Medical Marijuana

The only one to blame for everyone getting approved for their license, regardless of what medical condition they claim, is the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. Not doctors, not patients, not greedy dispensaries. Amendment 20 states that a patient must apply for their medical marijuana license though CO Dept. H+E. The law also states that the department must notify the applicant in case of denial of the application withing 35 days (except in the case that the applicant is not who they say they are or do not have Colorado residency) , otherwise the patients is automatically assumed approved. Now the registry was put in place 10 yrs ago and today, with those 1000 applications coming in a day, have a staff of six, which a few month ago was only four. Now, that they have created such a backlog for themselves they are unable to deny an application based on the medical condition, since they do not even open your application until about 7 month after receiving it.

Here is the other thing. Your yearly fee to the state is $90. However, if you apply in January, you can immediately enjoy the benefits of being a legal patient. About 8 mo later in August you will receive your red card, which will have been issued about two weeks prior to you receiving it and will not expire until July/Aug of the following year.
Now at 80000 patients at $90 each getting 8 month free is costing the state about $4,000,000 a year in lost application fees. Just a thought, but maybe hiring a few extra hands will not cost $4M and also give patients the piece of mind of actually having a red card within a reasonable amount of time.

That's interesting information MM. I wonder why the don't to capitalize on the revenues.

Sunshine Girl wrote: That's interesting information MM. I wonder why the don't to capitalize on the revenues.

One word: Ritter

I realize I'm weighing in on this rather late but hey I only just learned of this site.

I'm the absolute farthest thing from a pothead. Hell, I've only been drunk once and swore to never let myself drink that much again, which I haven't. Even the prescription pain meds I received about 5 weeks ago for shingles, all but three are still in the bottle. I could be a talk radio host's supplier if I had the inclination, which I do not.

I also strongly support medical marijuana.

I know first hand from my years of lupus how God-awful some prescriptions can be. I've watched my hair fall out. I've had extreme weight gain and weight loss. I have been so sick and vomiting so hard that I've had to wipe blood clots of the toilet seat. I've had bleeding ulcers from the meds which have landed me in the hospital. I also know that prescription medication used correctly is now the 3rd leading cause of death in this country, killing more people than illegal drugs. Somehow, marijuana just doesn't seem that bad. I know from others who have had lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and MS that they have felt better after using marijuana. That their pain, stiffness, nausea and absolute despair over their situation has improved. Some have started working again. Yes, I have asked myself if this is something I should look into for my own needs. Truth is, I wouldn't recognize pot from catnip if someone tried to sell it to me. Still, I wonder about it. I know that I've had to weed myself off of other meds because the side effects were more difficult and dangerous than what they were treating.

I also believe that so many people turn to marijuana because they feel let down by the medical establishment and Western medicine in particular. Many more are trying to self-medicate and have convinced themselves that because it's natural, it therefore must be safe. I am not so naive in this regard. People have died from "natural remedies". I do believe, though, that people have the right to try what they will, medical establishment be damned. We have the right to decide what we will or will not put into our bodies.

Which brings me to point #2. A point has been made that this is the first step towards simply legalizing marijuana. I hope that this is true. For that matter, the single worst thing we could do to a drug lord is legalize drugs and take the street value out of it. I've already written about our drug wars ( http://strixfix.blogspot.com/2010/04/this-aint-your-grandpas-prohibition.html ) which was first published on Open Salon a year ago and later linked to on other sites.

The DEA's budget in 2008 was $2.4 billion. In 2001, a Mexican official leaked that illegal drugs make up 63% of Mexico's economy. Marijuana alone is considered a $35.8 billion industry and the largest cash crop in the United States. Clearly, the powers on both sides of the equation have no reasons for wanting the status to change. Medical marijuana, like so many innocent people, simply gets caught in the crossfire. This needs to change.

HI RL

Hello.

Well said. Lots of useful information. Booze and MJ have many paralels in their prohibition evolution. We shall see where it all goes.

Well said RL.

Her IQ is like 198 or something...So listen up people

VL, I wish.

Thanks, everyone. Nice being here.