Westword: By Joel Warner

In the game of bureaucratic chicken between state officials and medical marijuana advocates, chalk one up for the stoners.

In response to a growing Colorado medical marijuana community, and reports of abuses in the unregulated industry, state health officials proposed new regulations last month that could put a stranglehold on the local medical-pot business. Among other things, the rules would limit each medical marijuana “caregiver” to a max of five patients — a constraint that would seem to disallow the state’s growing number of marijuana dispensaries.

At the time Ron Hyman, state registrar of vital statistics, said he expected the March 18 Colorado Board of Health hearing on the regulations to be “energetic,” but even he wasn’t prepared for the subsequent backlash by those who believed the state was trying to take away their voter-sanctioned marijuana (not to mention dispensary owners who believed the state was torpedoing their voter-sanctioned livelihood). After more than a hundred people swamped a minor logistical meeting on the matter last week, officials decided to delay the March 18 hearing so they could find a larger meeting room. Now Hyman says they’re expecting to hold the hearing in June.
(more…)

Glenwood Springs Post Independent
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Medical marijuana seems to be growing on the Western Slope.

A Grand Junction man plans to set up a storefront for a medical marijuana dispensary soon, and the THC Foundation of Denver has said it sees enough demand on the Western Slope that it wants to establish a permanent facility in Glenwood Springs or somewhere nearby in the future to help people obtain medical marijuana permits.

Gregg Davis, of Grand Junction, plans to establish a full-service medical marijuana dispensary in Grand Junction in June. William Hewitt, of Montrose, also reportedly has plans to open a dispensary instead of operating out of his home.

“What we’re wanting to offer is something so THC patients know they have a place to come and they’re safe,” Davis said.

Davis said he’s meeting with the city attorney and is still working on getting a location.

“It might be downtown. It may even be next to the police department,” he said.

The dispensary would be called “The Therapuetic Herbal Cure.” Davis is considering having the dispensary offer a variety of services such as massage. He said many people who have medical marijuana permits are over 60 and suffer from chronic pain.
(more…)

March 3, 2009
Face The Staff Report

The Colorado Board of Health has postponed a March 18 vote on whether to restrict the number of medical marijuana patients a registered caregiver can serve. The move comes after activists inundated the board with hundreds of protest e-mails and letters. A vote is now expected in June.

According to the board, the vote was delayed to help find a larger room to accommodate the large turnout expected at the meeting. Nearly 5,000 Coloradans are currently on the state’s medical marijuana registry.

“It appeared that the interest in this issue is quite large and we wanted to have a venue that was reasonable for the size of the crowd that we are expecting, particularly folks who may need ADA assistance,” said Ron Hyman, the state’s registrar of vital statistics. “We are looking for another venue large enough to handle a crowd. June is when we are looking at now. Because of the administrative procedures involved in changing the venue, we need to get a timely notice out to everybody about the change.”
(more…)