Colorado Medical Marijuana Blog

Monday, the federal DEA office announced Colorado’s DEA lead agent, Jeffery Sweetin, will be reassigned. This comes with much adulation from Colorado cannabis proponents as he was the voice and face of medical marijuana opposition in Colorado. Sweetin’s celebrity grew after the widely publicized Bartkowicz arrest. Although it was found that Bartkowicz was out of state law compliance, Sweetin made it a point to site the Federal government’s opposing stance on marijuana. Although he was not incorrect, he was widely viewed in the medical marijuana community as a zealot. In all realism, the next Colorado DEA agent will most likely carry the same views as they are sworn to uphold Federal law. Still, many insist Sweetin went out of his way to publically oppose Colorado state medical marijuana laws and thus created his own circumstance and exposure. As long as Federal law continues to directly oppose state law, this polarization will continue to exist.

Colorado marijuana dispensaries are starting to see the beginning of restrictive legislation to slow the boom industry. In Windsor, Colorado a new 75-day moratorium has been approved by the town board. This moratorium is meant to keep new dispensaries from opening at such an alarming rate. Other towns, such as Dillon, have attempted similar regulations, but have failed to get them approved at least for the time being. Colorado medical marijuana laws are currently in their infancy. Windsor could be a trend setter in the state as far as regulating dispensaries from opening at an exponential rate. With a 75-day moratorium, dispensaries will be forced to open slowly, making it less possible for new dispensaries to open on an almost daily basis. Since the year 2000 when a voter referendum made Colorado medical marijuana legal, state and federal officials have been struggling to find common ground where dispensaries are concerned.

Many Colorado medical marijuana patients are finding access to the drug is being hindered by clashing state and federal laws. While the state of Colorado has made medical marijuana legal, federal laws still rule the substance illegal, and the conflicting viewpoints are affecting dispensaries to a large degree. One example is CannaMart, who applied for a business license in Centennial, Colorado to serve as a dispensary for medical marijuana. Although a business license was granted, it was revoked within a month. City officials claimed the owners were not honest on their applications and did not state they were a medical marijuana dispensary. City officials also claimed the business went against federal regulations. The owners and several patients who elide on the dispensary are filing a lawsuit against the City of Centennial in order to get the dispensary’s license reinstated. Centennial is not the first city to ban dispensaries. Earlier this month the City of Castle Rock, Colorado also banned medical marijuana dispensaries. While cities are trying to keep marijuana from becoming easily accessible to everyone, patients who rely on the drug to control medical conditions are finding it harder and harder to gain access to the drug and the relief it offers them.

Citizens who would like to submit in writing any comments on the proposed changes to the Colorado medical marijuana registry program are strongly encouraged to do so before May 15, 2009 in order to have those comments reviewed before the hearing date of June 20, 2009. Anyone who has previously submitted a comment is asked not to resubmit.

All comments that have been submitted since February 10, 2009 will be included in the review and any oral testimony will be kept to five minutes or less depending on the number of people planning to testify. New comment submissions can be sent by e-mail to cdphe.medicalmarijuanaregulations@state.co.us by May 15, 2009.

The use of medical marijuana in Colorado, while legal, still poses problems for people who have been recommended by doctors to use the drug to manage pain caused by accidents or long-term illnesses such as cancer or AIDS. Access to the drug remains difficult, since most users reside on the western slope and travel to dispensaries on the Front Range is hard for some who are too sick to travel or grow their own.

In 2000, Colorado voters passed an amendment to allow patients who were recommended by a doctor to possess less than two ounces or grow up to six plants to help with the management of pain. Although doctors are allowed to recommend patients to the State Health Department, they are not able to prescribe medical marijuana in Colorado. With over 5,000 registered medical marijuana users in the state, getting from the recommendation to the actual product has been a difficult process.

Although Colorado medical marijuana laws may eventually fall under the same scrutiny as other states across the nation, for the time being medical marijuana dispensaries remain safe from the prospect of raids by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

As directed by Attorney General Eric Holder, federal agents will concentrate their efforts mainly on distributors who violate both state and federal laws. Medical marijuana growers adhering to state laws will not be a priority of the new administration. This is a step away from the policies of the old Presidential administration which tended to target all medical marijuana growers.

Although a voter-approved amendment to the state constitution has deemed medical marijuana in Colorado legal, conflicts still arise. The City of Ft. Collins refused to pay a couple’s claim for over $200,000 after plants that were seized in a raid were left to rot and die.

The confiscated plants were returned to the couple over a year later when a judge ruled that the couple qualified as Colorado medical marijuana growers. The claim was later filed by the couple who stated the plants were dry, dead and moldy, but the Police claim they were not required to keep them alive because the couple did not have the proper permits. According to the couple’s attorney a civil suit will probably be filed in state court in an attempt to force the city to pay for the damages.