The John Doe Radio Show

Podcast Available at WeedWatch.com (Duration: 2:17:20 — 125.7MB)

Amended Colorado HB 1284 Language can be found here. (pdf)

First up is a call in I did on a local radio station with DEA Agent Jeff Sweetin.  I questioned him about his claims that marijuana has not been studied enough and drug cartels run dispensaries in Colorado.  He basically calls me a liar.  Mason Tvert was also on the show and I think I teed him up nicely with my questions.  I dont imagine us inviting Agent Sweetin on anytime soon after hearing him talk.  Sometimes you just cant talk to some people.

I break down Colorado House Bill 1284 and Amendments that have been made to the Bill that would regulate medical marijuana dispensaries and caregivers in Colorado. Included is the entire 2/22/10 HB 1284 Judiciary Committee Hearing in high quality audio. We are the only ones I know who have this complete audio and we hope you can learn from it and use it. Amended Colorado HB 1284 Language can be found here. (pdf)

The Bill Passed the Judiciary Committee with a vote of 7-4 and now moves to the House Appropriation committee, then to the House Floor for full debate.We will continue to fill you in on all the news in Colorado and other States. We are looking to add a lot more content to www.JohnDoeRadio.com including in depth analysis and News from locals working hard to make change, so stay tuned. We will be back to full steam and have December and Derek back in the studio hopefully next week.

“…Colorado Health Department officials are telling state legislators that allowing psychiatrists to recommend medical marijuana to PTSD patients is like giving alcohol to an alcoholic.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARCH 19, 2010

Colorado Health Department Lobbies Against Access to Medical Marijuana For Veterans

CDPHE rushes to legislature to oppose compassionate amendment for Colorado veterans; ignores example set in New Mexico

DENVER, COLORADO — On Monday, March 22, the Colorado House Judiciary Committee will consider HB 1284, a bill to regulate the distribution of medical marijuana in the state. Rep. Sal Pace will offer an amendment to allow individuals diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder to have access to medical marijuana, if they have a recommendation from a psychiatrist. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is actively lobbying members of the legislature to oppose this amendment.

The actions of the Colorado Health Department stand in stark contrast to the thoughtful process followed by its counterpart in New Mexico, which added PTSD to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana patients in that state in February 2009. The New Mexico Department of Health’s decision followed a recommendation of approval from an advisory board of eight medical practitioners, who examined the evidence and determined that the use of marijuana by patients with PTSD could be a beneficial treatment option, if used in accordance with a recommendation from a psychiatrist.

“We are frankly disgusted by the actions of the Colorado Health Department,” said Steve Fox, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project. “After a review of the evidence, health professionals in New Mexico agreed that medical marijuana could be beneficial for patients suffering with PTSD. By contrast, health officials in Colorado are attempting to deny veterans and other individuals with PTSD a legitimate treatment alternative based on nothing more than fear mongering and misinformation. We demand that officials in the department publicly release the studies they have reviewed to determine that the risks of using marijuana for PTSD patients outweigh the potential benefits.

“We are further outraged by reports that Colorado Health Department officials are telling state legislators that allowing psychiatrists to recommend medical marijuana to PTSD patients is like giving alcohol to an alcoholic,” Fox continued. “The sad irony is that many PTSD patients have serious alcohol problems that worsen their overall state of health. As we have seen in New Mexico, the psychiatrist-advised use of medical marijuana can actually help PTSD patients reduce their alcohol intake, dramatically increasing their quality of life. Moreover, it is widely known that both alcohol and many of the pharmaceutical drugs given to PTSD patients increase the risk of suicide. Marijuana use does not. The Department officials’ callous disregard of this fact alone should make them ashamed of their actions.”

With more than 124,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.

Big thanks to Marc Emery for reaching out to us for an update and posting it on Cannabis Culture

By Tim Martin, Cannabis Culture – Friday, March 5 2010

Forgive me as I try to recall over 10 hours of testimony on Colorado Senate Bill 1284 given to the House Judiciary Committee. The bill would regulate medical marijuana in Colorado, and specifically addresses dispensaries, which are not actually mentioned in our Constitutional Amendment 20, but are being considered under the explosion of industry here in Colorado and other states.

The City of Denver has already implemented regulations on dispensaries and in doing so has generated more than $1 million dollars in licensing fees alone in just over a month.

To say the least, the repercussions are huge and far-reaching for SB 1284. The Bill would create a licensing system for dispensaries, and growers – but, it contains many things that medical marijuana proponents feel are unfair and far-reaching.

Rob Corry, who many of you know as a leading and local flame-throwing attorney who, it could be argued, is solely responsible for saving Colorado medical marijuana on numerous occasions, and for burning and burying the last attempt to regulate the system here in Colorado by Senator Chris Romer.

Corry has said SB 1284 is purely unconstitutional. For instance he says a provision in the bill that would allow local municipalities to ban dispensaries outright is a violation of patient’s constitutional rights. (Colorado is the only medical marijuana state with the law built into the State Constitution.)

I have sat with Rob Corry many times and gone over the multiple regulations and bills that have popped up in Colorado over the past year, and in each one Corry will go line by line doing a great job ripping apart every provision as being a violation in some way of the Constitutional amendment. He says to expect many lawsuits if the bill does make it through. Another provision that would have made dispensaries in Colorado non-profit was removed just before testimony started. Many politicians didn’t think it was a great idea to refuse millions of dollars in tax revenue because non-profits can’t be taxed like full retail operations.

It was a very important and groundbreaking event, and testimony started with some of the most powerful words spoken by both medical marijuana patients, and law enforcement.

