Colorado Advocates Take Action Against Bill that Would Restrict Medical Marijuana Industry
Yesterday, lawmakers in Colorado unveiled a bill that could severely restrict the progress of medical marijuana in that state. Among other changes, the bill would place an 18-month moratorium on any new dispensaries, force existing establishments to reopen as nonprofit “medical marijuana centers,” and impose severe limitations on who can grow marijuana or work in a dispensary.
In response, medical marijuana advocates, led by the group Sensible Colorado, filed a statewide ballot initiative that would amend the state’s constitution and direct the state legislature to establish regulations for dispensaries and production centers. It would, in fact, give Colorado citizens the right to operate and work in such establishments. MPP provided assistance in drafting the initiative.
The campaign will need to file more than 75,000 signatures by July in order to qualify for the November 2010 ballot.
“State-licensed medical marijuana patients need storefront dispensaries in the same way that other sick Coloradans need pharmacies,” said Brian Vicente, executive director of Sensible Colorado. “Medical marijuana patients will not go without medicine in Colorado. This initiative will establish sensible regulations for dispensaries and secure the rights of sick Coloradans to have safe access to their constitutionally-protected medicine.”
Keep checking MPP’s blog for further developments
Tagged with: Brian Vicente and Colorado and dispensary by the author
22 comments
We the People!
We need to get a petition drive set up
The fight for freedom never stops. Just when you think you got it, someone tries to take it away. We have to stay informed. We have to stay on top of the issues. Thanks MPP for being this outlet. Let’s get those signatures!
Kick ass and take names, Colorado people! We’re all rooting for you.
Go Colorado! Take back your rights!!
Does it matter? In 2 years, another president will step in…and that is that…all medical MJ will be pulled out…just like back in the 70′s…SOMEONE NEEDS TO ASK OUR LAME ASS PRESIDENT WHY HE HAS THE BALLS TO “RANT AND RAVE” AT A GOP CONVENTION BUT HE DONT HAVE THE BALLS TO STAND UP FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS…ITS BULLSHIT AND IM SICK OF IT…ILL DO WHAT I WANT WHEN I WANT..AS LONG AS I AM NOT HURTING ANYONE…F*CK OFF…
So at what point will the tipping point be ralized by our leaders? At what point will the over flow push them and the national debt to the edge? Our national “credit card” is NOT unlimited, although our leaders act as it is.
We have Nanny Pelosi shuttling all her grand kids all over the USA via tax dollars and US military, We got US reps flying all over the world for copenhagen for a false religious meeting that turns in to a fun little party , all a waste of the “Credit card”. And here we are….Still funding billions to fight a sick failure of a drug war(war on Americans and foreigners alike). Our president said we are going to institute a “spending freeze” which amounts to talk just aimed at calming WE THE PEOPLES anger . In reality our government will hit that spending ‘Limit” at the end of Febuary and yet You and I know our leaders will be reaching for that “credit card again.
We have drug cartels in Mexico using drug treament facilities as recruitment .
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100204/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_no_refuge
And yet our sick leaders think their law is good.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100203/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico
And still yet our leaders think their law is good.
http://blog.mpp.org/prohibition/beaten-to-death-by-cops-over-a-marijuana-cigarette/02012010/
We have people right here on our soil dying , and yet our leaders still think thier law is good.
We are flat broke…
http://www.drugwarrant.com/2010/02/put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is/#comments
…and morally corrupt.And still they spend.
At what point does the whole cabal collapse in on its self?………
And yet here we are…our state legislatures are still arguing and fighting to keep cannabis illegal ,still trying to stop medical marijuana despenseries from growing….still spending were we can not.
People…we are allowing this monster of a govrnment to consume us and everything that is good about us and America….
When will the tipping point push us to stop this monster from ruin all in its path….?
When will the states stand on their own and say …’NO MORE !!’
Without the states….this monster has no teeth…has no power!
What do ya say we push this monster over the edge……..
you want to see a change in government? stop re-electing the same congressman or senator who’s been in office thru this boondoggle. don’t fall for the propaganda of the best commercials, the best money can buy, vote for someone else besides the career politician. but stupid people will continue to re-elect from there state, and cry for the re-election of the idiot from another state. they have all been in office for over 10 years? then it’s their fault. you want change? don’t vote for the incumbent.
You want to know why gonvernment isn’t changing as adquately as it should be is because we still have the baby boomers that are still holding onto their own roots and sticking to it. Too many old people making dececision to so many new ideas. all marijuana laws soon will be revoked, because it will finally be legal again.
It seems every state must pass a med mj bill before the white house admits they lost control. How long will that take, not long i hope. Our nation will be stronger and richer when we legalize. We will not be spending billions each year for a usless and unjust law. We will save billions on prisoner costs. How many violent cannabis users are there in prisons? No cannabis user is violent unless put in a cage with animals. That is sad and should be dealt with immediatly. I have yet to hear about any help for the people in prisons for just cannabis. They are people too. So many issues, so little time, and so many greedy polititicly motivated assholes!
