Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Damien LaGoy, R.I.P.: Medical marijuana patient and activist dies at 53

We've just learned about the death of Damien LaGoy, who became one of the most public advocates for medical marijuana patients like himself. Opponents of medical marijuana tend to characterize MMJ patients as twenty-something slackers who merely want an excuse to get high, but LaGoy contradicted th ... More >>

Marijuana: Fort Collins voters overturn dispensary ban

While Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, has received all of the pot press since election day, pro-dispensary voters in Fort Collins are celebrating a different win -- the victory of Measure 301, which overturns a ban on retail medical marijuana centers in city limits passed a ye ... More >>

Dr. Stephen Stein: Three patients of alleged needle re-user test positive for HIV or hepatitis

Last month, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment revealed that Dr. Stephen Stein, an oral surgeon who'd practiced in Highlands Ranch and Cherry Creek, was under investigation for allegedly re-using needles and syringes. The CDPHE encouraged all 8,000 of his patients between Septe ... More >>

Medical marijuana patient-tracking database was never publicly discussed?

Update by William Breathes: It is starting to look like there never was an opportunity for public comment on the proposed digital connection between law enforcement and the Colorado medical marijuana patient registry. State officials are only able to point to vague language in state statute for aut ... More >>

Medical marijuana patient-tracking program private meeting set for today at 1 p.m.

Representatives from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Colorado Bureau of Investigations will meet today to discuss linking the medical marijuana patient registry with law enforcement computers. Not that you can hear what they have to say: A spokesman stresses that it is n ... More >>

Medical marijuana patient-tracking program moving forward

The Colorado Bureau of Investigations and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment are tentatively set to meet next week to discuss a computer system that tracks Colorado medical marijuana patients for law enforcement. The Medical Marijuana Technology Project came to light earlier t ... More >>

Marijuana: House Bill 1358 fails in Senate, THC DUI not dead yet?

Representative Beth McCann's proposal to shift millions in medical marijuana patient registry fees from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment to the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division, failed to pass through the Senate today. But the controversy it started regarding the nearly $10 mi ... More >>

Marijuana: HB 1358 would fund police computer access to patient database

HB 1358, a bill that would shift $7.7 million in medical marijuana registry fund money to the struggling Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division, passed the House Appropriations committee today, paving the way for a floor vote. The Representative Beth McCann-sponsored measure upsets activists, who sa ... More >>

Medical marijuana registry-fund bill, industrial-hemp proposal take next steps

Even as Senator Steve King's proposed THC DUI bill is being debated this afternoonpassed through to the state House, two other state legislators are making one last push for their separate marijuana-related proposals with a little more than a week left before Colorado's General Assembly adjourns. ... More >>

Medical marijuana patient money to fund MMC enforcement under new proposal

The Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division is in dire financial straits. However, Representative Beth McCann of Denver says she has a plan for medical marijuana patients to bail out the MMED using leftover money they paid to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Medical marijuana patient numbers in Colorado decline for fifth month in a row

For the fifth month in a row, thousands of patients have dropped off the Colorado medical marijuana registry. From October to November 2011, the registry lost more than 8,000 patients, according to statistics released yesterday by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Medical Marijuana Day of Action includes rally at health department

U.S. Attorney John Walsh's seizure letters to 23 dispensaries near schools -- and his promise that he's not bluffing -- has led to protests from national organizations like Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). Now, local groups are staging a Medical Marijuana Day of Action, which includes a l ... More >>

Medical marijuana: 4,200 patients seen by physician assistants being denied and rejected

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has finally started denying and rejecting the 4,200 medical marijuana patients who were evaluated by a physician assistants and have been waiting for as long as four months for an answer. And as if the delay so far wasn't bad enough, many pat ... More >>

Medical marijuana: CDPHE's Dr. Chris Urbina on physician assistants, patient denials

​By mid-January, as many as 4,200 potential medical marijuana patients will be told they are as much to blame for a "fraudulent" MMJ application as the doctor who signed off on a physician assistant's evaluation of that patient. The punishment? Waiting six months before they can apply again fo ... More >>

Medical marijuana: New exemption to 35 day rule means patients don't have to wait for pot

Update below: Until last fall, medical marijuana centers could sell cannabis to patients as soon as they submitted licensing paperwork. Then, the Department of Revenue began enforcing what became known as the 35-day rule, named for the time application processing was supposed to take (although it of ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Patients who only need caretaker for pot can't have one, new rules say

​The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's new rules about the "Medical Use of Marijuana" went into effect on July 31 and have caused few gripes thus far. But attorney Warren Edson sees several problems with the regs on view below, including contradictions with HB 1043, the so ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Is health board ready to pass THC driving reg like one that died in legislature?