Kevin Grimsinger – an Iraq war veteran who during Operation Enduring Freedom triggered a land mine and is now lucky to be alive, but a paraplegic with a severe brain injury – gave very emotional testimony to start. He asked the board why, if he has fought in some of the most dangerous places on earth for our country and freedom, can’t he have a place to safely use his medicine here at home.

“These centers provide a safe haven to not only purchase medical cannabis, but also to protect persons who might be going through similar life circumstances,” Grimsinger said. Not a caregiver near me had a dry eye during his words. A provision in the bill would ban on-site consumption of marijuana, and that creates a problem for veterans in government housing, because they are not allowed to use marijuana at their home. It seemed the committee was also impacted by the many veterans and disabled patients who approached the podium for their allotted three minutes. Many asked to make sure the most important part of medical marijuana in Colorado is not forgotten, asking that patient’s rights and safe access to be kept intact.

Once the law enforcement and prohibitionists started to be called up, it seemed never ending. Hours upon hours of testimony with reefer madness, and talk of dispensaries creating mass crime seemed never ending and like a plan to out-wait some of the patients and pro-med marijuana people, who were patiently waiting for their time to speak. It seemed to work as by the end of testimony many on our side had gone home because the war of attrition had won out because their disability just wouldn’t allow them to sit for the 10 hours plus needed to finish testimony from everyone.

One of the most harped-on elements of the night from law enforcement was what I mentioned above, that dispensaries cause crime. One after another, Police Chief and officer approached the committee to tell of increased crime rates, and how the streets will be filled with children smoking marijuana.

One officer even said, “…drug money is the new milk money…”. The committee responded very well to these claims and brought up comments by the Los Angeles Police Chief who stated dispensaries are not any more of a crime spot than banks or liquor stores. In fact it was read into record in Colorado liquor stores and banks are targets of crime almost twice as much as dispensaries are, and the stats are backed up by other cites with dispensaries like Los Angeles as well.

I personally signed up to testify and spoke for the many marijuana offenders out their in Colorado, as I am a marijuana felon myself. I plead guilty to possession of eight ounces or more of marijuana in 2007, and under the current bill I, and any other felon or drug related misdemeanor “criminal” would not be allowed to open or operate a dispensary. I told the crowd that we are a country of second chances and if we can meet the politicians and law enforcement in the middle on many of these regulations, they should meet some of us in the middle and create a provision to allow those in my shoes to make amends and be allowed to participate in this pioneering industry.

People like me are punished over and over for their so called “mistake” of being involved with marijuana, even though many of us have paid our fair share and then some for the so called “crime”. It is my life’s passion to grow marijuana and I would be no prouder than to say I am a regulated farmer and provider of this great medicine, I told them. I hope they listened to all of us who spoke.

Ultimately, I was very proud of the House Judiciary Committee and their knowledge of medical marijuana and the flow of the supply chain. It was obvious many of them had spoken to their constituents, and they had no issue with challenging anyone on any reefer madness that was brought up.

Amendments to SB 1284 were not made last night, but there will be changes, the Committee concluded. So, let’s hope the changes are positive and Colorado can stand tall as being one of the first States to fully accept a system of regulation.

To add to it all, the bill states Colorado officials must petition the government to reschedule marijuana to a Schedule II drug.

The pressure continues. Won’t you join us?

Tim Martin, also known as John Doe, is the lead host and show producer of John Doe Radio.

DENVER (AP) — Denver’s City Council has passed proposed rules for medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

The rules are set to take effect March 1 but could change depending on what happens in the state Legislature. A voter-approved state law allows marijuana use for medical reasons but doesn’t regulate dispensaries.

The Denver rules would prohibit dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools, day cares and other dispensaries. Felons convicted within the last five years would be barred from running shops. Dispensary owners would have to be licensed, pass a criminal background check, pay a $2,000 application fee, and pay $3,000 a year to renew licenses.

More than 90 people signed up to comment on the proposals at a City Council meeting Monday.

________________________________________________________________________

The John Doe Radio Show Live blogged the event from Twitter and Facebook.  We also streamed the audio from Denver Public Television on The JDR Stickam page.  We will continue to bring you coverage of the Colorado State Legislature and it’s moves to regulate Medical Marijuana, and also try to eliminate dispensaries.  Without standing firm we will lose this freedom and new industry.  We could show the rest of the country how to do it correctly, or we still have the chance to watch it all go up in smoke.

BREAKING NEWS: Robert Corry per his Facebook account says Colorado Senator Romer has pulled his 39 page Medical Marijuana Bill from consideration.

Something smells fishy though.  No one works as diligently as he did just to give up.  But, Rob Corry did present one heck of an argument.  And by the time I got done editing this entry I found whats next on Sen. Romer’s Huff Post Blog:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-romer/colorado-medical-marijuan_b_417488.html

“So where do we go from here? In order to buy a few weeks for Janice and others to mobilize, we now will divide the legislation into two bills. The first bill, which I will sponsor in the Colorado Senate, will deal solely with the need for a meaningful doctor patient relationship to get a MMJ referral and the creation of a 24-hour per day registry for patients. This is the one part of the bill that most reasonable people can agree on.

The second bill dealing with dispensaries and growing operations will start in the House and most likely will be very similar to the Sheriff Association’s proposed legislation, including a five patient cap per caregiver. I will continue to fight for clinics to serve patients like Janice, but I am getting increasingly skeptical that either side understands her needs.

What a shame. We really could have set the national model for medical marijuana including research and sophisticated evidence-based medicine, but the same old fight on both sides–and the failed status quo–appears to have prevailed….”

He wants a fight.  He is really gonna get one now.