Colo Health Board Votes Down Medical Marijuana Limits abc7News Denver

• By Cali Shaye
• Legalize Marijuana
• 13 years ago
• 2

Hundreds Turn Out In Opposition To Cap On Patient Number By Lance Hernandez, 7NEWS Reporter DENVER — The state Board of Health has voted down a proposal to limit medical marijuana providers to five patients each. The vote was a big victory for dispensaries that have sprouted up to serve a growing number of patients across Colorado, and for patients who depend on marijuana to ease nausea and pain. Dispensary operator Todd Young, who provides marijuana for nine patients, testified against the proposed limit. If this passes, I would have to sit down and cut off half of my patients, Young said. How will I decide who to choose? One of his patients, Damien LaGoy, is a long term AIDS survivor, who uses marijuana to help cope with the side effects of the multiple drugs he takes to stay alive. If they dont allow my caregiver to have more than five patients, Ill be back on Colfax looking for marijuana, LaGoy told 7NEWS. Dr. Ned Calonge, chief medical officer for the state health department, said the rules require that a caregiver be someone who has significant responsibility for managing the well being of a patient. Dispensaries are like pharmacies, Calonge said, and neither is synonymous with the term caregiver. Calonge said that by limiting the number of patients to five, caregivers can spend more time with them and provide better care. But attorney Robert Corry, a medical marijuana advocate, said health officials are trying to fix a problem that doesnt exist. The health …