Pubdate: Sun, 3 Jan 2010
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2009 Summit Daily News
Contact: http://apps.summitdaily.com/forms/letter/index.php
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/587
Author: Carolyn Sackariason, Aspen Times Weekly
Cited: NORML http://www.norml.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Chris+Romer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - United States)

LICENSE TO BUY POT EASY TO GET IN COLORADO

Legislators Eye New Laws to Regulate Medical Marijuana Dispensaries 
As Patients Number More Than 30,000 in State

ASPEN - I recently became a legal pot smoker in the state of 
Colorado, and all it took was an hour of my time, $240 and a good excuse.

I visited a dispensary in the Roaring Fork Valley and told the 
proprietors I suffered from back and knee pain. That's all it took to 
get on the state registry, and then turn around and buy an eighth of 
an ounce of weed and a marijuana-laced cookie for $50, plus tax.

I went through this exercise, in part, to better understand the 
process of getting on the Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry, which 
now includes close to 30,000 people, according to the Colorado 
Attorney General. In addition to those, an estimated 35,000 people 
have received authorization from a physician and are waiting to be 
processed by the state.

I was not asked for medical records but I did fill out some paperwork 
that inquired about my past medical history, my family's past medical 
history and the problem for which I sought medical marijuana. I have 
legitimate back and knee pain, and marijuana often helps relax my 
muscles, but I presented no evidence of my ailment.

The registry and the doctor will not be named in this story because 
it's not my intention to discredit any "care-givers" or dispensary 
employees - who are acting lawfully - but rather to answer questions 
that many Coloradans are asking about the ease or difficulty of 
becoming a legal marijuana user.

The answer appears to be that just about anyone willing to shell out 
cash to a doctor and provide a $90 check or money order to the 
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) - the 
registry's administrator - can then legally buy and possess up to 2 
ounces of marijuana.

Voter-Approved

The dispensaries are operating under Amendment 20, which was approved 
by voters in 2000. The constitutional amendment allows patients with 
certain conditions, including HIV, cancer, muscle spasms and chronic 
pain, to use medical marijuana as long as they get a doctor's 
approval and register with the state.

As I filled out my patient information sheet, I was asked to list my 
occupation. Knowing I might be treated differently if I wrote 
"reporter" on the form, I listed my secondary sources of income and 
declared myself self-employed, as well as a house cleaner and 
caretaker, which I occasionally do. I don't often go "undercover" but 
felt it was necessary for an honest look at this process.

On a personal level, I'm conflicted about chronicling my experience 
because I do believe marijuana has medicinal benefits and it ought to 
be legalized because it's a natural herb that grows out of the 
ground. But the manner in which people are seeking their legal status 
has become questionable. Many feel that "medical marijuana" is a 
misleading label for a much broader effort to legalize pot.

The issue is being debated on the street by users and non-users 
alike. And state regulators get increasingly concerned as more people 
register. Between 500 and 600 people are registered every day in 
Colorado, and the state legislature, the governor's office, the CDPHE 
and the attorney general are taking steps to more carefully regulate 
the entire process.

But back to my chronic pain, and my visit to the dispensary. One 
recent episode of back pain was so debilitating that I had to roll 
off the bed and crawl on the floor in tears before going to work. 
This landed me in a doctor's office, where I was sent away with 
prescriptions for Vicodin and Valium after seeing the doctor for a 
couple of minutes. I believe both of these medications to be more 
addictive and damaging to my organs than marijuana.

Which was part of the reason I ended up at a dispensary. After 
spending 20 minutes filling out my application form, patient 
information and a membership agreement, I was led to a small room 
where a general practitioner was waiting for me.

The doctor briefly looked at my family medical history, which 
includes arthritis and alopecia. The doctor suggested a website to 
learn more about the alopecia disease, which involves hair loss. The 
doctor also lectured me on the negative effects of smoking 
cigarettes, and recommended a book to help me quit the nasty habit.

The doctor asked me about my surgical history and I said I had 
arthroscopic knee surgery in either 1997 or 1998. I also informed the 
doctor that I have a reoccurring baker's cyst that flares up behind 
the knee when I run too much, and it causes discomfort and pain.

That's all I needed to say for the doctor to issue a physician certification.

My physical exam consisted of checking my lungs with a stethoscope, 
looking in my mouth with a light (the doctor told me to floss more) 
and taking my blood pressure. The doc said I was in amazing shape. My 
knee was never examined.

After I received my physician certification, I was asked to pay $150 
in cash. I gave the doctor $160 and was given $10 back from a wad of 
cash the physician had on hand.

Then it was on to processing, where a dispensary proprietor had 
notarized my documents for submission to the CDPHE. I wrote a check 
to the state and then it was time to buy some weed.

Weed Choices

A dispensary staffer brought me to a locked room, where I was shown 
several strains of marijuana. I was educated on the differences 
between Sativa and Indica - the first a more energizing, clean and 
cerebral effect and the latter more a mellow, sleepy and sedative effect.

I've talked to a lot of dispensary owners in the course of my 
reporting in recent months, and they all say they pride themselves on 
being local farmers and care-givers. But I wasn't asked what my 
ailment was or given a recommendation as to what strain would be best 
for me. I went with the most inexpensive dose, which was $40 for an 
eighth of an ounce and a cookie for $10.

The prices of the marijuana were competitive with what the black 
market offers - $40 to $60 for an eighth; $100 to $110 for a quarter 
and $400 to $420 for an ounce.

