HB-1284 Posed to ReVive the Black Market in Colorado

[GratefulMeds]

Who do our State Legislators think they are helping with HB-1284 the patients, the Mom & Pop shops that have invested their own savings, (Banks don't do loans for dispensaries and grows) Your constitutional rights, I think not! This is all a smoke screen to make way for big money interests to take over this new industry in Colorado. And folks that big money includes the Black Market, Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, Big out of state money from chain dispensaries. And who gets screwed in all this, you the patient, you the small grower all of you that have come out of the shadows, held your hands up to be counted and made investments in equipment and leases, all of you that want variety not just the same popular commercial strains that are done the quickest. Please contact your representatives and senators and tell them we will not support them for re-election if they vote for this bill.
What do they think all these people that have made these investments in equipment and time are going to do State Legislators, just throw in the towel, they are just going to go underground and who gets fucked by this, all of us. The State doesn't get the tax revenue it deserves from MMJ, we all loose sleep worrying about our neighbors turning us in, and many of us will go to prison and feed the other big booming industry in our nation that is recession proof, the criminal justice and prison systems, lets face it folks these are the people they are really protecting.

GratefulMeds Reviewed by GratefulMeds on 03-19-2010. HB-1284 Posed to ReVive the Black Market in Colorado Who do our State Legislators think they are helping with HB-1284 the patients, the Mom & Pop shops that have invested their own savings, (Banks don't do loans for dispensaries and grows) Your constitutional rights, I think not! This is all a smoke screen to make way for big money interests to take over this new industry in Colorado. And folks that big money includes the Black Market, Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, Big out of state money from chain dispensaries. And who gets screwed in all this, you Rating: 5

[FarmerSteve]

Couldn't agree more. It's the way of the world, money talks.


Every day, I see more and more reasons that eventually, possibly soon, we're going to start seeing serious revolts against the machine.

Sickening.

[killerweed420]

I'm sure we'll be dealing with the same issue here in Washington eventually. They'll want more government controls which means big business will be the only ones able to afford the process. Its obvious no one seems to want small businesses in this country any more.

[palerider7777]

Couldn't agree more. It's the way of the world, money talks.


Every day, I see more and more reasons that eventually, possibly soon, we're going to start seeing serious revolts against the machine.

Sickening.

i agree not just on the mmj front but everything thats going on right now.they keep fucking with the bulls they will get the horns sooner than later

[HighPopalorum]

They'll want more government controls which means big business will be the only ones able to afford the process. Its obvious no one seems to want small businesses in this country any more.

Pish! Sure, taxation and regulation will raise the barriers of entry, but that doesn't mean small businesses won't thrive.

[GratefulMeds]

Dear Representative Levy,


I understand that the Colorado House Judiciary Committee will vote this Monday on HB 1284, a bill that would regulate medical marijuana dispensaries.

Please do not discriminate against citizens that have been victimized by an unjust drug war and disastrous national policy on Marijuana. I myself have over 20 years experience in the medical sciences working in Cardiopulmonary, Nuerodiagnostics, Polysomnography, Emergency Medicine and have managed Sleep Laboratories. But I also have a felony conviction for possession of Marijuana. Please do not discriminate against me by not allowing me to own my Dispensary in Nederland, or even be allowed to grow for others or myself. ( I too am I MMJ Patient from a severe neck injury resulting in my neck being fused). I thought when a person has been convicted of a crime, sentenced by a judge and served their time that they had paid their debt to society. Please do not penalize me twice for a crime. I just don't think that is what the authors of our constitution had in mind.

I urge you to keep patients needs in mind. Please do not restrict where patients can live or force them to give up their right to grow, if they choose to designate a caregiver.

Please do not let cities ban dispensaries. Patients get sick in all corners of Colorado and dispensaries should be allowed to service patients in their home communities.

Finally, please let veterans with PTSD have access to medical marijuana. I work with several Vets that have PTSD which I relate with very well since I have the same diagnosis. And Medical Marijuana works wonders for controlling symptoms.

Sincerely,

Mark A. Rose RPSGT

Dear Mark,

I have worked over the course of several days with Rep. Massey on some major amendments to his bill. The amendment to be heard in House Judiciary on Monday will only prohibit people who discharged their felony sentence within five years preceding their application to be licensed. We had discussed only applying that to felony distribution and not including possession or use. I will get that clarified. In addition, there is language that allows anyone to present evidence that their criminal history should not disqualify them because of the passage of time, subsequent achievements and activities, etc.

The language saying you cannot possess or use within 1000 feet of a school, etc. will be deleted. I will offer a separate amendment to allow patients to grow their own even if they have a caregiver. (I need to understand why patients believe this is so important.)

