The John Doe Radio Show

This information is HUGELY important to pass on as most people are going to show up on Tuesday to give testimony.  We need you to be there on Monday giving your opinion and testimony.

Thanks to Cannabis Therapy Insitute for keeping on top of this and for the info below.  We should have Laura Kriho from CTI on the show soon I hope to talk about what good things they are doing.

*Denver City Council Public Hearing*
Mon. Jan. 11, 2010

Please copy and redistribute!

Dear medical cannabis supporters:

The Denver City Council will hold the Final Hearing and Public Comment on
Council Bill 34: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Regulation. You can read
the latest version here:
http://www.cannabistherapyinstitute.com/bills/

The most onerous and burdensome provisions of the ordinance still remain in
the final draft, and many are blatantly unconstitutional This ordinance
will restrict a patient’s Constitutional right to have safe access to their
medicine and to decide who may be their caregiver. The ordinance allows
searches without warrant or even probable cause, in violation of the Fourth
Amendment. The ex post facto nature of the law (making previous legal
activities illegal) undermines the Constitution from yet another angle.

The City of Denver aims to recriminalize patients and their caregivers,
force small businesses out of town, and allow only for mega-dispensaries to
be able to afford to operate. It does nothing to address the real needs of
patients to have more access to less expensive medicine or to protect them
from discrimination and prosecution. Please contact the Denver City Council
and ask them to vote NO on this proposed ordinance and attend the public
hearing if you can on Jan. 11.

1) Denver City Council

Final Hearing and Public Comment
Council Bill 34: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
When: Mon., Jan. 11, 2010
Time: Council Meeting starts at 5:30 pm
Where: Council Chambers, Room 450
City & County Building,
1437 Bannock Street, Denver, CO
On the west side of the Civic Center Park.

Special Rules for the Public Hearing
It looks like the City of Denver expects a contentious hearing, because
they have put together a special list of rules in case any medical cannabis
patients, caregivers or advocates engage in “disruptive behavior” in their
exercise of their First Amendment rights.

Some of the special rules include:
- limiting total testimony to 2 hours
- will not let anyone testify if they don’t fill out a Speaker Card and
turn it in to staff by 5:30pm
- will limit testimony to 2-3 minutes
- will allow no standing room; so everyone get there

Here is a link to the all the rules:
http://www.denvergov.org/Default.aspx?alias=www.denvergov.org/citycouncil

2) Contact the Denver City Council
Denver City Council Main Office
City & County Bldg.
1437 Bannock St., Rm. 451
Denver, CO 80202

Phone: 720-865-9534
Fax: 720-865-9540
Email: dencc@denvergov.org
Web: http://www.denvergov.org/CityCouncil

*Main Point*
The main point we want to get across is for the Denver City Council to vote
NO on the proposed Medical Marijuana Ordinance and replace it with a Study
Group to study the issue and make recommendations.

*Sample Phone Script*
First, introduce yourself. If you are a patient, tell the City Council how
cannabis has helped you. Then say something like:
“Could you please tell the City Council to vote NO on the Medical Marijuana
Ordinance. The ordinance should be rejected in its entirety and replaced by
a Study Group, composed of patients, caregivers, law enforcement, and
physicians. The Study Group should research reasonable regulations for the
City of Denver that will protect patients and allow them safe access to
affordable medicine.”

*Talking Points*
You can use any of these talking points in your phone calls, emails,
postcards or faxes:

1) The restrictions contained in the Denver ordinance will:
� Restrict a patient’s Constitutional right to have safe access to their
medicine.
� Drive prices up
� Eliminate small businesses: Only well-funded dispensaries will be able to
afford to operate.
� Drive smaller businesses back underground into the black market.
� Reduce variety and consistency of medicines by reducing competition
2) No restrictions on density.
The Denver ordinance enacts the restrictive zoning requirements that
dispensaries should not be within 1000 feet of each other. Medical cannabis
businesses are not all the same, and different businesses serve different
needs. To put arbitrary limits on density will force patients to go farther
and pay more for their medicine.
3) No restrictions on caregiver traits.
The Denver ordinance would deny a dispensary license to any person who had
been convicted of a felony in the last five years. Restrictions on
caregiver personal traits are un-Constitutional. There should be no
background checks or tests of moral character to be a caregiver. Ninety
percent of all Coloradans may be eligible to be part of the Medical
Marijuana Registry at some point in their lives. If we discriminate against
caregivers based on background, many of the most qualified caregivers will
be eliminated, and many eligible patients will be denied the quality of
care they are entitled to under the Constitution.
4) No warrantless raids on dispensaries.
The Denver ordinance allows law enforcement to perform compliance checks on
dispensaries to determine “that the source and quantity of any marijuana
found upon the licensed premises is in full compliance with any applicable
state law or regulation.” This amounts to unannounced raids on dispensaries
at any time, without a warrant or even probable cause to suspect
wrongdoing.
5) License fees too expensive.
The Denver ordinance requires a $2000 application fee and $3000 annual
registration fee. These fees are outrageous and the costs will be
transferred to the patients.
6) Additional licensing unnecessary.
Caregiver businesses already register with the Department of Revenue for a
sales tax license. Any additional licensing requirements would force small
caregivers out of business, reduce competition, and drive prices for
medicine up even more, increasing the burden on patients.
7) No restrictions on proximity to schools, child care centers, etc.
The Denver ordinance requires dispensaries to be at least 1,000 feet away
from a school or child care center. There has been no documented evidence
of a child purchasing medical marijuana from any dispensary in Colorado.
Children are smart enough to know that they can’t go in a liquor store or a
sex shop, so they should be able to be taught not to go into medical
cannabis businesses.

*Caregivers Unite to Help Patients*
If you are a caregiver, now is the time that you must “do more” for your
patients by teaching them to become grassroots lobbyists.
1) Design a Cannabis Action Center in your business dedicated to having
patients contact elected officials. The first target will be the Denver
City Council. Later, we will start targeting the state legislature.
2) Your Cannabis Action Center at minimum needs to contain a dedicated
phone and writing materials.
3) Encourage each of your patients to take a few minutes to call an elected
official before they leave your shop. Make sure your dedicated phone is
never idle.
4) Most people have never called an elected representative in their life
and get nervous. Empower your patients to become grassroots lobbyists and
make their first call using the sample script and the talking points
included in this Action Alert.
5) Most people get over their nervousness after the first call. You can
then encourage these newly-created activist patients to train other people
how to make phone calls, further empowering your patient-base.
6) You can also have patients send letters, postcards, faxes and emails.
7) Repost this Action Alert on social networking sites or email to your
contact lists. Encourage others to pass it on as well. The only thing that
has ever protected the Constitution from overzealous government
restrictions has been the vocal opposition of the citizens.
8) Print this free “Another Business for Patient Rights” poster and display
it proudly in a prominent location to show your support for patient rights:
http://www.cannabistherapyinstitute.com/advocacy/business.pdf

Remember to cc us on any correspondence with legislators:
info@cannabistherapyinstitute.com