Up to 80% of Americans want med mj. Is Obama blind or stupid? Only an idiot or a blind person could not see the votes they are shitting away. That translates to hundreds of millions of votes. If I was president I would legalize today!
@JJ #6: I disagree — marijuana is much more mainstream now than it was when legislatures were flirting with decriminalizing in the 1970′s. I don’t expect that we’ll get any President who will legalize with the stroke of a pen any time soon, but I also don’t think anybody would consider it politically prudent to start shutting down medical laws all over the country. It’s a messy process, but we’ll continue to move forward no matter who is in office.
Think about it: the huge dispensary explosion in LA happened almost entirely during the Bush 2 administration. If that’s not proof that we can make reform a reality no matter what the White House says, I don’t know what is.
I do fear that although the feeling to not vote in incumbents is justified it will also cause greater harm to the momentum. There IS MOMENTUM NOW. We need Obama back in. I know he disappoints but the grass is not always greener (pun intended) on the other side. This will look like Gore II. Please give him one more shot before ceding control to the right. You know those morons will still vote in the same idiots that were their before.
Rhayader 12…I do agree that it would be hard to shut down ALL medical laws. But then again, not very many US citizens want the “Health Care” bill to pass either…not many wanted another bail out…not many want ANYTHING that government is doing. But they are still doing it. I simply continue to ask EVERY Congressman and woman, HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU VOTE FOR LEGALIZING MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN WASHINGTON D.C. BUT YOU CANNOT IN YOUR OWN STATES? Schedule 1 drugs contain NO MEDICAL VALUE…yet by voting a MMJ law into affect in ANY state, district, even town, RECOGNIZES it as a medically beneficial drug..
While I agree with you of course regarding the general Congressional insanity, the DC thing was a little subtler than that. The DC residents are the ones who voted in favor of MMJ; Congress blocked its implementation with a funding stipulation that was removed this year. That leaves politicians wiggle room to say they decided to “respect the wishes of voters” while personally not agreeing with the law or whatever.
Again though: this will not happen in Congress, the Oval Office, or any other federal enclave. Those will be the last bricks in the wall to crumble down. We’ve had fantastic success during the last 15 years pursuing this in a bottom-up, largely unorganized fashion. I think we should keep doing exactly the same thing. Call the government’s bluff — the truth is on our side, and ultimately we’ll win out.
Thanks for the post.
Is the Medical Marijana move to help alleviate a budget crisis, or something else? Also, doesn’t Medical Marijana already exist in Marinol? http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/03/health/main5209380.shtml
@Mike: Marinol is synthetic (not plant-derived) pure THC. Marijuana contains several different cannabinoids in addition to THC, like CBD, which have been shown to have significant medical use. In all, these chemical difference make a huge difference in the actual physiological response to the two different medicines.
Also, leaving chemical differences aside, there’s the question of delivery method. Taking a pill requires keeping the pill itself down — often difficult or impossible for nausea patients — and waiting up to 45 minutes for the medicine to take effect. This waiting period often results in stronger-than-desired THC intoxication after taking the pill. Smoking or vaporizing, on the other had, provides a near-immediate feedback loop, allowing users to very effectively titrate dosage.
Marinol is a perfectly legitimate medicine, don’t get me wrong. It’s just a little disingenuous to claim that we “already have medical marijuana” in the form of Marinol, given the stark differences between the two substances.
Don`t let the brown shirts take away your rights. 8 more months and I retire . I`ll be there and a perm. resident to help. Fore ever leaving this last in line backward state of New York forever. I never realized how many people there are that want to run other peoples lives until I got involved. Scary.
The same thing should happen in California. That’s one bright spot about all the fuss we are getting, we will just pass a much more permissive ballot initiative.
This is all well and good however the list to be able to obtain medical marijuana is far too limited.
The approved medical conditions are not adequate.
Hi JJ, how you doing these days? How’s the wife and family?
@Rhayader – with you brother. Marinol has been around for a decade or so but we can all see that it hasnt gained any popularity among medicinal marijuana users. Almost every single person who has tried marinol said that the effects of the pill dont even come close to that of actual marijuana. Also, as Rhayader mentioned, marijuana is soo much more than THC. There are different active cannaboids THC, TBD, and CBD are just few to mention. Also, at what flowering stage was the marijuana harvested will also affect the presence of those cannoboids therefor changing the effects of smoking it once again.
My personal opinion on the subject. We need more quality research. I dont think anybody at this point really knows all possible good and ill effects marijuana can have on one’s health. Which makes the whole debate really pointless.
Government has to start funding marijuana research and legalize it in the meantime. They have no substantial proof or reason to keep marijuana illegal. When and if they find some proof that marijuana is a horrible horrible substance then they can come back and demand prohibition. Right now we got it all backasswards.
Social Disobidience Dat 04-20-10
Free The Weed. Free The People.
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