'GREEN' CARD: CU STUDENT GROUP TEACHES STATE-SANCTIONED POT USE

For University of Colorado senior Mike West, the most effective remedy
for chronic pain is, well, chronic.

Recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered while skateboarding,
West said he obtained a medical-marijuana card in April so he could
treat his pain.

"I could have gotten a prescription for opiates, but I didn't want to
deal with the addictive and depressive side effects that go with
them," West said Monday. "My doctor agreed, so we filled out the
paperwork and mailed it in.

"Three weeks later, I got my card of approval from the state
registry."

Since then, West has become somewhat of an authority on the process of
obtaining a medical-marijuana license in Colorado. He'll share that
knowledge with CU students Tuesday night, when the campus chapter of
the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws hosts a
meeting to discuss what's required to obtain a medical-marijuana card.

Brian Vicente, an attorney for Sensible Colorado, a nonprofit
organization that works on drug policy issues in Colorado, also will
speak at the campus session. He and West will discuss what kind of
paperwork and medical consultations are necessary to get on the
Colorado Department of Health's Medical Marijuana Registry.

"There are well over 4,000 medical-marijuana patients in the state of
Colorado, and the last I checked, about 40 percent of them live in the
Denver/Boulder area," Vicente said. "Marijuana has provided a valuable
benefit for many, many people."

According to West, the process can sometimes be as easy as providing a
doctor with a medical history of a persistent condition or symptom.
After it is proven that experimentation with other medications and
remedies is not as effective, medicinal marijuana can become a
prescribed solution.

The NORML meeting also will cover topics such as how to acquire
medicinal marijuana from so-called "caregivers" once a license has
been received.

"I know of six dispensaries in Denver, Boulder and Larimer
(counties)," said Britney King, office manager for EnerChi Healing, a
medical-marijuana dispensary in Larimer County. "Every dispensary
carries a variety of strains with a kind of menu to explain what they
are. Most offer different ways of ingesting -- like edibles and pills.

"And what makes us unique is that we are completely
organic."

CU's NORML chapter drew a sizable crowd last month at an informational
meeting on campus that saw members distributing what they said were
tobacco pipes.

University officials weren't thrilled with the free pipes, but said
the group's efforts were protected as "symbolic free speech."

Cmdr. Tom Sloan, of the Boulder County Drug Task Force, said he had no
objection to Tuesday night's meeting, but warned that there still are
risks involved with being a medical-marijuana cardholder in Colorado.

"The (medicinal marijuana) law is a state law, but the (U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration) functions under federal law -- and they
aren't tied to it," Sloan said.

The county drug squad, however, only is interested in busting
medicinal-marijuana users who don't comply with state law, Sloan said.

Yet, he added, DEA agents "can decide to take the grower or processed
marijuana and charge them under federal law."

IF YOU GO

What: NORML@CU Presents: "Medical Marijuana Explained"

When: 7-9 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Hellems Room 252, University of Colorado campus, Boulder

Cost: Free

www.normlcu.com