Lastly, I will propose an amendment to strike the special authority for municipalities to vote to prohibit dispensaries in their communities.

On the PTSD issue, that should have been included in SB109. This bill doesnâ??t address what sorts of conditions can be treated with marijuana and we didnâ??t hear any testimony on that issue. SB109 requires the state health department to review whether additional conditions or illnesses should be added to the list of eligible conditions. That could be considered in separate legislation as well. I simply donâ??t believe we can add it to this bill, which addresses sale, given that the committee hasnâ??t received any information about it.

claire

Claire Levy

State Representative

House District 13

303-866-2578 (capitol)

720-849-8983 (mobile)

At least they are talking with us, I urge everyone to contact their State Rep. before it's too late.

[lampost]

^Cool! Sounds like the bill is becoming more reasonable as it gets tossed around.

I will offer a separate amendment to allow patients to grow their own even if they have a caregiver. (I need to understand why patients believe this is so important.)

This is surprising! I don't understand what this entails... Since we have plant limits, how will this work? Are they saying that between you and your caregiver you can have 6 plants? So maybe they could grow 3 and you could grow 3? I don't really understand what he/she means by this. This would actually make it very hard for them to enforce any kind of plant limits! I don't have a problem with that at all, but it seems kind of odd that they wouldn't realize that...

[copobo]

you cant control or count what someone else is doing. we should just be responsible for our own count, and the caregiver for his/hers. Buying weed is expensive, and learning to grow takes time. There needs to be overlap of care-giving and patients trying to self-supply. Imagine trying to take care of a grow with a bad back problem or in a chair.

If a patient was growing and lost his crop.. is he just SOL on those few plants, or the backup of an experienced caregiver?

[MMJinColorado]

Wow, be thankful that Rep. Levy seems to be on the right track with this thing... the rest of us in other districts can only hope our reps are as receptive. I'm pleased to see that she's trying to understand why things are important to patients and how the system should work -- doesn't seem like the drafters of the bill gave a damn though. I mean really, the 1,000 feet possession/use thing is just mind-bogglingly stupid... thankfully it's clear that Rep. Levy sees that, and it seems like the consensus.

I'll be writing something to Diana DeGette as well -- if anyone wants to look up who their rep is and send them a quick letter, here's the zip code lookup: The U.S. House of Representatives - Determining Your Representative

Remember that it's mid-term election time soon and this is a super hot issue... if they hear from enough people (in a respectful manner of course), they'll get the message that this is vitally important to so many of their constituents. I always kind of shrug and avert my eyes when I see people just massing on the Capitol steps and things like that... yeah, that's a good way to get some news cameras there, but they just sensationalize everything anyway and the pro-MMJ protesters end up looking bad 90% of the time. The more effective approach is direct advocacy with your representatives and city officials, and encouraging such activity from others... direct political participation from an interest group (PEOPLE, not lobbyists) is rare, and if the MMJ movement can show a fairly unified front on this, I think we'll ultimately be okay with the vast majority of the final legislation. There will still be tweaking and (I'm sure) some lawsuits, but I think they all pretty much know how much people have invested in this and how much it would crush people in the industry and the economy it's created for the state if these things go through as-is.

EDIT: Another issue that I definitely think needs to be addressed is the vegetative plant limit. I know that I'm personally petrified of bringing in infected clones (I ended up with 2 for my first grow in this room) and ruining harvest after harvest. Growing from seed is the only way to keep things safe by your own volition and 6 plants (or for those of us doing perpetual grows, 3 vegging plants..) is simply not enough to select strong mothers, use clones effectively, or account for the genetic probability of male plants, which cannot produce anything of quality in terms of "final product", which is the supposed concern. I'm fine with the 3 plant flowering limit I suppose, but that does still limit techniques... people with little vertical space are stuck with small harvests for the most part.

People who have never grown can't possibly know this stuff unless they're told, so including this sort of information could be VERY helpful to your rep when they're trying to elucidate why certain things are important.

[lampost]

I know that I'm personally petrified of bringing in infected clones (I ended up with 2 for my first grow in this room) and ruining harvest after harvest. Growing from seed is the only way to keep things safe by your own volition and 6 plants (or for those of us doing perpetual grows, 3 vegging plants..) is simply not enough to select strong mothers, use clones effectively, or account for the genetic probability of male plants, which cannot produce anything of quality in terms of "final product", which is the supposed concern. I'm fine with the 3 plant flowering limit I suppose, but that does still limit techniques... people with little vertical space are stuck with small harvests for the most part.

I totally agree man. What bugs did you bring in that caused so much heartache?