LICENSE TO BUY POT EASY TO GET IN COLORADO

Legislators Eye New Laws to Regulate Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
As Patients Number More Than 30,000 in State

ASPEN - I recently became a legal pot smoker in the state of
Colorado, and all it took was an hour of my time, $240 and a good excuse.

I visited a dispensary in the Roaring Fork Valley and told the
proprietors I suffered from back and knee pain. That's all it took to
get on the state registry, and then turn around and buy an eighth of
an ounce of weed and a marijuana-laced cookie for $50, plus tax.

I went through this exercise, in part, to better understand the
process of getting on the Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry, which
now includes close to 30,000 people, according to the Colorado
Attorney General. In addition to those, an estimated 35,000 people
have received authorization from a physician and are waiting to be
processed by the state.

I was not asked for medical records but I did fill out some paperwork
that inquired about my past medical history, my family's past medical
history and the problem for which I sought medical marijuana. I have
legitimate back and knee pain, and marijuana often helps relax my
muscles, but I presented no evidence of my ailment.

The registry and the doctor will not be named in this story because
it's not my intention to discredit any "care-givers" or dispensary
employees - who are acting lawfully - but rather to answer questions
that many Coloradans are asking about the ease or difficulty of
becoming a legal marijuana user.

The answer appears to be that just about anyone willing to shell out
cash to a doctor and provide a $90 check or money order to the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) - the
registry's administrator - can then legally buy and possess up to 2
ounces of marijuana.

Voter-Approved

The dispensaries are operating under Amendment 20, which was approved
by voters in 2000. The constitutional amendment allows patients with
certain conditions, including HIV, cancer, muscle spasms and chronic
pain, to use medical marijuana as long as they get a doctor's
approval and register with the state.

As I filled out my patient information sheet, I was asked to list my
occupation. Knowing I might be treated differently if I wrote
"reporter" on the form, I listed my secondary sources of income and
declared myself self-employed, as well as a house cleaner and
caretaker, which I occasionally do. I don't often go "undercover" but
felt it was necessary for an honest look at this process.

On a personal level, I'm conflicted about chronicling my experience
because I do believe marijuana has medicinal benefits and it ought to
be legalized because it's a natural herb that grows out of the
ground. But the manner in which people are seeking their legal status
has become questionable. Many feel that "medical marijuana" is a
misleading label for a much broader effort to legalize pot.

The issue is being debated on the street by users and non-users
alike. And state regulators get increasingly concerned as more people
register. Between 500 and 600 people are registered every day in
Colorado, and the state legislature, the governor's office, the CDPHE
and the attorney general are taking steps to more carefully regulate
the entire process.

But back to my chronic pain, and my visit to the dispensary. One
recent episode of back pain was so debilitating that I had to roll
off the bed and crawl on the floor in tears before going to work.
This landed me in a doctor's office, where I was sent away with
prescriptions for Vicodin and Valium after seeing the doctor for a
couple of minutes. I believe both of these medications to be more
addictive and damaging to my organs than marijuana.

Which was part of the reason I ended up at a dispensary. After
spending 20 minutes filling out my application form, patient
information and a membership agreement, I was led to a small room
where a general practitioner was waiting for me.

The doctor briefly looked at my family medical history, which
includes arthritis and alopecia. The doctor suggested a website to
learn more about the alopecia disease, which involves hair loss. The
doctor also lectured me on the negative effects of smoking
cigarettes, and recommended a book to help me quit the nasty habit.

The doctor asked me about my surgical history and I said I had
arthroscopic knee surgery in either 1997 or 1998. I also informed the
doctor that I have a reoccurring baker's cyst that flares up behind
the knee when I run too much, and it causes discomfort and pain.

That's all I needed to say for the doctor to issue a physician certification.

My physical exam consisted of checking my lungs with a stethoscope,
looking in my mouth with a light (the doctor told me to floss more)
and taking my blood pressure. The doc said I was in amazing shape. My
knee was never examined.

After I received my physician certification, I was asked to pay $150
in cash. I gave the doctor $160 and was given $10 back from a wad of
cash the physician had on hand.

Then it was on to processing, where a dispensary proprietor had
notarized my documents for submission to the CDPHE. I wrote a check
to the state and then it was time to buy some weed.

Weed Choices

A dispensary staffer brought me to a locked room, where I was shown
several strains of marijuana. I was educated on the differences
between Sativa and Indica - the first a more energizing, clean and
cerebral effect and the latter more a mellow, sleepy and sedative effect.

I've talked to a lot of dispensary owners in the course of my
reporting in recent months, and they all say they pride themselves on
being local farmers and care-givers. But I wasn't asked what my
ailment was or given a recommendation as to what strain would be best
for me. I went with the most inexpensive dose, which was $40 for an
eighth of an ounce and a cookie for $10.

The prices of the marijuana were competitive with what the black
market offers - $40 to $60 for an eighth; $100 to $110 for a quarter
and $400 to $420 for an ounce.

No other products, such as edibles or lotions, were offered to me. My
purchases were put into a sack and off I went with documentation that
made me legal to carry it down the street out in the open - quite a
liberating experience, I must admit.