No other products, such as edibles or lotions, were offered to me. My 
purchases were put into a sack and off I went with documentation that 
made me legal to carry it down the street out in the open - quite a 
liberating experience, I must admit.

I know that my experience is similar to thousands of others who are 
now on the registry. A longtime Aspen resident recently shared his 
experience in obtaining his medical marijuana card from a local 
dispensary - a process he described as "comical."

"Not your usual doctor's office," he said, adding he was seated 
outside the doctor's office in a bean bag chair in a room decorated 
with red tapestry.

He obtained a registry card with no problem, citing pain from a torn 
muscle in his rotator cuff. Despite the odd experience in the 
dispensary and the ease of obtaining legal marijuana, the patient 
added, "I truly believe it has its place, [for] everything from 
anxiety to cancer patients."

A Cause for Concern

The loose process of certifying people has raised the eyebrows of 
state regulators and lawmakers, who plan to push legislation in the 
upcoming session of the Colorado General Assembly to place 
restrictions on dispensaries and doctors.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Colorado Attorney General John Suthers 
of my recent experience. "Obviously it concerns me the thing's being gamed."

Suthers noted that after the law went into effect eight years ago, 
1,600 medical marijuana patients registered in Colorado, and they 
either had a care-giver or they grew the plant themselves.

But in the past 10 months, the number of patients on the registry has 
swelled to nearly 30,000, and the patients are getting younger, Suthers said.

He added that 75 percent of registered marijuana users were given 
authorization by just 15 doctors around Colorado, and five of them 
have provided 50 percent of the certifications.

"Most people are gaming the system," Suthers said, adding the key 
issue for reform is clarifying the doctor-patient relationship. His 
office plans to seek changes to the law so that only physicians in 
good standing who have a bona-fide relationship with their patients 
can authorize the use of medical marijuana.

Colorado State Sen. Chris Romer (D-Dist. 23) plans to introduce a 
bill entitled "Regulation of Medical Marijuana" in the upcoming 
legislative session. The latest draft of the bill proposes three 
levels of state licenses: One for clinics with fewer than 300 
patients, a second for operations with more than 300 patients, and a 
third for medical marijuana growers.

The bill would create a medical marijuana licensing authority in the 
state Department of Revenue, as well as a separate review board to 
examine applications from patients under age 21.

Romer's legislation also directs the CDPHE to form new standards for 
issuing registry identification cards, new procedures for primary 
care-giver applicants, documentation for physicians who prescribe 
medical marijuana, and sanctions for physicians who violate the law.

Romer has stated in the past that he thinks many people have gotten 
on the registry based on phony or exaggerated diagnoses.

Suthers said his office has concerns with Romer's bill because it 
would legitimize dispensaries.

"The debate will be whether to continue to tolerate the dispensary 
model, which has a business plan that has to create patients," 
Suthers said. The attorney general said he opposes legalization of 
marijuana and that the original constitutional amendment didn't 
intend for business enterprises to be part of the "care-giver" model.

Mark Salley, communications director for the CDPHE, said Dr. Ned 
Calonge, the chief medical officer for the agency, recently met with 
the Governor's Office of Legal Counsel in response to the small 
number of doctors certifying patients.

While 820 doctors in the state have authorized people on the 
registry, roughly a dozen have certified most of the patients, Salley said.

New Law?

On Dec. 14, the CDPHE and the governor's office proposed statutory 
language to further define the physician-patient relationship.

Under the proposed language, a doctor would complete a full 
assessment of the patient's medical history and provide follow-up 
treatment. The doctor also would have to hold a valid, unrestricted 
license to practice medicine in Colorado, among other proposed changes.

Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation (CMMR), a coalition of 
medical marijuana patients working with state legislators to 
establish criteria for regulation, has taken the position that there 
is no need to create a new regulatory structure because there already 
are statutes and regulations in place.

"Our position is a lot of this regulation is on the books for other 
businesses," said CMMR executive director Matt Brown. "Let's preserve 
what we have on the books and approach it rationally if it's going to 
be a business."

Brown said he has been working with Romer for more than a month to 
revise the draft bill, and a lot of it has been rewritten and 
simplified. He added that the draft bill borrowed a lot from the 
alcohol code and didn't apply.

CMMR also states that the oversight of doctors should stay where it 
is today - at the state's medical board. The organization also 
advocates that standards should be set for future licensed medical 
marijuana health care training and the state should have enforcement 
authority to prevent unauthorized prescriptions.

Brown said he and others working on regulation hope that Colorado 
will be the model for 15 states that are now considering some form of 
legalized medical marijuana. As for the 13 states that now allow 
medical marijuana, none have regulations worth mirroring, Brown said.

The CMMR is in sync with the CDPHE's effort to clarify the 
doctor-patient relationship, and possibly tighten the process of 
issuing authorizations.

"That's certainly what the department of health is addressing and 
it's worth being discussed," Brown said of the ease in getting 
authorization from a doctor. "I don't have the answer."

Brown said the 2000 law was intentionally written for a 
business-driven, caregiver model down the road, and that's why it was 
presented as a constitutional amendment, which can't be easily altered.

Some marijuana advocates admit the system is being manipulated and, 
as a result, is not functioning the way it should.

"I know it comes across looking like a scam and feeling like a scam," 
said Keith Stroup, legal counsel and founder of The National 
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "The game of 
getting a doctor's recommendation has become, well, a game."

As thousands are added to registries in the states where medical 
marijuana is legal, the case for full legalization strengthens, which 
helps organizations like NORML win the political battle.

"I don't think it's perfect but anything political never is," Stroup said.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake