Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Medical marijuana patient numbers stagnant in 2013 despite 10,000 new applications

Despite nearly 10,000 new-patient applications in the first quarter of 2013, the number of active medical marijuana patients in Colorado hasn't changed much since January 1. Between December 31 and the end of March, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the MMJ regis ... More >>

Ask a Stoner: How do I get off the MMJ registry?

Medical marijuana patient numbers rise in December, but are people still leaving registry?

After a significant dip in patient numbers from October to November 2012, we questioned whether the number of registered medical marijuana patients would decline steadily over the coming months, as some critics and activists have surmised. But new statistics released this week show the decline in a ... More >>

Ask a Stoner: William Breathes answers your questions about Amendment 64 and more

Since the passage of Amendment 64, which legalizes adult possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, have you been getting questions about how it will work? So have we. To help clear the foggy air, we've asked medical marijuana dispensary critic William Breathes to follow in the footsteps of the OC ... More >>

Medical marijuana patient numbers rise to more than 104K in August

It's that time of the month again! No, not harvest time. Much less enjoyable than that. Yup, you got it: It's the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's update to the medical marijuana patient registry statistics page. And the numbers are going up...again.

Medical marijuana patient numbers climb back over 100k in July

New data released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows that in July, the number of medical marijuana patients in this state finally climbed back over the 100,000 mark. That's the first time this has happened since September 2011.

Marijuana: Vets group supporting Amendment 64 after health department's PTSD non-ruling

Way back in May, Sensible Colorado's Brian Vicente made a second request to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to add post-traumatic stress disorder to the allowable conditions for a medical marijuana card in Colorado. Vicente got his answer in the form of a no-answer.

Medical marijuana: Active patient numbers rise even as many people leave registry

The number of active patients on the Colorado medical marijuana registry rose from May to June, finishing just shy of 100,000 patients. But new data released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment this week shows that while the number of active patients continues to grow, more p ... More >>

Medical marijuana registry stats up again, but far below previous peak

As of the end of May, there were 98,910 red card-holding medical marijuana patients in the state according to MMJ registry numbers released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. That's up from the previous report, released in June. But despite a steady increase over the past s ... More >>

Medical marijuana patients won't be auto-flagged in criminal database

It's not really a consolation, but at least Colorado medical marijuana patients won't be treated like sex offenders in the proposed computer link between the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and law enforcement crime databases.

Medical marijuana registry numbers still on the rise after five months

The medical marijuana patient registry saw an increase in patients for five straight months through April 2012, bringing the total number of Coloradans with medical marijuana cards to 96,709. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the registry is still 32,000 names be ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Finding caregiver only easy if you know the right people

With about 55 percent of more than 93,000 medical marijuana patients with a red card designating someone to grow for them, finding a caregiver clearly isn't that hard of a task in Colorado. But how do people who aren't part of the cannabis community or simply don't have the right connections find s ... More >>

Medical marijuana fees, bill prompt proposed class-action lawsuit

At this writing, the fate of HB 1358, a Representative Beth McCann-sponsored bill that would shift millions from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's medical marijuana registry fund to the financially strapped Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division, is still unknown with just t ... More >>

Medical marijuana patient appeals over denied applications striking out

Around 190 patients caught up in the physician assistant debacle last winter have appealed the decision by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment to deny their medical marijuana registry application. But they haven't been going well from the patients' perspective.

Medical Marijuana Assistance Program of America shuts down

The Medical Marijuana Assistance Program of America (MMAPA), an organization that made its reputation by speaking out on behalf of patient rights, is shutting down. Why? Vincent Palazzotto, the man behind the nonprofit, lists a slew of extenuating factors that led to what he stresses was the very di ... More >>

Medical marijuana registry adds 4,500 patients, biggest jump in two years

More than 4,500 people signed on to the Colorado medical marijuana registry from January to February of this year. That constitutes the biggest jump in registry numbers since June 2010, when the total rose 6,557 patients from the previous month.

Medical marijuana registry numbers on the rise -- again

For the second month in a row, the Colorado medical marijuana registry has seen an increase in the number of patients, definitively ending a six-month stretch of people giving up their red cards. According to stats released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment last week, a tot ... More >>

Photos: Medical Marijuana Assistance Program of America rally at state health department

Vincent Palazzotto.​As part of a Medical Marijuana Day of Action prompted by U.S. Attorney John Walsh's seizure letters to 23 dispensaries near schools, the Medical Marijuana Assistance Program of America (MMAPA) held a rally outside the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, wh ... More >>

Med. marijuana lawyer: Health dept. can't deny cards over physician assistants

​The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has announced that it may deny thousands of medical marijuana applications over questions about whether physician assistants did exams -- a policy CDPHE's Dr. Chris Urbina reiterated in a recent interview. But MMJ lawyer Rob Corry calls ... More >>

Med. marijuana patients must wait 6 months to reapply if applications found to be "fraudulent"

​Update below: Our William Breathes has been closely following the fate of approximately 4,000 medical marijuana applications put on hold by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, reportedly over concerns that physician assistants, not doctors, conducted examinations. The CD ... More >>

Medical marijuana: CDPHE stats show 40,000 patient dip in registry

​As of the end of October 2011, the medical marijuana registry had only 88,872 patients with an active red card. That's the fewest number of patients in the state since May 2010. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released the October stats late last week, showing a decl ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Physician assistants the cause of delayed applications?

​The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced last week that as many as 4,000 medical marijuana patient applications and renewals were being held up in order "to ensure patients and physicians are within guidelines." Despite the CDPHE's vagueness, we've learned that many ... More >>

Medical marijuana: 14 percent of MMJ patient applications being held up by CDPHE

Last month, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released statistics for the medical marijuana registry showing a roughly 20 percent decrease in patients from August to September. At the time, it was anybody's guess as to what caused the drop off. But an announcement from the C ... More >>

Med. marijuana: Just because William Breathes got his card doesn't mean all's right with registry

​Unlike so many patients stuck in medical marijuana limbo, I received my red card in the mail this week -- 29 days from the date I sent my information and a check for $90 to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. It was postmarked a week after it was issued, which could be the faul ... More >>

Medical marijuana: 3,200 patient applications in limbo, may be tossed due to technicalities

​Update 2 by Michael Roberts below: Today, the state board of health approved decreasing marijuana registry fees from $90 to $35, as anticipated -- and tweaks in language involving indigent patients and physician conditions and restrictions sailed through as well. But more intriguing was word ... More >>

Med. marijuana patient red card wait: 60 days & counting even though check cashed a month ago

​Although Colorado Department of Health spokesman Mark Salley says red card renewal time for medical marijuana patients remains under 35 days, we keep hearing different stories. For instance, one patient tells us she's been waiting more than two months for her card despite the fact that the st ... More >>

Medical marijuana registry drops by 26,000 patients in 3 months, says heath deptartment

​New data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows that as of September 30, there were 102,592 patients active in the medical marijuana registry. That's 26,000 fewer patients than the registry's peak enrollment of 128,698 back in June -- a decline of more than 20 pe ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Red card wait times increasing?

​A year ago, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment was so backlogged with medical-marijuana license applications that patients had to wait as long as eight months after filing paperwork before they got their red cards. And now, as this bubble of patients rises to the surfac ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Health department registry stats show 5 percent decline in red cards

​After nearly four months, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (finally) updated its medical marijuana stats page yesterday. And although the latest information is from August, it does hint at a slight decline over the last two months in the number of people holding a red ... More >>

Medical marijuana patient-fees comment period extended due to Health Dept. snafu

​Back in July, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment asked medical marijuana cardholders for their thoughts on the department dropping red card fees from $90 to $35. Last week, the comment period was extended to August 12 on the CDPHE website without any explanation. We've n ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Hard-to-find patient/caregiver rules go into effect July 30

​Alhough new rules for medical marijuana patients and caregivers go into effect in just ten days -- on July 30 -- some activists are saying copies of the regulations are nearly impossible to find.