I know that my experience is similar to thousands of others who are
now on the registry. A longtime Aspen resident recently shared his
experience in obtaining his medical marijuana card from a local
dispensary - a process he described as "comical."

"Not your usual doctor's office," he said, adding he was seated
outside the doctor's office in a bean bag chair in a room decorated
with red tapestry.

He obtained a registry card with no problem, citing pain from a torn
muscle in his rotator cuff. Despite the odd experience in the
dispensary and the ease of obtaining legal marijuana, the patient
added, "I truly believe it has its place, [for] everything from
anxiety to cancer patients."

A Cause for Concern

The loose process of certifying people has raised the eyebrows of
state regulators and lawmakers, who plan to push legislation in the
upcoming session of the Colorado General Assembly to place
restrictions on dispensaries and doctors.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Colorado Attorney General John Suthers
of my recent experience. "Obviously it concerns me the thing's being gamed."

Suthers noted that after the law went into effect eight years ago,
1,600 medical marijuana patients registered in Colorado, and they
either had a care-giver or they grew the plant themselves.

But in the past 10 months, the number of patients on the registry has
swelled to nearly 30,000, and the patients are getting younger, Suthers said.

He added that 75 percent of registered marijuana users were given
authorization by just 15 doctors around Colorado, and five of them
have provided 50 percent of the certifications.

"Most people are gaming the system," Suthers said, adding the key
issue for reform is clarifying the doctor-patient relationship. His
office plans to seek changes to the law so that only physicians in
good standing who have a bona-fide relationship with their patients
can authorize the use of medical marijuana.

Colorado State Sen. Chris Romer (D-Dist. 23) plans to introduce a
bill entitled "Regulation of Medical Marijuana" in the upcoming
legislative session. The latest draft of the bill proposes three
levels of state licenses: One for clinics with fewer than 300
patients, a second for operations with more than 300 patients, and a
third for medical marijuana growers.

The bill would create a medical marijuana licensing authority in the
state Department of Revenue, as well as a separate review board to
examine applications from patients under age 21.

Romer's legislation also directs the CDPHE to form new standards for
issuing registry identification cards, new procedures for primary
care-giver applicants, documentation for physicians who prescribe
medical marijuana, and sanctions for physicians who violate the law.

Romer has stated in the past that he thinks many people have gotten
on the registry based on phony or exaggerated diagnoses.

Suthers said his office has concerns with Romer's bill because it
would legitimize dispensaries.

"The debate will be whether to continue to tolerate the dispensary
model, which has a business plan that has to create patients,"
Suthers said. The attorney general said he opposes legalization of
marijuana and that the original constitutional amendment didn't
intend for business enterprises to be part of the "care-giver" model.

Mark Salley, communications director for the CDPHE, said Dr. Ned
Calonge, the chief medical officer for the agency, recently met with
the Governor's Office of Legal Counsel in response to the small
number of doctors certifying patients.

While 820 doctors in the state have authorized people on the
registry, roughly a dozen have certified most of the patients, Salley said.

New Law?

On Dec. 14, the CDPHE and the governor's office proposed statutory
language to further define the physician-patient relationship.

Under the proposed language, a doctor would complete a full
assessment of the patient's medical history and provide follow-up
treatment. The doctor also would have to hold a valid, unrestricted
license to practice medicine in Colorado, among other proposed changes.

Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation (CMMR), a coalition of
medical marijuana patients working with state legislators to
establish criteria for regulation, has taken the position that there
is no need to create a new regulatory structure because there already
are statutes and regulations in place.

"Our position is a lot of this regulation is on the books for other
businesses," said CMMR executive director Matt Brown. "Let's preserve
what we have on the books and approach it rationally if it's going to
be a business."

Brown said he has been working with Romer for more than a month to
revise the draft bill, and a lot of it has been rewritten and
simplified. He added that the draft bill borrowed a lot from the
alcohol code and didn't apply.

CMMR also states that the oversight of doctors should stay where it
is today - at the state's medical board. The organization also
advocates that standards should be set for future licensed medical
marijuana health care training and the state should have enforcement
authority to prevent unauthorized prescriptions.

Brown said he and others working on regulation hope that Colorado
will be the model for 15 states that are now considering some form of
legalized medical marijuana. As for the 13 states that now allow
medical marijuana, none have regulations worth mirroring, Brown said.

The CMMR is in sync with the CDPHE's effort to clarify the
doctor-patient relationship, and possibly tighten the process of
issuing authorizations.

"That's certainly what the department of health is addressing and
it's worth being discussed," Brown said of the ease in getting
authorization from a doctor. "I don't have the answer."

Brown said the 2000 law was intentionally written for a
business-driven, caregiver model down the road, and that's why it was
presented as a constitutional amendment, which can't be easily altered.

Some marijuana advocates admit the system is being manipulated and,
as a result, is not functioning the way it should.

"I know it comes across looking like a scam and feeling like a scam,"
said Keith Stroup, legal counsel and founder of The National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "The game of
getting a doctor's recommendation has become, well, a game."

As thousands are added to registries in the states where medical
marijuana is legal, the case for full legalization strengthens, which
helps organizations like NORML win the political battle.

"I don't think it's perfect but anything political never is," Stroup said.