Edible Medicine Ban Hearing Set For March 1st

This Announcement is
provided as a Public Service by the
Cannabis Therapy Institute

House Bill 11-1250 will outlaw all medicinal cannabis edible products in Colorado, overturning the licensing scheme for Infused Products Manufacturers that was created by the state legislature last year. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Cindy Acree (R-Arapahoe and Elbert Counties) and Sen.
Scott Renfroe (R-Weld County).

This bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. The public hearing on the bill has been set for March 1, 2011. This will be the public's ONLY TIME TO COMMENT on the bill, until it is moved to the Senate.

PLEASE BRING ALL YOUR PATIENTS TO SPEAK OUT AT THIS HEARING. This is a serious attack on patient rights, and we must show the Committee that will not allow them to prohibit this important cannabis therapy.

*HEARING ON CANNABIS EDIBLE BAN*
House Judiciary Committee

Tues., March 1, 2011

LOCATION: Committee Hearing Room 0107, Basement of state Capitol Building, 200 E. Colfax, Denver, CO

TIME ESTIMATE: According to the official House Calendar, the hearing on HB1250 is scheduled to begin "upon adjournment". This means when the Representatives adjourn from their morning session on the House Floor, they will come down to Hearing Room 0107 and start the hearing on HB1250. What time they start the hearing all depends on how many items are on the House calendar for that morning, so there is no way to say the official start time of the hearing.

It would be safest to show up earlier, maybe around 9am or 10am. Our guess is that testimony will be taken from around 10am to 12noon. The hearing will break at noon for lunch, and then reconvene at 1:30pm only if there is more testimony to hear.

It is also good to show up early to get a seat in the hearing room.
Usually, medical marijuana hearings are held in the Old Supreme Court chambers, the biggest room in the Capitol, because of the large turnout for these hearings. Inexplicably, the Judiciary Committee doesn't think there will be that much interest in this hearing, so they have scheduled it for a smaller room.

Capitol Bill Room
Call the Bill Room for status on bills and any last minute time changes.
(303) 866-3055

Go to the state legislature's page to see the calendar or read the bill.
http://www.leg.state.co.us/

Attire: Dress to Impress
Provisions: Bring food and water, as the hearing may last a while.

Sign up on CTI's email list for updates:
http://www.CannabisTherapyInstitute.com

LISTEN LIVE ONLINE
You listen online to the House Judiciary Committee hearing:
http://www.coloradochannel.net/

Here is the official summary of HB 1250:
"Current law permits a medical marijuana-infused products licensee to produce edible products. The bill would prohibit medical marijuana-infused consumable food and beverage product manufacturing and sale."

*ACTION ALERT*
Stop HB 11-1250, the Medical Cannabis Edible Ban

Emails and Phone Calls Needed

Sample Letter to House Judiciary Committee "I urge you vote no on House Bill 11-1250. Edible cannabis is an important therapy for patients. Patients depend on edible cannabis medicines as one of the most important ways to ingest and benefit from cannabis. The therapeutic value of consumed cannabis medicinals cannot be understated.
This is another direct attack on patient rights. Please have compassion for Colorado patients who need cannabis edible medicine to survive."

We are urging you to CALL and EMAIL the House Judiciary Committee Members.

COPY AND PASTE EMAILS:
bob.gardner.house@state.co.us, mark.barker.house@state.co.us, brian@briandelgrosso.com, crisanta.duran.house@state.co.us,repkagan@gmail.com,
pete.lee.house@state.co.us, claire.levy.house@state.co.us, rep.nikkel@gmail.com, su.ryden.house@state.co.us, jerry.sonnenberg.house@state.co.us, mark.waller.house@state.co.us, cindy.acree.house@state.co.us, senatorrenfroe@gmail.com, info@cannabistherapyinstitute.com

Please send CTI copies of any letters you send:
info@cannabistherapyinstitute.com

House Judiciary Committee Members Phone and Email

BOB GARDNER, Chair
Colorado State Representative, District 21 Capitol Phone: (303)866-2191
E-Mail: bob.gardner.house@state.co.us

MARK BARKER, Vice Chair
Colorado State Representative, District 17 Capitol Phone: 303-866-3069
E-Mail: mark.barker.house@state.co.us

BRIAN DELGROSSO
Colorado State Representative, District 51 Capitol Phone: (303)866-2947
E-Mail: brian@briandelgrosso.com

CRISANTA DURAN
Colorado State Representative, District 5 Capitol Phone: 303-866-2925
E-Mail: crisanta.duran.house@state.co.us

