Rep. Dan Pabon and KC Becker, with help from the House Democrats, have introduced the worst attack on patients and caregivers we’ve seen yet! HB17-1220 would limit ALL home cultivation to 12 plants STATEWIDE. NO EXCEPTION for patients or caregivers. In fact, the bills specifically target patients and caregivers as the source of diversion to other states and children. HB17-1221 provides grants to law enforcement to further criminalize patients.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED NOW! All hands on deck!
SHOW UP at the rally at the Capitol Monday at 11:00
Colorado State Capitol, West Steps
200 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80203
SHOW UP at the hearing on Monday afternoon at 1:30
Legislative Services Building
200 E 14th Ave, Denver, CO 80203
(Across 14th from the Capitol)
CALL and EMAIL the Committee TODAY! Tell your story. Let them know how this would affect you. Contact information is here:https://www.facebook.com/notes/cannabis-patients-alliance/colorado-2017-finance-committee/1087365344708746
IMPORTANT! If you can’t make it to the hearing, WRITE YOUR TESTIMONY and SEND A COPY to cannabispatientsalliance@gmail.com or directly to Rep. Steve Lebsock at steve.lebsock.house@state.co.us and Rep. Jonathan Singer at jonathan.singer.house@state.co.us. THIS IS CRITICAL! If this bill passes committee, your testimony will be read on the House Floor so that it is entered in the public record!
The governor is saying that:
1. Home grows are inherently dangerous
2. They contribute to the black market
3. The black market has increased since legalization
4. There is increased violence overall and in residential neighborhoods
5. Caregivers and patients with high plant counts are diverting out of state and selling to kids
The bottom line is we passed a compromise law (SB15-014) that just went into effect on January 1, 2017. Why are we not waiting for it to work?
Consider answering these questions:
1. How does this hurt sick patients?
2. How do people grow safely at home?
3. How does this inhibit smart collaborations by preempting local control?
4. Is there data that proves the black market and other crimes have not increased compared to other states that have legalized?
We ALL need to do everything we can to KILL THESE BILLS!
Read HB1220 here: http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb17-1220
Read HB1221 here: http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb17-1221
SHOW UP! SPEAK UP!
Cannabis Patients Alliance has shown up time and time again to advocate for medical marijuana patients. Now it’s time for you to show up for CPA and support our continued work. Please donate generously.
Categories: ACTION!, Advocacy, Caregivers, Colorado, Patients, Policy & Politics, War on Drugs
HB1220: Cracking down on the gray market 
ACTION ALERT! Hearing on Locked and Enclosed Cultivation and Potency Restrictions 
Cannabis Patients Alliance 
I am commenting on behalf of my medical marijuana patient, all other medical marijuana growers, and as a compassionate caregiver.
I have personally been a caregiver for nearly one year for my fiance, as she has severe pain from a pulmonary embolism, AND PTSD which she was not recognized for, although even without the standard being recognized and/or practiced as a disease/disorder in the state of Colorado at all, she was still extended in plant count because she is recommended to not smoke marijuana but to use it in edible form, on a daily basis, which in turn builds a tolerance alone. Now when you look at how much the patient uses monthly and how much the grower harvests monthly, your looking at two very unrelated numbers. For instance the patient may consume far more than the grower may harvest in a bimonthly period, (most growers do not have access to more than bi-monthly harvest circumstances) when you only have 12 plants total (6 in vegetative 6 in flower). The reason for this is every marijuana strain takes on average 55-70 days to flower until the plant is ‘harvest ready’ and then another 12-30 days to cure the product after harvest, which in turn produces usable product. With that said, if you only have 12 plants, and 6 are in flower, you only have the capability of manufacturing usable product one time every 65-85 days, if timing is correct. Just to add to the time lapse between each harvest, if there is an infestation, then that patient is now only able to access one harvest from his/her caregiver in a 6 month period, which is something I have dealt with even with a higher plant count appointed to my patient.
The reason a ninety-nine plant count may be necessary is quite simple and easy to break down. The patient needs steady medicine, and the grower needs reliable growing circumstances in order to produce the cleanest,and purest marijuana each and every grow with as little gaps in harvest times as possible, in order to keep a steady flow of harvests, and the only way to be sure to achieve this is by having backup harvests, or, in other words have another batch of flowers just a few days younger in case one batch goes bad due to the many underlying marijuana growing related issues that can occur while a plant is in the flowering phase and sometimes the flowers will not make it to harvest, and in turn could leave my patient rendered without medicine for a short period of time, that is, while growing ninety-nine plants. Whereas while growing only 6 in flower, my patient may suffer months without usable product if I, as the grower, endure any delays during each phase of growth.
To explain the phases, stages, and complications of growing marijuana to somebody who does not already understand them, could take several months and even years, and even close hands on experience, due to the factors in growing nobody ever talks about until facing them in thier own grow behind closed doors.
Question: how does this bill hurt patients?
Answers:
(#1)this bill does not give patients or caregiver’s the ability to sustain steady supply of medicine by growing for themselves.
(#2) this bill makes patient self-growing and/or caregiver-growing impractical and unrealistic for medicinal use due to limited growing capabilities
(#3) this bill makes patients turn to busy dispensaries, with uncomfortable waiting rooms and long wait times depending on time of day, and on certain days and times these stores are closed and medicine is unavailable again to the patient.
(#4) this hurts patients because dispensaries will run out of strain specific items very quickly under the correct circumstances, such as high demand, where at times, makes it impossible to get the correct medicine from your appointed medical dispensary.
(#5) specific strains may cost much more than others at a dispensary which may leave my patient paying way too high of prices due to low quantity or high demand, in turn not allowing my patient to afford sustainable medicine for her condition.
(#6) this bill hurts patients like my own who use edibles when marijuana dispensaries limit people with unrelated conditions such as diabetes, lactose intolerance, allergies to certain ingredients, or blood conditions, when they may not have the ability to choose amongst what ingredients are used in certain products.
(Etc. Etc.)
Question: how do people grow safely at home.
Answer: By reading directions to equipment when building thier grows, kind of like somebody with a new car, they read the owners manuals and know safety hazards and precautions related to the new equipment, this analogy is related to most low knowledge circumstances. Perhaps a state test should be completed before growing for patients, that qualifies a person for growing by covering all safety precautions, similar to a driver’s license only safety certifying the person to grow. This test could be completed online.
Question: how does this inhibit smart collaborations by preempting local control?
Answer: this question is not clear and I am unsure how to answer it.
Question: Is there data that proves the black market and other crimes have not increased compared to other states that have legalized?
I have not done much research on this matter but I can state factually that many of the problems that are said to arise from marijuana don’t do near the amount of damage that the problems that arise from the things we should be focusing on, such as alcohol related deaths, binge drinking, DUIs, heroine overdoses, meth labs and gang related crime. Above all things marijuana brings the least amount of crime to our society and tends to bring people together from personal experience.
All of these problems can be controlled by adding a couple of steps to the laws already passed, such as, yearly inspections, safety tests, and more, there is always room for better ideas than taking the people’s rights.
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