​At 9 a.m., the Board of Health is scheduled to consider a series of new rules pertaining to medical marijuana patients and caregivers -- and the Cannabis Therapy Institute's Laura Kriho has objections to a lot of them. She's particularly incensed by potential changes in the definition of care ... More >>

Bed bugs: Will repealing law requiring sanitization of used mattresses encourage bugs?

Flickr​Update below: Last month, our feature story "Bug Bedlam!" detailed Denver's bed bug infestation, supposedly one of the worst in the nation. Tomorrow, the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hear a bill to repeal Colorado's so-called Bedding Act, which requires that use ... More >>

Radiation from Japanese nuclear paint found in Colorado: Health dept. says no need to panic

​Last week, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment tried to counter media-fueled fears about radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan creating health risks here. Today, that job just got more difficult. The CDPHE confirms that "minuscule" amounts of ... More >>

Medical marijuana: 2,000 patient aps to be nixed under health board MMJ doc compromise

​Update: Last November, we reported that nearly 2,000 medical marijuana patient recommendations had been rejected over a change in the definition of doctors okayed for this task. After an uproar, around 1,300 were temporarily reinstated pending formal action by the state board of health. That ... More >>

Japanese radiation worries in U.S.: Health dept. tries to calm fears as media stokes them

​This morning, Peter Boyles spent part of his KHOW morning show wondering if we should be taking potassium iodide to protect ourselves against radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. And at this writing, the main story on the CBS4 home page asks, "Could Japan's Radi ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Last-minute MMJ meeting time change causes public comments fight

Robert Chase.​Why is there an adversarial relationship between some medical marijuana backers and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment? An incident this morning demonstrates why. Because the start time for an MMJ advisory committee meeting underwent a last-minute switch fro ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Health dept. draft rules may not be ready in time for rule-making session

​Advocates like Medical Marijuana Assistance Program of the Rockies' Vincent Palazzotto believe new health department rules could be devastating for patients and caregivers. But they'll have to wait to find out what they are until next year.

Flu shots may hurt like hell, but free Nuggets tickets should ease the pain

Flickr​The folks at the Colorado Adult Immunization Coalition wants you to get a flu shot -- and to encourage people to volunteer for jabbing, they've created the "Enough is Enough" contest, with those who upload photos of themselves being injected to a Facebook page automatically eligible to ... More >>

Medical marijuana registry delays no more? Health dept. says patients get IDs in 35 days

​In the face of 100,000-plus medical marijuana registry applications over the past year, the state's MMJ identification verification process slowed to an agonizing seven- or eight-month turnaround, triggering outcry from the marijuana community. Now, the health department says the backlog is g ... More >>

Gouda cheese giveaway at Costco not such a good deal after all, linked to E. coli outbreak

Flickr​Who among us hasn't grazed through a store, snatching every free sample in site? Well, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, those who did so at local Costcos in mid-October may have gotten more than they bargained for -- a case of E. coli from sample Go ... More >>

Medical marijuana patients may have to find new caregivers because of language in new law

A Flickr photo​HB 1284, the medical marijuana regulatory bill signed into law by Bill Ritter in June, is so complicated that many of its elements still aren't widely understood by MMJ patients and caregivers -- or people who are both. Consider the plight of one patient-caregiver, who recently ... More >>

Ned Calonge on leaving as CO's chief medical officer & the "distraction" of medical marijuana

Ned Calonge.​Dr. Ned Calonge, the Chief Medical Officer of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, is leaving his post in November to serve as president of The Colorado Trust. Below, Calonge talks in detail about the decision to rejoin the private sector, his goals at the Tru ... More >>

Did medical marijuana smoke out Colorado chief medical officer Ned Calonge?

​Dr. Ned Calonge, who's spent the past eight years serving as Colorado's chief medical officer, will be leaving at the end of 2010 to take the top post at the Colorado Trust, a health foundation. During his tenure, Calonge has tackled health calamities as varied as anthrax scares, water-contam ... More >>

Recall affects hundreds of millions of eggs, including some in Colorado

A Flickr photo​Unless you're like Michael Pollan, who thinks paying eight bucks for a dozen eggs is cool, or you're one of those urbavores who raises your own fowl, chances are good your fridge has contained eggs affiliated with the recent massive recall.