DANIEL KAGAN
Colorado State Representative, District 3 Capitol Phone: (303)866-2921
E-Mail: repkagan@gmail.com

PETE LEE
Colorado State Representative, District 18 Capitol Phone: 303-866-2932
E-Mail: pete.lee.house@state.co.us

CLAIRE LEVY
Minority Whip
Colorado State Representative, District 13 Capitol Phone: (303)866-2578
E-Mail: claire.levy.house@state.co.us

B.J. NIKKEL
Majority Whip
Colorado State Representative, District 49
Phone: 303-866-2907
E-mail: rep.nikkel@gmail.com

SU RYDEN
Asssistant Minority Caucus Chair
Colorado State Representative, District 36 Capitol Phone: 303-866-2942
E-mail: su.ryden.house@state.co.us

JERRY SONNENBERG
Colorado State Representative, District 65 Capitol Phone: 303-866-3706
Email: jerry.sonnenberg.house@state.co.us

MARK WALLER
Assistant Majority Leader
Colorado State Representative, District 15 Capitol Phone: (303)866-5525
E-Mail: mark.waller.house@state.co.us

HB 11-1250 Bill Sponsors

REP. CINDY ACREE (R-Arapahoe and Elbert Counties) Capitol Phone: 303-866-2944
E-mail: cindy.acree.house@state.co.us

SEN. SCOTT RENFROE (R-Weld County)
Capitol Phone: 303-866-4451
E-mail: senatorrenfroe@gmail.com

------------------
Provided as a Public Service by the:
Cannabis Therapy Institute
P.O. Box 19084, Boulder, CO 80308
Phone: 877-420-4205
Web: www.cannabistherapyinstitute.com

Boulder Officials Leak Secret MMJ Grow Locations

Photo: Boulder, CO

We are sorry.

That’s the message Boulder recently sent to the owners of two Boulder medical marijuana dispensaries after the city accidentally made public the addresses of their secret marijuana growing warehouses.

But the owners of dozens of other dispensaries, who also had the locations of their grow sites accidentally disclosed, won’t be asked for the same forgiveness.

Boulder officials included the addresses of two growing operations in a public document that was provided to the City Council in advance of its Jan. 4 meeting. The document contained a map that shows the location and addresses of cultivation warehouses for Boulder Kind Care and The Farm dispensaries.

State law requires local governments to keep the location of marijuana cultivation centers a secret, out of fear that disclosure could lead to robberies or other problems. Records that show the location of such facilities are specifically exempt from the Colorado Open Records law.

“The inclusion of the two addresses was a mistake, not purposeful,” city staffers wrote in a recent memo to the council.

In response, the city sent letters of apology to Jan Cole, owner of The Farm, located at 1644 Walnut St., and to Jay and Diane Czarkowski, owners of Boulder Kind Care, located at 2031 16th St.

The letters, signed by City Attorney Tom Carr, alerted the business owners that their grow sites were “inadvertently” included in public material.

“As soon as the mistake was discovered, it was removed from the (city’s) Web site,” the letter reads. “I sincerely apologize for allowing the address of the cultivation facility to be included in a public document.”

Cole said she’s satisfied with the apology.

“I wasn’t upset by it,” she said. “We’re doing business, and we’re out in the open here. I believe in transparency.”

She said her warehouse has “proper security in place” and that it’s not necessarily a bad thing for the public to know about the growing presence of cannabis.

Diane Czarkowski said she also was happy to accept the city’s apology.

“Being in an industry where we’re scrutinized beyond belief, it’s nice to know when someone else makes an ‘oops’ … that they own up to it,” she said.

Czarkowski said she supports keeping the locations of growing sites secret, at least for now.

“We don’t want to draw attention to where we’re located,” she said. “We don’t want the criminal element to have it easy.”

The public material for the Jan. 4 council meeting also included a second map, which detailed approximate locations of about 58 other cultivation centers throughout the city. That map also was removed from the city’s Web site, and Kathy Haddock, Boulder’s senior assistant city attorney who advises the council on medical marijuana issues, said the map never should have been published.

But the city attorney now says that map didn’t violate the state’s non-disclosure law because — despite showing easily identifiable locations of grow sites — it didn’t list specific addresses.

Staffers wrote in a memo to the council that the second map “did show the general locations of all medical marijuana business license applications, including cultivation facilities, but not in a manner specific enough to identify the address or particular parcel of any cultivation facility.”

Therefore, the city has concluded, that map didn’t violate state law — although officials don’t plan on putting the map back online.