Medical marijuana system must be fixed - The Denver Post
Medical marijuana system must be fixed - The Denver Post Editor's note: Colorado legislators soon will turn their attention to the debate over regulating medical marijuana, its caregivers and its dispensaries. But first, the haze has to clear concerning three questions The Denver Post put to two people from opposite sides of the issue. 1. Is the current medical marijuana model working? It is clear that the current medical marijuana procedures are not working. In 2000, the voters of Colorado passed a constitutional amendment to allow "medical use of marijuana for persons suffering from debilitating medical conditions." The amendment set forth a specific medical marijuana system involving a patient, a physician, and a primary care-giver. (A primary caregiver was defined as "a person who has significant responsibility" for the well being of a patient.) The amendment allowed patients and/or caregivers to have two ounces of marijuana and six plants per patient. In the beginning, the system worked much as the people envisioned, and from 2000 to 2007, there was very little abuse. In early 2008, there were less than 2,000 people on the registry. Then things changed. From Jan. 2, 2009, through Oct. 31, 2009, 20,728 people applied for a medical marijuana card. Suspiciously, just 15 doctors (out of 17,221 licensed doctors in Colorado) recommended medical marijuana cards for 75 percent of those patients. Those doctors were well compensated and marijuana dispensaries then sprung up statewide.
1 comment:
No the current model is not working. The first people to go get medical cards were people who do not need it. They just want to be able to smoke and buy it whenever they want to, so they payed someone $200.00 for the card. We need to scrap everything already out there, issue different cards for the people who need it for medical reasons. Have all the distributors close for a couple of weeks and issue business licenses to the right people.
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