Colorado, California leading the way in pot-reform laws

by Dale Rodebaugh
Herald Staff Writer

Article Last Updated; Sunday, October 04, 2009 11:14AM

By the numbers

The latest (July 31, 2009) Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment report on medical marijuana shows:
•Since June 1, 2001, when it began operation, the Medical Marijuana Registry has received 13,102 applications for identification cards to buy or grow marijuana for medicinal use. Twenty-nine applications were denied, 18 cards have been revoked, 1,751 cards have expired and 210 cardholders have died, leaving 11,094 holders of valid identification.

• More than 800 physicians have signed certifications of need for applicants.

•Seventy-three percent of applicants are men, and the average age of all applicants is 41. Six card holders are minors (younger than 18).

•Fifty-five percent of cardholders live in the Denver metro and Boulder areas.

• In Southwest Colorado counties, there are 111 cardholders in La Plata, 25 in Archuleta, 31 in Montezuma and eight in Dolores. San Juan County is one of five in which there are fewer than three card holders.

•Ninety percent of applicants say severe pain is one of the reasons they need marijuana. Twenty-seven percent – the second-most cited reason – said they have muscle spasms. Severe nausea – No. 3 – was cited by 23 percent.

•The health department has refused to add Parkinson’s disease, anxiety, asthma and bipolar disorder to the list of debilitating illnesses that can qualify a patient to use marijuana.

Three identification–cardholders have been convicted of marijuana-related offenses.

– Dale Rodebaugh

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Colorado has joined California to become one of only two states that have a semblance of a medical-marijuana distribution system, the executive director of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) said this week.

“But the difference is stark and profound," Allen St. Pierre said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C. “We fought for the rights in California, but the rise in Colorado was immediate."

Thirteen states allow the use of marijuana medicinally, but except for Colorado and California, the others operate on what St. Pierre called a “self-preservation system." Authorized users are on their own to grow or buy their cannabis, he said.

Reform of marijuana laws is coming - slowly but inexorably, St. Pierre said. He cited the Obama administration's decision to sic federal agents on marijuana distributors only when they violate state as well as federal law. The sale of marijuana for medical purposes remains against federal law.

Two states, New Mexico and Rhode Island, have approved laws sanctioning the sale of medical marijuana, St. Pierre said. These winds of change could sweep California, Massachusetts and Texas into following suit to regulate and tax the substance, he said.

“In past administrations, such action would have triggered a rocket ride straight to the U.S. Supreme Court," St. Pierre said.

The change in official attitude mirrors public opinion, St. Pierre said. Polls find 75 percent of people favor the use of marijuana for medical purposes and, by almost the same margin, the decriminalization of marijuana use.

The wide acceptance of cannabis by the public is reflected in the Showtime television series “Weeds" - which just ended its fifth season - that follows the adventures of a widowed California housewife who is the neighborhood source for marijuana.

It's no wonder the show takes place in California - where 2.5 million to 3 million people use marijuana medicinally, St. Pierre said.

The state has 1,400 to 1,800 marijuana dispensaries, including kiosks in the Los Angeles Basin that operate 24 hours a day, he said.

Oregon has cashed in on marijuana, charging 24,000 to 26,000 medical pot users $150 a year for an identification card, St. Pierre said.

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