MORE POT, NOT MORE CLARITY

State Needs To Address Medical Marijuana

The Colorado Board of Health will meet today, and its agenda items
include a discussion about hospice care, rules about fees, and a
review of a tobacco settlement report.

The elephant in the room will be what they had originally planned to
meet about: Medical marijuana. That meeting has been put on hold.

Though medical pot was authorized by Colorado voters in 2000, it has
been 2009 that has been our most interesting year -- clouded by
confusion on who can have pot, whether they should be prosecuted
(given that marijuana is still considered illegal by an increasingly
pot-neutral federal government) and who can sell it.

It's the sellers, who they are and where they can legally operate,
that should be addressed by the state. A hodgepodge of large, small
and downright tiny municipalities are spending an inordinate amount
of time focused on medical marijuana these days. Some clarity and
guidance could keep the whole voter-approved and compassionate
amendment from -- forgive the expression -- going to pot.

CNN reports that between 2000 and 2008, the state issued about 2,000
medical marijuana cards to patients. That number has grown to more
than 60,000 in the last year. Proponents of reform have pointed out
that it's easier to legally sell pot -- which is for medical use --
than it is to legally sell liquor, which is legal for those 21 and
older, no illness required.

Amendment 20 did not legalize marijuana in Colorado. Clarity about
the law and who can sell pot will be the only thing that can salvage
it for patients.