Nearly 200 supporters of safe access to medical marijuana testified Monday at a 12-hour hearing before the Colorado State Board of Health to oppose a proposal aimed at curtailing the centralized distribution of medical marijuana. Fortunately, the Board of Health took heed of the overwhelming objection and voted 5-4 to table a proposal that would limit caregivers to 5 patients.

The proposal also required caregivers to assist patients in ways that would be impractical for many medical marijuana providers. The decision, which paves the way for increased access to medical marijuana through safe and affordable distribution, was cheered by the roomful of hundreds of supporters.

Colorado happens to be one of many states currently grappling with the pressing need for safe and legal methods of medical marijuana distribution. Most of the 13 states with medical marijuana laws failed to address this issue at the time their laws were developed. Despite lacking any provision to centrally dispense medical marijuana when the laws were adopted, the states of California, Washington and Oregon have forged ahead in this direction with California leading the way. Patients in California enjoy safe access to medical marijuana with an ability to obtain their medicine from hundreds of regulated facilities.

Some states with existing medical marijuana laws have tried to amend those laws in order to address a lack of access. For instance, both Maine and Rhode Island recently took up the issue, with Rhode Island adopting an amendment to its law in June of this year. Rhode Island’s new law allows for three “Compassion Centers” licensed by the state, which will provide medical marijuana to the hundreds of patients in that state. The people of Maine will vote in November 2009 on a ballot initiative that would implement a distribution mechanism for patients.

New Mexico cannot be overlooked for its influence in a growing trend to try to address the question of how patients without any means of cultivating medical marijuana themselves can obtain the drug. In 2007, New Mexico passed a law that not only protects patients, but also created a means for the state to license cultivators and distributors of medical marijuana so that patients were not left with having to rely on the illicit market for their medicine. In March, the New Mexico Department of Health issued its first license for non-profit medical marijuana production.

This trend is even impacting some state legislatures currently considering medical marijuana laws. For example, New Jersey and Iowa have been debating laws that incorporate medical marijuana distribution schemes for the benefit of patients that live in those states. It is expected that as more states address the demand by patients for safe and affordable access more laws integrating centralized distribution programs will be passed.

Implementing laws that address the need by patients to easily and affordably obtain medical marijuana is not only a sensible approach, it is also a compassionate approach that must be embraced for medical marijuana laws to function properly.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 3:34 pm and is filed under ASA Activism, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), California, Colorado, Dispensaries, Medical Cannabis, Rhode Island. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.