JUDGE OVERTURNS COLORADO MEDICAL POT RESTRICTIONS

DENVER - A judge overturned tight restrictions Tuesday on Colorado
medical marijuana providers, saying state health officials had ignored
the needs of patients and violated open meetings laws while imposing
the rules.

The ruling by Denver District Judge Larry Naves means medical
marijuana providers can continue supplying the drug to registered
users without having to provide any other care, as a state Board of
Health vote last week would have required.

It was another setback for health officials struggling to regulate
Colorado's growing medical marijuana industry, which sprang up after
voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2000.

Colorado now has at least 11,000 people registered with the state as
medical marijuana users.

Naves was sharply critical of the Board of Health and at times
appeared impatient with arguments by Anne Holton, a first assistant
attorney general representing the board.

"Did this board ever think about the impact on the health of people
like these people here?" he asked, referring to a medical marijuana
user and provider in the courtroom who had challenged the new
requirements.

Holton said the board was only trying to clarify restrictions for
users and providers alike, and the action was only temporary while
officials settled on long-term requirements.

"It's not temporary if you're trying to down 30 pills," Naves
retorted, referring to testimony by a patient in an older, related
case who said he can't keep his numerous medications down without marijuana.

The latest skirmish over regulation began in August, when the health
board decided anyone who supplies marijuana to a registered user meets
the criteria to be an authorized caregiver.

Last month, however, the state Court of Appeals ruled in a criminal
case that a woman convicted of marijuana charges didn't qualify as a
caregiver because she provided only the drug and no other health
services, as some other states require.

The Board of Health then suspended its August decision and temporarily
accepted the stricter requirements set by the Court of Appeals.

Attorney Richard Corry asked Naves to stop the move, saying the board
didn't give enough public notice of the meeting.

Corry also argued that the Court of Appeals judges said their ruling
applied only to the criminal case.

Naves agreed, saying the court ruling didn't apply to the state's
requirements. He also ruled the board didn't give enough public notice
to comply with state law.

Holton didn't know if the state would appeal.

The Board of Health previously scheduled a Dec. 15 meeting on the same
issue.