Source: Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Contact:  http://insidedenver.com/news/
Pubdate: 21 Jun 1998

UNFORTUNATELY, MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL IS NOT MODELED AFTER CALIFORNIA'S 215

The June 1 article about medical marijuana contained one inaccuracy. The
News reported that the medical marijuana ballot initiative currently being
circulated by Coloradans for Medical Rights was modeled after Prop. 215
which passed in 1996 in California.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  Proposition 215 is a
compassionate law that is currently helping patients cultivate and obtain
medicinal cannabis in California.

The CMR initiative is not about compassion, it is about control.

The CMR initiative is a constitutional amendment that would require
patients to register with the state and obtain a photo I.D. card in order
to receive protection from the law.  It would limit the amount of medicine
a patient can possess to two ounces

It also opens physicians up to unspecified penalties if the physician
discusses marijuana with a patient who does not have one of the "approved"
medical conditions designated by the authors of the initiative.

By failing to create a means of distribution, the CMR initiative will
endanger patients by forcing them to obtain their medicine on the streets.

My biggest concern is about the definition of marijuana in the CMR
initiative and how it will affect my business. The Boulder Hemp Company
produces high-protein hemp foods made with sterilized seed. CMR does not
exclude sterilized seeds from the definition of marijuana, as Colorado and
federal law do. If the CMR initiative passes, I worry that sterilized seeds
will become illegal in Colorado, since constitutional law often overrides
statutes.  This would put a number of Colorado companies, including the
Boulder Hemp Company, out of the currently legal hemp business.

Even if the CMR initiative is well-intentioned, the consequences of its
passage could be devastating.

If you would like information about a compassionate and realistic
alternative to CMR's law enforcement model of medicine that is not financed
by out-of-state billionaires, call (303) 448-5640.

Kathleen Chippi Boulder Hemp Company

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Checked-by: Mike Gogulski