Colorado Medical Marijuana Blog

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 Although a business license was granted, it was revoked within a month.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.

There is a bounty of problems facing today’s Colorado medical marijuana growers, but the main problem tends to be focused around caregiver rules and regulations. other isssues include legitimization and legalization. Although many growers follow state laws very closely, there are still those who use the cover of state laws to fund their own private marijuana growing and selling operations. States such as Colorado and California have strict state requirements for those who grow the substance for medical use, but even with these strict guidelines in place, there are still individuals who find their way around the rules. Locating these individuals from among the many legitimate growers is a full time job for law enforcement agents operating on both state and federal levels. Although medical marijuana is still considered illegal on a federal level, states such as Colorado allow patients to use the drug for medicinal use as recommended by a physician for physical and mental ailments. In the state of California last year, law enforcement officials pulled up 364,000 plants grown strictly for sale on the black market. However, officials did state that over 154 growers were left intact who were following the guidelines for medical use. The general consensus among people in the medicalmarijuana industry is that legitimate growers make Business more difficult and less profitable for the drug cartels south of the border.

In an effort to keep his store open, one store owner in particular who has taken advantage of the California medical marijuana loophole has begun selling other marijuana-based items in his dispensary, including baked goods such as pretzels and cookies, and has begun offering themes such as movie night to entice customers to his shop, claiming that these strategies encourage a friendly atmosphere and help people get to know one another in a friendly setting. Local activists, however, are continuously campaigning to have such stores closed down, claiming that by opening these stores near schools, the stores are catering more toward school age children and less toward patients who require the drug for medical use. Activists for medical marijuana in Colorado and California, say it is not about the drug, but about land-use issues.

Although medical marijuana in Colorado and some other states has been legalized, basic marijuana use across the country continues to remain illegal. At a recent online town hall meeting held at the White House, President Obama responded to questions regarding the overall legalization of marijuana.

President Obama’s reply, while jovial, was that legalization of the drug was not a good economic strategy would probably not be useful in turning the economy around. Marijuana legalization was a very small portion of the overall discussion which included universal healthcare, mortgages, education, the auto industry and veteran’s care. The President hopes to hold more of these online town hall type discussions in the future.

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.