Medical marijuana: 137,556 patient applications received, 69% of approved applicants are male

​The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has released the latest data about medical marijuana patients in the state, and the numbers are fascinating. As of March 31, the most recent date available, 137,556 people have applied to the patient registry, and 123,890 -- most of the ... More >>

Medical marijuana advisory committee shuts down, health dept. rejects caregiver definition

Brian Vicente.​In February, a meeting of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's medical marijuana advisory committee resulted in a definition of caregivers that cheered committee member Jill Lamoureux, who called it "movement forward for patient and caregiver rights." Now, ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Board of Health rejects Cannabis Therapy Institute's petition (PICS)

​Update: Yesterday, Colorado's board of health rejected an emergency petition from the Cannabis Therapy Institute, on view below in an item first published yesterday morning. The reason? The board didn't believe the concerns outlined in the petition constituted an emergency. However, the topic ... More >>

Medical marijuana: CO health department application outsourcing not to private company

​Colorado's health department has been trying to catch up on its tremendous backlog of medical marijuana applications amid persistent rumors that it's been doing so with the help of a private company, thereby violating patient confidentiality. Turns out that's not true, although there's a logi ... More >>

Medical marijuana card update: Four months later, William Breathes can finally breathe easy

​It looks like I missed the worst of it. Just four months ago, I sent in my application to renew my medical marijuana card and have been waiting on the edge of my seat to see if they would reject me for some trivial minutia ever since.

Medical marijuana: Health dept. reinstates 1,300 rejected MMJ patients -- for now

​The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's rejection of nearly 2,000 medical marijuana patients' licenses prompted talk of potential lawsuits from MMJ advocacy groups. But the dynamic changed at yesterday's meeting of the CDPHE's medical marijuana advisory committee, when the ... More >>

Medical Marijuana card renewal update: Dude, where's my card?

​It's been 48 days since I first wrote about sending in my application to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for my Medical Marijuana Registry card -- and still no sign of my new red card. The fact that they haven't even cashed my check yet leads me to believe my envelope ... More >>

Medical marijuana activists want revenue dept. to re-open MMJ committee to public application

Laura Kriho.​Cannabis Therapy Institute's Laura Kriho and Colorado Coalition for Patients and Caregivers' Robert Chase succeeded in getting the Department of Revenue to postpone the first meeting of its new medical marijuana advisory working group because it wasn't open to the public. But they ... More >>

Medical marijuana card renewal update: Not rejected -- yet

​The time has finally come. My battered, torn and frayed red card expired on the 13th, forcing me to join the club of thousands of doctors-recommendation-carrying medical patients waiting for a card.

Medical marijuana advisory panel needs volunteers

​Care about medical marijuana? The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is looking for a few good men and women to serve on the Medical Marijuana Registry Advisory Committee, which will help implement the new medical marijuana regulations required by the laws recently passed by ... More >>

Medical marijuana community fights health department's PTSD policy

Courtesy of US Defense Dept.Approved PTSD simulator treatment.​Colorado Springs dispensary owner Drew Milburn, a veteran, doesn't like the state health department's opposition to using medical marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder -- and he's not alone. Team 420 has scheduled a pr ... More >>

Medical marijuana patients, chihuahua protest application backlog

​Exactly six people and a chihuahua showed up at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment this afternoon to protest what they say is an extraordinary wait time to receive their medical marijuana cards. Some patients are waiting so long for their applications to be processed, t ... More >>

Medical marijuana hearing sets up fight on the senate floor

Matt Brown sees more weed battles looming.​Yesterday morning, we previewed a senate committee hearing on House Bill 1284, which is intended to regulate the medical marijuana industry, with Sensible Colorado's Brian Vicente maintaining that he's ready to push a ballot initiative if the final re ... More >>

Medical marijuana card demand leads to new Colorado health department policy

​The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has surrendered to the inevitable. Yesterday morning I wrote about a friend,Elaine Betts, who'd received her medical marijuana card more than five months after she applied for it -- and over two months after she died. Soon after, the ... More >>

Rob Corry to state health department: Where has all the medical marijuana registration money gone?

Bet the folks at the health department love getting mail from Rob Corry.​Attorney Rob Corry, one of the most aggressive medical marijuana advocates on the current scene, isn't about to ease up as the Colorado legislature prepares to consider legislation on the subject. His latest gambit? Earl ... More >>

Healthcare pro says "no" to swine-flu vaccine

The virus at work.​In a Tuesday blog, the Colorado Department of Health's Margaret Huffman reassured the public that the H1N1/swine-flu vaccine was safe and said concerns about it weren't dominating calls received on the state's CoHELP info line. If so, that flies in the face of a new Associat ... More >>

The state will need a pot of money to maintain the medical marijuana registry

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