Crackdown Could Trim Thousands Of Colorado Medical-Marijuana Plant

[bobandtorey]

crackdown on Colorado medical marijuana patients could trim the number of marijuana plants being legally grown in the state by tens of thousands, according to new figures from the state health department.

The crackdown focuses on patients authorized to grow more than the standard number of marijuana plants, as many as 99 plants for some. While those patients make up only about 2 percent of the state's 111,000 registered patients, the patients are authorized to grow more than 85,000 marijuana plants — nearly 12 percent of the total plants that registered medical marijuana patients are allowed to grow.

The state's new scrutiny of patients with large plant counts comes after an audit last year warned that such patients may be "distributing the excess marijuana to individuals without (medical marijuana) cards."

But medical marijuana advocates say the crackdown could also have far-reaching impacts on patients who use the higher-than-normal plant counts to create concentrated treatments, which they say help the most serious conditions. And the crackdown could also affect the supply for medical marijuana dispensaries, which are limited in how much marijuana they can grow by the plant counts of the patients who have designated the stores to grow for them.

"Patients have done nothing wrong here," Teri Robnett, a medical-marijuana advocate and patient who is authorized to grow 24 plants, said last week during a meeting where officials announced the crackdown. "And yet patients will be the ones who suffer."

The controversy reaches deep into the folds of Colorado's wrinkled marijuana laws.

Patients on the state's medical marijuana registry are typically authorized to grow six marijuana plants — with no more than three of those ready for harvest at any given time. But doctors can recommend that patients grow more plants if it is "medically necessary."

In response to the audit, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment officials this week began sending out letters to doctors and medical marijuana patients, warning them that the state will now require better documentation before it authorizes patients to grow more than the standard number of plants.

Among registered patients who have designated a caregiver, 2,822 patients have plant counts over six, according to health department numbers. The average plant count for those patients is more than 30, and there are 93 patients authorized to grow 99 plants. Last year's audit mentions one patient whose doctor had recommended 501 plants.

At last week's meeting, Dr. Larry Wolk, the executive director of the state health department, said most patients don't need more than six plants even if they are making concentrated treatments.

"The technology has really advanced," he said.

But James Clark Jr., a medical marijuana patient and provider to two dozen other patients on the Eastern Plains, sharply disputed that. Clark — who cares for 25 patients, including one authorized for 99 plants — said the number of plants needed to make concentrated marijuana oil depends on the growing technique, the strain being grown, the grower's skill, the extraction method and other factors.

All told, he said, it can take more than 6 ounces of marijuana — perhaps three plants' worth — to produce 6 grams of marijuana oil. And that amount of oil might last some patients only a week.

"This is about caring for some very, very, very sick people," Clark said.

Mark Salley, a health department spokesman, said the new documentation requirements will apply when medical marijuana patients register with the state for the first time as well as when existing medical marijuana patients renew their registrations each year.

John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/john_ingold

Ninety-nine pot plants

Depending on several factors, 99 marijuana plants could produce as many as 12,000 joints.

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[trichcycler]

12,000 joints.......... that's only a pack and a half a day ,per year.

[bobandtorey]

I agree they must be penners 

[Restorium2]

They are protecting their cash cow, the recreational market, by shutting down medical grows. Do we still have anyone that thinks legalization is a good thing for patients? Anyone?

[trichcycler]

dammitall! I have to agree with your tone

[bobandtorey]

 i can say i and most where all for it years ago Tax and regulate but  because it was all we hoped for or maybe its because we where young and not sick but now  we have had a taste of what

 

most would think it to be legal cannabis use for most over 21 years old with card and or caregiver and do not want legalized cannabis because we know that is a pipe dream here in this State

 

( For Now ) as the Courts still have not given us the OK to use cannabis for medical in some towns and county's  

[cristinew]

legalization  is great for everyone,,    tax and regulate  and  decriminalize  certain amounts is the problem,

[Restorium2]

i can say i and most where all for it years ago Tax and regulate but  because it was all we hoped for or maybe its because we where young and not sick but now  we have had a taste of what

 

most would think it to be legal cannabis use for most over 21 years old with card and or caregiver and do not want legalized cannabis because we know that is a pipe dream here in this State

 

( For Now ) as the Courts still have not given us the OK to use cannabis for medical in some towns and county's

Never was there a time in my life that I would have been happy about paying $75 for an 1/8 ounce, sick or not, legal or not. It's just a scam, not anything that really helps anyone but the sellers and the State. Now they want to crack down on Medical because it might interfere with their scam.

[+Malamute]

Home Growing is the only option worth pursuing. :-)

[phaquetoo]

Home Growing is the only option worth pursuing. :-)

Agreed!

 

Peace

[pergamum362]

Hate it all you want. Its coming.

[pergamum362]

I dont think it will go that way. Colorados legal law, is just one state, and one law. Im sure we will see some variations between states. I dont think any of us want to see patients or caregivers put through anymore b/s.

[pergamum362]

It is to me. As you have already seen, for the most part, the legal and medicinal laws are seperate. If the people mentioned in The article above are not distributing, then they should be fine. I mean really, how can a doctor recommend you need 501 plants? Hes a doctor not a pot botanist.

 

People are still going to jail for growing, people are still being charged with possesion. Here we have a chance to change that, and fix our roads at the same time.

[t-pain]

same as here zap. how do you harvest an outdoor plant and stay under 2.5oz ?

i heard in colorado you can keep whatever amount you harvested btw. so the 1oz thing only applies when you are travelling or purchasing.

 

limits are moo poo.

Edited April 4, 2014 by t-pain

[t-pain]

it would be easier to find information if colorado's website wasnt a piece of crap.

 

and by crap i mean you cant access colorado's law unless you have a lexis nexis login.

 

here it is from a64, be nice if we had this in our law huh?

(b) POSSESSING, GROWING, PROCESSING, OR TRANSPORTING NO MORE
THAN SIX MARIJUANA PLANTS, WITH THREE OR FEWER BEING MATURE,
FLOWERING PLANTS, AND POSSESSION OF THE MARIJUANA PRODUCED BY THE
PLANTS ON THE PREMISES WHERE THE PLANTS WERE GROWN, PROVIDED THAT
THE GROWING TAKES PLACE IN AN ENCLOSED, LOCKED SPACE, IS NOT
CONDUCTED OPENLY OR PUBLICLY, AND IS NOT MADE AVAILABLE FOR SALE.

 

 

still think a64 is that bad ?

i'd trade our 2.5oz for 'posession of marijuana produced by 3 mature plants' any day.

Edited April 4, 2014 by t-pain

[pergamum362]

I think thats the medicinal law correct? You can also have as many patients as you want. The recreational law allows for "gifting" up to an ounce to anybody 21 or over. Keep in mind most recreational users i know, maybe smoke an ounce a month. So patients still have there system, while everyone else has there system. What im not clear on down there is the 5? Manufacturer/distributor for the whole state? Or is something else going on. Is that what there trying to get it down too? I dunno.

[t-pain]

the above is from a64, the recreational marijuana law.

 

colorados medical law says:

(I) No more than two ounces of a usable form of marijuana; and

(II) No more than six marijuana plants, with three or fewer being mature, flowering plants that are producing a usable form of marijuana.

(b) For quantities of marijuana in excess of these amounts, a patient or his or her primary care-giver may raise as an affirmative defense to charges of violation of state law that such greater amounts were medically necessary to address the patient’s debilitating medical condition.

 

so their medical law is the same as our section 8. you have to prove you need over 2oz in a court.

obviously, from the article on the first post, it sounds like they have another system in place to allow more plants to be grown for people. thats not in the actual law. at least, i cannot find that info.

maybe its case law or administrative rule.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Colorado

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDPHE-CHEIS/CBON/1251593017076

 

i'm missing something. i'll have to dig further in a colorado forum to see why the medical law is so much better than the A64 recreational law they have now. just the affirmative defense or maybe some case law has made it better?

Edited April 4, 2014 by t-pain

[Restorium2]

$75 an 1/8 ounce. $600 an ounce. It's not a coincidence that they want to limit patient grows further after they have their cash cow: The American Pot Smoker.  Learn to be a really good cow perg. You have just the right attitude for that.  Most folks are for it because they are ignorant about it.  You have a complete understanding of how you will be screwed.

[trichcycler]

fix our roads too?   dunno bout that man. Casino money was to make sure schools were supported. see how that worked out.  It seems it takes 1 million dollars just to manage $999,999.00 in MI.

It is to me. As you have already seen, for the most part, the legal and medicinal laws are seperate. If the people mentioned in The article above are not distributing, then they should be fine. I mean really, how can a doctor recommend you need 501 plants? Hes a doctor not a pot botanist.

People are still going to jail for growing, people are still being charged with possesion. Here we have a chance to change that, and fix our roads at the same time.

[Restorium2]

fix our roads too?   dunno bout that man. Casino money was to make sure schools were supported. see how that worked out.  It seems it takes 1 million dollars just to manage $999,999.00 in MI.

Right. Snyder/Schuette would just give the wealthy another tax break and close some more schools. Some like that. Makes them feel superior even if they are just poor folks hanging onto someone else's coat tails. It's clear that you have a bunch of 'poor folks in denial' voting like they are just one 'ship came in' away from being in a place they can also enjoy the future being formed by their votes. It's like, "All you congress people, keep writing laws that keep that sweet spot open for me so I can enjoy it when I get rich". "I will get there soon if I don't have to buy health insurance". "I'll just ride around with no helmet for a while and bash some gay people while I'm waiting for my ship to come in".

[t-pain]

I wonder if people allowed 6 plants and an unlimited amount of flower cut from previous plants they have grown would be able to avoid arrest here? If they got arrested, how would they prove it came from plants they had previously harvested? I guess I just wonder how that works when there is a dispute about the source of the marijuana.

 

Is it possible that it is different because it has been accepted better by the authorities in Colorado? What are the chances the same law would work here in Michigan?

 

i think you are correct, there seems to be a more favorable situation, at least in denver.

i'm guessing the situation in the more red-counties of colorado face the same problems as we get here in michigan.

remember a64 only passed 54%? , still a lot of prohibitionists around.

 

its an unclear law, as theres a limit but then a non-limit in the same law. you cant mix limits and non-limits.

MPP can't see the "wood" for the trees.

[+Malamute]

Colorado amended their medical law a couple years ago.  2012 maybe?

 

They got uber strict on physicians and such too.  But yea,... if not familiar with the amended updates, it can be confusing to what Colorado currently allows. :-)

 

 Just to add in.

[Restorium2]

So when we get section 8 defined, where it can be easily used, then legalization will eat it's lunch, as we see happening in Colorado. Nice.

[LongHairBri]

why not let MJ pay for road repair? we could be living in an Eden!

I mean, we already are nearly paradise now!

 

with a state wide pollution fund ready to clean up ANY poisonous spills at a moments notice (thanks to the returnable law)

 

our well funded statewide world class education system (thanks to the state lottery and casinos)

 

and the vibrant city of Detroit, with a well supplemented tax base (thanks casinos). a true example of what your government can do for you when given the chance. I mean, the successful youth programs alone (set and paid for by casino taxes) are reason enough to believe!

 

 

REFRENCES:

 

How is the Michigan Bottle Deposit Law escheat used?

The Michigan Bottle Deposit Law escheat (unclaimed deposits that revert to the state) is

collected by Treasury. Seventy-five percent of the money is deposited into the Cleanup and

Redevelopment Trust Fund (Trust Fund), created in 1996 PA 384, and 25 percent is returned to

the retailers. Of the 75 percent deposited in the Trust Fund, 80 percent is deposited into the

Cleanup and Redevelopment Fund, 10 percent is deposited into the Community Pollution

Prevention Fund, and 10 percent remains in the Trust Fund. The Trust Fund continues to

collect the 10 percent per year until a maximum of $200 million is met. The Community

Pollution Prevention Fund is used for programs to educate the general public and businesses

that use or handle hazardous materials on pollution prevention methods, technologies, and

processes, with an emphasis on the direct reduction of toxic material releases or disposal, at the

source. The Cleanup and Redevelopment Fund is used to clean up specific sites of

contamination in Michigan.

 

 

432.43 Appropriation of money in state lottery fund.

Sec. 43. Subject to section 41(1), the money in the state lottery fund is appropriated only for the payment

of prizes to the holders of winning state lottery tickets or shares, for the payment pursuant to section 32 of the

liabilities to this state of holders of winning state lottery tickets or shares, for reasonable expenses of the

bureau in its operation of the state lottery, for deposit in the compulsive gaming prevention fund as provided

in section 41(4), and for deposit in the state school aid fund as provided in section 41(3).

 

Detroit Casinos

provides for the distribution of Detroit casino tax revenue to K–12 public education in Michigan and to capital improvement, youth programs, and tax relief in the City of Detroit;

[bobandtorey]

it would be easier to find information if colorado's website wasnt a piece of crap.

 

and by crap i mean you cant access colorado's law unless you have a lexis nexis login.

 

here it is from a64, be nice if we had this in our law huh?

(b) POSSESSING, GROWING, PROCESSING, OR TRANSPORTING NO MORE

THAN SIX MARIJUANA PLANTS, WITH THREE OR FEWER BEING MATURE,

FLOWERING PLANTS, AND POSSESSION OF THE MARIJUANA PRODUCED BY THE

PLANTS ON THE PREMISES WHERE THE PLANTS WERE GROWN, PROVIDED THAT

THE GROWING TAKES PLACE IN AN ENCLOSED, LOCKED SPACE, IS NOT

CONDUCTED OPENLY OR PUBLICLY, AND IS NOT MADE AVAILABLE FOR SALE.

 

 

still think a64 is that bad ?

i'd trade our 2.5oz for 'posession of marijuana produced by 3 mature plants' any day.

 

 

 WITH THREE OR FEWER BEING MATURE,

FLOWERING PLANTS

 

Thanks T

 

 

i can see how this would work out in our State 

 

Grower  = These three plants are not  Mature they are 16 teen week plants 

 

Leo = Prove  it to the judge