Vote NO on HB1043

[Jim Finnel]

No on HB1043 - Caregiver Registration Bill

Colorado House Bill 11-1043, the Medical Marijuana "Patient Rights Cleanup and Caregiver Registration" bill, will be voted on by the Colorado House of Representatives on Thurs. (4/7). The stated intent of this bill is to "clean up" some unclear language from the medical marijuana bill that passed last year. However, this new bill also contains a whole new set of attacks on patient rights contained in its 25 pages.

Several people have had questions about a Washington, DC-based lobbying group called the "Marijuana Policy Project", who sent out an email on Tuesday asking people to send an email to their Representatives stating they should Vote YES on HB 1043, and that the constituent would "appreciate it" if they would remove the caregiver registry language. The "Marijuana Policy Project" sample letter to legislators told people to tell their Reps: "This is really the only bad provision in the bill."

CTI's analysis shows that this bill is anything but good for patients. It puts more control of medical marijuana into the hands of the Department of Revenue, instead of the health department. It does little to protect patient privacy and continues the process of setting up a massive government database to track patient purchases from "seed to sale." It eliminates Constitutional protection for anyone applying to become a state-licensed Medical Marijuana Center (MMC). And it attacks patients through their caregivers, making caregivers register the location of their patient grows and Registry ID numbers of their patients with the Department of Revenue.

As a patient rights organization, the Cannabis Therapy Institute is encouraging people to contact their state Representatives and Senators and ask them to vote NO on HB1043.

Here are some of the specific provisions that CTI finds worrisome. Click here to read the full bill: Fiscal Note OpenDocument&Click=8
725773B00770CE1.8975551e51fa01d087256dd30080e1d5/$Body/1. A5C

1. Eliminates Constitutional protection for the actions of MMC licensees. Licensees "shall not be subject to the terms of" Article XVIII, Section 14 of the Colorado Constitution (Colorado's Medical Marijuana Law). (page 4)

2. Extends the moratorium on new Medical Marijuana Center applicants in the state for another year, until July 1, 2012 (page 4). This harms patients and industry by artificially eliminating competition.

3. Restricts an MMC to sell only 6 non-flowering plants to a patient every
3 months (page 11)

4. Limits Medical Marijuana Infused Products Manufacturers to 500 plants
(page 15)

5. Allows law enforcement to destroy plants and cannabis that they seize, in violation of Article XVIII, Section 14 of the Colorado Constitution, which requires law enforcement to preserve patient medicine.

6. If an MMC license is revoked, that MMC's marijuana will be immediately considered to be a "controlled substance." Presumably, then immediately the owners and employees would be subject to criminal prosecution, since the marijuana they possess would no longer be considered legal medical marijuana. (page 16)

7. Makes a list of locations of all medical marijuana grow locations in the state open to the public. (page 19)

8. Requires caregivers to register the location of their grows with the Department of Revenue. (page 20)

9. Requires caregivers to surrender the Registry ID numbers of their patients to the Department of Revenue. (page 20)

10. Allows the Department of Revenue to share locations of caregiver grows with law enforcement and local governments. (page 20)

11. Presumably makes locations of caregiver grows part of public records, as there is not provision in this bill to exempt them from public records.

12. Appropriates $1 million from the Medical Marijuana Program Fund to hire
14.5 additional full-time employees (FTE) for the "Circle Program", an inpatient substance abuse treatment facility in Pueblo that only has 20 beds.

LISTEN LIVE ONLINE Debate on HB-1043 You listen online to the full House of Representatives debate: Thursday, April 7, starting at 9am The Colorado Channel | Colorado Channel

ACTION ALERT Ask your state Representatives to vote NO on HB1043, as it does not help patients.

Colorado State Representatives Cut and paste into the bcc: field of your email program

cindy.acree.house@state.co.us,
david.balmer.house@state.co.us,
mark@markbarker.org,
randy.baumgardner.house@state.co.us,
jonjbecker@gmail.com,
donald.beezley.house@state.co.us,
laurabradford55@gmail.com,
electjpaulbrown@gmail.com,
edward.casso.house@state.co.us,
kconti@contiforcolorado.com,
don.coram.house@state.co.us,
loiscourt@msn.com,
brian@briandelgrosso.com,
duran@duranforcolorado.com,
mferrandino@yahoo.com,
rhonda.fields.house@state.co.us,
randyfischer@frii.com,
bob.gardner.house@state.co.us,
deb@debgardner.net,
cheri.gerou@gmail.com,
millie.hamner.house@state.co.us,
chris.holbert.house@state.co.us,
dl.hullinghorst.house@state.co.us,
repmattjones@gmail.com,
janak.joshi.house@state.co.us,
repkagan@gmail.com,
info@cannabistherapyinstitute.com,
john.kefalas.house@state.co.us,
andy.kerr.house@state.co.us,
james.kerr.house@state.co.us,
replabuda@yahoo.com,
pete.lee.house@state.co.us,
claire.levy.house@state.co.us,
larry.liston.house@state.co.us,
marshalooper@gmail.com,
tom@tommassey.org,
beth.mccann.house@state.co.us,
wes.mckinley.house@state.co.us,
joe@joemiklosi.com,
murrayhouse45@gmail.com,
rep.nikkel@gmail.com,
dan.pabon.house@state.co.us,
sal.pace.house@state.co.us,
cherylin.peniston.house@state.co.us,
kpriola@gmail.com,
robert.ramirez.house@state.co.us,
jim.riesberg.house@state.co.us,
su.ryden.house@state.co.us,
sue.schafer.house@state.co.us,
ray.scott.house@state.co.us,
judy.solano.house@state.co.us,
jerry@repsonnenberg.com,
john.soper.house@state.co.us,
amy.stephens.house@state.co.us,
ken.summers.house@state.co.us,
spencer.swalm.house@state.co.us,
keith.swerdfeger.house@state.co.us,
libby.szabo.house@state.co.us,
nancy.todd.house@state.co.us,
max@maxtyler.us,
glenn.vaad.house@state.co.us,
edward.vigil.house@state.co.us,
mark.waller.house@state.co.us,
angela.williams.house@state.co.us,
roger.wilson.house@state.co.us,
info@cannabistherapyinstitute.com

---
Provided as a Public Service by the:
Cannabis Therapy Institute
P.O. Box 19084, Boulder, CO 80308
Phone: 877-420-4205
Web: Cannabis Therapy Institutue - - Medical Cannabis (Marijuana) Research, Education and Advocacy in Colorado
Email: info@cannabistherapyinstitute.com

 

[SSNUGS]

One more person that you need to write to is Governor Hickenlooper urging him to not sign the bill if it makes it to his desk. You can go to the State of Colorado's website and the email address is located there. If you start know and he get a large people asking not to sign it then that's what is going to be in his head that there was a large response to not sign. Then maybe he will use his better judgment and listen to the people that are being discriminated against. Also ask him to get rid of HB1284 and SB109 and any other regulation that was made that violates amendment 20 of Colorado's State Constitution.

 

[MedGROWER]

I will stay underground,thank you.