Zedleppelin
02-11-2011, 05:45 PM
Colorado's medical-marijuana wars began anew at the state Capitol on Thursday with the first public hearing on a bill that makes changes to the state's dispensary regulations.
When the hearing opened, the measure â?? House Bill 1043 â?? would have made a number of industry-friendly changes to the rules, including making it easier for felons to own dispensaries and exempting long-standing dispensaries from buffer-zone rules around schools.
But Rep. Tom Massey, a Poncha Springs Republican who is sponsoring the legislation, quickly announced that he had rewritten the bill. Gone were the loosened restrictions on felons. Gone was the grandfathering of dispensaries in buffer zones.
What was left was a bill that was less industry-friendly but one that owners of large dispensaries still joined with law enforcement officials in cautiously supporting.
"A good compromise," said Josh Stanley, owner of the Budding Health chain of dispensaries, "is when everybody is not exactly happy."
But the bill outraged marijuana activists and some small-dispensary owners, who said the changes would force dispensaries to close, hurt patient access and boost the black-market trade in marijuana.
A number of activists used the hearing as an opportunity to express concerns about issues not addressed in the bill.
They criticized a different bill filed this week at the Capitol that would ban the sale of marijuana-enhanced food and drinks, a major industry niche in Colorado. They blasted proposed Department of Revenue regulations that would require all medical-marijuana transactions at dispensaries to be videotaped.
"We have a situation where our medical-marijuana program is run by the state tax collector, and you've really taken all the medicine out of it," said Laura Kriho of the Cannabis Therapy Institute.
After nearly six hours of testimony and debate, the House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Thursday night to approve the revised bill.
"It's a good piece of legislation that furthers a business model that we have been very unique in Colorado in establishing," Massey said.
The bill would make a number of changes to Colorado medical-marijuana law. The measure requires small-scale caregivers to register the location of their marijuana-growing spaces with the state. It caps at 500 the number of plants that makers of marijuana-enhanced products, such as brownies or balms, can grow. It increases penalties for people who make public medical- marijuana patient records. And it extends for an extra year a statewide moratorium on new dispensaries that was set to expire this summer.
Proponents said the extension was necessary to give the new regulations time to settle in before the industry gets any bigger. But medical-marijuana attorney Sean McAllister said the change is detrimental to investment in the industry.
"Businesses had expectations they would be able to open this summer," McAllister said.
The bill still loosens some regulations. It makes the two- year residency requirement apply only to owners of dispensaries, not their employees. It allows medical-marijuana businesses to provide cannabis to labs for scientific testing. And it creates a process by which doctors with caveats on their licenses can appeal to the state Medical Board to be allowed to recommend marijuana.
The bill must next go to the House Appropriations Committee for a vote approving its price tag before it can go before the full House.
Meanwhile, House Bill 1250, which would ban marijuana- enhanced food and drinks, is scheduled for its first public hearing March 1.
Bill revising medical-pot regulations in Colorado advances - The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_17357131)
Oh, and fuck Josh Stanley.
When the hearing opened, the measure â?? House Bill 1043 â?? would have made a number of industry-friendly changes to the rules, including making it easier for felons to own dispensaries and exempting long-standing dispensaries from buffer-zone rules around schools.
But Rep. Tom Massey, a Poncha Springs Republican who is sponsoring the legislation, quickly announced that he had rewritten the bill. Gone were the loosened restrictions on felons. Gone was the grandfathering of dispensaries in buffer zones.
What was left was a bill that was less industry-friendly but one that owners of large dispensaries still joined with law enforcement officials in cautiously supporting.
"A good compromise," said Josh Stanley, owner of the Budding Health chain of dispensaries, "is when everybody is not exactly happy."
But the bill outraged marijuana activists and some small-dispensary owners, who said the changes would force dispensaries to close, hurt patient access and boost the black-market trade in marijuana.
A number of activists used the hearing as an opportunity to express concerns about issues not addressed in the bill.
They criticized a different bill filed this week at the Capitol that would ban the sale of marijuana-enhanced food and drinks, a major industry niche in Colorado. They blasted proposed Department of Revenue regulations that would require all medical-marijuana transactions at dispensaries to be videotaped.
"We have a situation where our medical-marijuana program is run by the state tax collector, and you've really taken all the medicine out of it," said Laura Kriho of the Cannabis Therapy Institute.
After nearly six hours of testimony and debate, the House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Thursday night to approve the revised bill.
"It's a good piece of legislation that furthers a business model that we have been very unique in Colorado in establishing," Massey said.
The bill would make a number of changes to Colorado medical-marijuana law. The measure requires small-scale caregivers to register the location of their marijuana-growing spaces with the state. It caps at 500 the number of plants that makers of marijuana-enhanced products, such as brownies or balms, can grow. It increases penalties for people who make public medical- marijuana patient records. And it extends for an extra year a statewide moratorium on new dispensaries that was set to expire this summer.
Proponents said the extension was necessary to give the new regulations time to settle in before the industry gets any bigger. But medical-marijuana attorney Sean McAllister said the change is detrimental to investment in the industry.
"Businesses had expectations they would be able to open this summer," McAllister said.
The bill still loosens some regulations. It makes the two- year residency requirement apply only to owners of dispensaries, not their employees. It allows medical-marijuana businesses to provide cannabis to labs for scientific testing. And it creates a process by which doctors with caveats on their licenses can appeal to the state Medical Board to be allowed to recommend marijuana.
The bill must next go to the House Appropriations Committee for a vote approving its price tag before it can go before the full House.
Meanwhile, House Bill 1250, which would ban marijuana- enhanced food and drinks, is scheduled for its first public hearing March 1.
Bill revising medical-pot regulations in Colorado advances - The Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_17357131)
Oh, and fuck Josh Stanley.