Medical Marijuana: Dept. of Revenue announces 25 people chosen for MMJ working group

​Last week, the Department of Health found itself in hot water after Westwordreported that one of the members of its new Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee, Ken Weaver, was a Texas ex-con with a secret life. Now the Department of Revenue has announced its advisory group, and while Weaver isn ... More >>

Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee gets rolling minus shadowy patient rep Ken Weaver

Ken Weaver​The most notable part of the first meeting of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's new Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee, held this morning, wasn't what occurred, but what was missing: Staffers announced that Ken Weaver, the committee's designated patient ad ... More >>

Medical pot & Ken Weaver: How did plane-stealing ex-con get on state MMJ committee?

Ken Weaver.​For its new Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment selected Ken Weaver, subject of this week's "Blowing Smoke." It's the latest item on a résumé that includes going to prison for stealing a plane and making up a fake life -- ... More >>

Medical marijuana regulations: Q&A with Matt Cook, the man behind the rules

Matt Cook.​One of the main people to thank -- or curse -- for Colorado's new medical marijuana regulations is Matt Cook, senior director of enforcement at the Department of Revenue. Cook, who worked closely with legislators developing the rules, is now in charge of enforcing them and will be h ... More >>

Medical marijuana timeline: What a long, strange trip it's been

​With dispensaries on every street corner, legislators having rolled out the first regulatory system for statewide marijuana distribution in the country and activists seriously considering an initiative to legalize pot this November, it might seem like Colorado has always been a marijuana Mecc ... More >>

Medical marijuana fight: Health department lobbies against MMJ use in treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder

Photo by John J. Kruzel, courtesy of the U.S. Defense DepartmentThe use of the lifelike simulator shown here has been approved for PTSD treatment.​Update, 4:00 p.m.: Representative Sal Pace's amendment relating to medical marijuana and post-traumatic stress disorder has been defeated, and the ... More >>

On-stage actors can't smoke 'em if they got 'em, says Colorado Supreme Court

A Flickr photoMaybe it'd be best if you thespians didn't inhale.​Update, 4:09 p.m.: Attorney Bruce Jones, who represented Curious Theatre in this case, has just shared his comments on the opinion. Look below to read his views. Since 2006, the Colorado Clear Indoor Air Act has extended to acto ... More >>

Dude, I got my medical-marijuana ID!

Eat your heart out, Timothy Dalton.​Yesterday I received a very special present in the mail from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment: My medical marijuana registry ID card! Whoopee! Here's the rub: It took fourteen weeks from the time I applied for the card in August for ... More >>

Dude, where's my medical-marijuana ID?

Timothy Dalton got his special license -- where's mine?​As part of a September feature on the state's growing medical marijuana scene, I went through the process of obtaining a state medical-marijuana ID. On August 26, after scoring the needed doctor's recommendation, I sent my application and ... More >>

State health officials fighting swine flu with sarcasm

The number of swine flu cases reported in Colorado last week fell for the third week in a row, as can be seen on this handy-dandy chart courtesy of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. But a decline in H1N1 didn't stop the department from making a handy-dandy PSA, which attemp ... More >>

Transcript of last week's Board of Health pot hearing reaches new heights of unintentional hilarity

"Shut up about your fucking mango!"​What happens when the state Board of Health decides to hold a last-minute meeting on a controversial topic like medical marijuana, and then tries to hold it via conference call using technology that apparently no one knows how to work? Comic genius. Hat tip ... More >>

Can municipalities get away with regulating medical marijuana?

​With the Justice Department's announcement last week that it won't be prosecuting medical marijuana cases in states where the practice is legal, the feds loudly and officially passed the buck on the subject. That leaves it up to medical-marijuana states and their municipalities to determine j ... More >>

L.A. fires: A look at why your mouth tastes like an ashtray this morning

As I mentioned in a blog yesterday about Ken Levine, host of the Dodger Talk radio show, who treated Denver like a joke in a recent post, I lived in Los Angeles for five years -- so I'm accustomed to days when the air available for inhaling looks practically indistinguishable from exhaust from a di ... More >>

Will Monday be judgment day for Colorado's medical marijuana industry?

It's hard to understate the explosive rise of Colorado's medical marijuana industry. When Westword took an in-depth look at issue in the February 2009 article "Medical marijuana Has Become a Growth Industry in Colorado," just over 5,000 patients had been approved by the state to use marijuana -- w ... More >>

Breaking: Paramedic at Denver Health forged certification, boss covered up

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