MEDICAL MARIJUANA LICENSE FEE DROPS IN COLO.

DENVER - The price of a medical marijuana license in Colorado has been
lowered more than half.

The state Board of Health voted unanimously Wednesday to lower the fee
from $90 a year to $35 a year beginning Jan. 1. Already the $90 fee is
lower than when Colorado first authorized medical marijuana a decade
ago, when the fee was $140.

The annual fee was lowered because it's sufficient to cover
administrative costs.

Board of Health spokesman Mark Salley says the number of medical
marijuana patients in Colorado has dropped dramatically this year. The
number dropped more than 20 percent - to about 103,000 - between June
30 and Sept. 30. The explanation may be tougher limits on medical
marijuana passed by the Legislature.