal preference. i also, do not condone or advocate the use or sales of cocaine, meth or heroine in any way.

[ColoradoBrad]

08:48 PM on 05/12/2010

I have no opinion towards legalization but I don't think this is such a great argument. Mexican cartels make a ton of money agreed, but if we take MJ away from them then they will focus their efforts on stronger more addictive drugs. By increasing supply on cocaine and heroin they will drive down the price pushing more younger people on to those drugs. Then what? More supply of harder drugs, more addiction, more crime. Are we going to legalize those drugs too?

[YeahDonkey]

09:04 PM on 05/12/2010

Marijuana is 60% of their business, the less money they have the less power they have ( did you know they are trying to buy F16's). As for them focusing on harder drugs, they do that anyways and if the police and DEA don' t have to focus on Marijuana anymore, they will have more time to focus their time, money and man power on Herion, Cocaine and Meth. By making Marijuana legal, you will be keeping a drug that is more popular off the black market, thus keeping the people who buy it away from the black market and the harder illegal drugs available there.

[Mydian01]

09:31 PM on 05/12/2010

i think it is a great argument for the legalization of marijuana, i had no argument for or agains the legalization of other drugs.

(although on a personal note, i hate the powders, ive seen people die, ive seen people burglarize their own family, ive seen people sell their own children, so no, i dont like them, i think that the cartels should be considered a national security issue as relevant as muslim extremists, if not more-so, and i would be much happier if they did not exist. but i am also a realist, and an addict will not stop until they choose to, a safe environment to use is preferable to being forced underground and secrecy, and crime will not stop, with or without drugs.)

my argument stands on its own, please comment on that, as it was carefully crafted, and addressed one aspect of a much larger issue.. please dont try to dilute the conversation.

[Nicon]

05:01 PM on 05/12/2010

On the off chance this bill is signed in to law, there are about 5 CO MMJ lawyers with with papers ready to file against it. If nothing else this should keep Medical Marijuana on the front page for the next year or so.

[fumes]

04:03 PM on 05/12/2010

sounds like colorado is lagging behind lol:

As Vote Looms, Northern California Ponders How To Peddle Legal Pot
By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
May 12, 2010 7:52 a.m. EDT
Figures for the region's marijuana economy are hazy, but drive through towns in Humboldt or Mendocino counties and it's easy to see marijuana's importance to regional commerce. Head and hemp shops sit alongside cafes and eateries, and niche businesses -- like glassblowers who specialize in smoking apparatuses -- are more common here than in cities 10 or 20 times the size. Though Smithers touts Humboldt's timber, dairy and grass-fed beef, he readily admits that marijuana is his county's No. 1 export.
"Oh hell yeah, by a long shot," said Smithers, who has lived in Humboldt for 15 years. "It's the elephant in the room up here." People smoke weed relatively freely on the streets of Arcata, Redway, Garberville and Ukiah, and bartenders in Eureka said they see plenty of "pot tourists" drawn to the region's high-grade marijuana. Some travel from as far away as Massachusetts and New Jersey, one bartender said.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/05/12/california.marijuana.tourism/index.html?hpt=C1

[Jaskoen]

01:20 PM on 05/12/2010

Three steps forward, two steps back. Welcome to progress in America, where HOW IT SHOULD BE is in a daily struggle with HOW IT'S ALWAYS BEEN.

[dim]

06:23 PM on 05/12/2010

Cannabis prohibition is not "always been".

[lungfish]

12:18 PM on 05/12/2010

From 2003 to 2005 Police homicides accounted for over 2000 deaths of citizens while in custody........
In the same period of time Marijuana didn't kill anybody.

[iblogleft]

01:36 AM on 05/12/2010

Just as Obama releases his SS document on Drug policy.

You guys must read Obama's new policy.

They want to test people in all states for any illicit drug if pulled over and "suspected". If anything shows up, you are guilty of driving impaired. (Page 23) This means if you are not intoxicated, and have done any illegal drug (some stay in the system for 30 days) you get a DWI.

Anytime you do to the doctor, they want you tested for all illegal drugs.(Chapter 2 pg. 28)

This is not my America.

Obama just lost 30 million supporters.

Here is the whole PDF report. It is horrendous.
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/ndcs10/ndcs2010.pdf (4.0 meg)

[Nicon]

03:22 AM on 05/12/2010

if only i could convince all the pot supporters on the net to read more. Your freaking out over nothing. the traffic stop is the basic road side impairment exam, with more officer training. The DR visit test is a list of questions, and DR training.

at no point will either of those tests involve peeing in or on anything, or any kind of spooky blood or hair tests. Your links and citations are correct, now if you would only read what it says.

[iblogleft]

03:30 AM on 05/12/2010

Did you read further about better testing?

[iblogleft]

03:31 AM on 05/12/2010

They will use a mouth suave.

[drdolby]

01:12 AM on 05/12/2010

These politicians, being knowtowed, by A.G. Suthers and Law Enforcement, obviously do not have a clue what they are stepping our TAX DOLLARS into! N.I.M.B.Y. mentality, do not override a constitutional amendment. They should try reading it and get a clue! No where in our State's Constitution are a bunch of meddlesome politicians allowed to circumvent the voters will, or deny patients with debilitating conditions from obtaining their medicine. Let the Injunctions proceed, Mr. Cory? http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hs/Medicalmarijuana/mjamendment.html

[Nicon]

12:54 AM on 05/12/2010

Pot causes 0 (zero) deaths each year, but drug cops..well.

for starters lets watch the shoot 2 dogs while raiding a family home in search of "Large amounts of Marijuana". They find a few grams of marijuana, and a pipe. watch how much care they take to get the 6 year old around his hand cuffed father and dead dogs.
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/05/06/swat-raid-prompts-police-review-policy/

[RevRayGreen]

10:56 PM on 05/11/2010

the law is wrong not the bong.....meth is death pot is not...crack smack both wack.... pills alcohol both kill.

"nobody want to plant the corn, everybody want to raid the barn"..........

[asiclilpup]

09:21 PM on 05/11/2010

Good going Colo , but the bagger contingent will cause all kinds of problems over this.

[dim]

06:25 PM on 05/12/2010

Sure, they don't want an overbearing gvt, except they do.