Colorado Lawmakers Could Restrict Rights to Legal Medicine, MMJ Patients Worry

Cannabis was a hot topic in the Colorado Legislature at that session, and House bill 1317 – which would make the state’s MMJ program more restrictive and, among other things, further regulate marijuana concentrates – passed his third reading in the house on May 27th and went on to the Senate.

But not before some lawmakers have expressed concerns about the provisions of the proposal. “I think this bill is well meant to protect our children,” said Representative Kevin Van Winkle before voting no. “It’s just not quite there yet.”

In their comments too Westword Facebook site In the posts in our coverage of HB 1317, readers suggest that the calculation has already gone way too far. Ryan says:

They are trying to restrict access to your constitutionally granted rights to your medicine by using random anecdotes instead of facts. If your kids get caught in your medical marijuana, it is you failing as a parent and not the already highly regulated system.

Suggests Colin:

It will kill the medicinal side of cannabis. The people who really need it will be done, but hey, they’re trying to increase the rec limits to two ounces so Sally Smurf can swing a pound and head back to Texas.

Ray says:

Sounds like a parenting problem, not a marijuana problem. If your child commits suicide, there have been far bigger problems that you as a parent have not seen than marijuana!

Notes Christine:

It is terrible. Nobody can even OD at high THC levels. It’ll make you dumb and foggy for a few minutes at most. This will only put people on the black market and have a really negative impact on cannabis sales which will take a lot of money away from much-needed taxes. Call your employees. This bill is terrible, especially for medical patients.

Adds Barbara:

That terrible bill removes telemedicine appointments for the home and pretends doctors understand medical marijuana. This bill calls on the same doctors who prescribe Zoloft for therapy without referral to monitor MMJ’s mental health now.

Notes Josh:

You want to restrict marijuana but have no problem writing scripts for benzos, adderall, pain relievers, etc. It all comes down to money, and the state is unable to tax medicinal weeds the way weeds do.

Suggests Jack:

So from now on we can only buy alcohol shooters, right? Since our legalization model was based on that of alcohol, the rules should be general, right?

Lynne adds:

I wish we’d look at the damage weed alcohol causes. I’m not saying weeds never do harm … just look outside. Look at the homeless, the abused women, the assaulted women, the children, the deaths from drunk driving, the DEATHS. This is alcohol. People. The brothers will never let us take their beer. No matter the cost.

And Jason concludes:

I’m so sick of people ridiculously claiming that marijuana use causes depression and suicidal thoughts. Is it so hard to understand that people who are already depressed and suicidal tend to devise methods of numbing the pain?

Of course, numbing the pain with intoxicants isn’t the solution for mental illness, but let’s stop blaming the weeds for making your child so miserable – because that’s the thing about depression, there isn’t always one clear “reason” for this.

People always try to blame it. Besides … these changes won’t help. The black market will come back and Colorado will only lose tax revenue.

I am a medical patient for my back (doubt validity and I’ll show you my x-rays). Some days I need a little, some days I need a lot. It just depends. It is impractical to get specific with the dosage. Plus, if I use more in one day than another, it won’t hurt a damn thing.

HB 1317 will be negotiated on June 1st in the Senate’s budget committee. What do you think committee members should know before voting on the proposal? Leave a comment or share your thoughts at editorial@westword.com and read the current status Language here.