A Boulder sufferer of chronic pain who was legally allowed to use medical marijuana but was nevertheless charged for marijuana possession is speaking out, along with his attorney and a patient advocate, on ways to prevent other medical marijuana users and caregivers from a similar situation.
People who rely on medical marijuana to ease their pain have been receiving mixed signals from the state. On Monday, the Colorado Board of Health seemed poised to limit a caregiver's patients to five people, a move that would have decimated the dispensary industry and severely limited access to the drug for patients. Yet after 12 hours of testimony and hundreds of people in attendance at the hearing to oppose the cap, the Board voted 6-3 to keep the caregiver provisions as they are now.
However, anyone who watches the debate closely knows that small victories do not signal the end of the overall war. A main obstacle is that Colorado's constitutional Amendment 20 conflicts with federal law, which still deems all use and possession of marijuana illegal. Another issue is that even within the state there is confusion about who and what is allowed under the law governing medical marijuana.
Jason Lauve has learned the hard way that one can try to comply with the law yet still be prosecuted. In September of last year, Lauve was charged with two felonies: possession of marijuana concentrate and possession of 8 ounces or more of marijuana. If the charges are proven, even Amendment 20 may not save Lauve. After all, the amendment limits legal possession to 2 ounces of "usable" marijuana. However, a patient may also own up to 6 marijuana plants (no more than 3 can be mature). It is unclear in what form the marijuana confiscated from Lauve was, but Lauve has provided that, according to his doctor, he only had enough marijuana to "adequately treat his condition."
Lauve's condition results from a ski resort accident in 2004. While standing in the lift line at Eldora, Lauve was hit by an out-of-control snowboarder and suffered severe back injuries. As a result of the incident, Lauve suffers "crippling pain." The snowboarder was not charged, a move which is not lost on Lauve's attorney Robert Corry: "The Boulder DA made the wrong decision in failing to prosecute the reckless snowboarder who destroyed Jason's back, and now the Boulder DA is compounding its error by prosecuting Jason when he is only seeking the miracle relief that medical marijuana provides him."
The Boulder DA intent on prosecuting Lauve, Stan Garnett, has garnered a lot of publicity lately. In separate cases, Garnett has been appointed special prosecutor for a rape case, been granted approval to use Twitter for murder trial updates, and has received criticism for firing several of the seasoned prosecutors in the Boulder County DA's office.
Lauve, Corry, and Timothy Tipton, a patient advocate for the Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative, will be giving a talk at the University of Colorado at Boulder on July 28. The talk, entitled "Medical Marijuana: How Patients and Caregivers Can Protect Themselves" is free and open to the public.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Examiner.com
Author: Glorianne Scott
Contact: Examiner.com
Copyright: 2009 Clarity Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com
Website: Medical Marijuana User Charged With Pot Possession To Speak At CU
People who rely on medical marijuana to ease their pain have been receiving mixed signals from the state. On Monday, the Colorado Board of Health seemed poised to limit a caregiver's patients to five people, a move that would have decimated the dispensary industry and severely limited access to the drug for patients. Yet after 12 hours of testimony and hundreds of people in attendance at the hearing to oppose the cap, the Board voted 6-3 to keep the caregiver provisions as they are now.
However, anyone who watches the debate closely knows that small victories do not signal the end of the overall war. A main obstacle is that Colorado's constitutional Amendment 20 conflicts with federal law, which still deems all use and possession of marijuana illegal. Another issue is that even within the state there is confusion about who and what is allowed under the law governing medical marijuana.
Jason Lauve has learned the hard way that one can try to comply with the law yet still be prosecuted. In September of last year, Lauve was charged with two felonies: possession of marijuana concentrate and possession of 8 ounces or more of marijuana. If the charges are proven, even Amendment 20 may not save Lauve. After all, the amendment limits legal possession to 2 ounces of "usable" marijuana. However, a patient may also own up to 6 marijuana plants (no more than 3 can be mature). It is unclear in what form the marijuana confiscated from Lauve was, but Lauve has provided that, according to his doctor, he only had enough marijuana to "adequately treat his condition."
Lauve's condition results from a ski resort accident in 2004. While standing in the lift line at Eldora, Lauve was hit by an out-of-control snowboarder and suffered severe back injuries. As a result of the incident, Lauve suffers "crippling pain." The snowboarder was not charged, a move which is not lost on Lauve's attorney Robert Corry: "The Boulder DA made the wrong decision in failing to prosecute the reckless snowboarder who destroyed Jason's back, and now the Boulder DA is compounding its error by prosecuting Jason when he is only seeking the miracle relief that medical marijuana provides him."
The Boulder DA intent on prosecuting Lauve, Stan Garnett, has garnered a lot of publicity lately. In separate cases, Garnett has been appointed special prosecutor for a rape case, been granted approval to use Twitter for murder trial updates, and has received criticism for firing several of the seasoned prosecutors in the Boulder County DA's office.
Lauve, Corry, and Timothy Tipton, a patient advocate for the Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative, will be giving a talk at the University of Colorado at Boulder on July 28. The talk, entitled "Medical Marijuana: How Patients and Caregivers Can Protect Themselves" is free and open to the public.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Examiner.com
Author: Glorianne Scott
Contact: Examiner.com
Copyright: 2009 Clarity Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com
Website: Medical Marijuana User Charged With Pot Possession To Speak At CU
