Ned Calonge

Medical marijuana should be okayed for vets' PTSD treatment, activists say

In 2010, Sensible Colorado's Brian Vicente petitioned the Colorado Department of Public Health to add post-traumatic-stress disorder to the list of conditions that can be treated by medical marijuana. This effort not only failed, but it led to a public-relations disaster over untruths spoken by its ... More >>

Medical marijuana lawsuit: Why AIDS patient Damien LaGoy signed on

Damien LaGoy.​Earlier today, we told you about a just-filed lawsuit against Colorado's medical marijuana laws, which officially went into effect today. Plaintiffs in the suit include Kathleen Chippi, the activist behind it, plus the Patient Caregiver Rights Litigation Project, the Colorado Pat ... More >>

Do at the Zoo annual fundraiser proves social animals come in all shapes & sizes (PHOTOS)

Big pics below.​Last night, some of Denver's busiest social animals gathered with the furrier and more feathered kind at the annual Do at the Zoo fundraiser. Westword's Kate Levy was on the scene, capturing shots of pretty people and notables like former Colorado chief medical officer Ned Calo ... More >>

Do at the Zoo last night recap and photos post

Beef carpaccio from Sketch​Hundreds of people converged on the Denver Zoo last night for Do at the Zoo, where they observed the animals -- both four- and two-legged -- and ate amazing food served up by some of Denver's top restaurants. Photos by Kate Levy. View the full Do at the Zoo slideshow ... More >>

Medical marijuana: New health dept. rules could be devastating for patient access, advocate says

Vincent Palazzotto.​At 2 p.m. this afternoon, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's medical marijuana advisory committee will meet to discuss new regulations for physicians (they're on view below) that Medical Marijuana Assistance Program of the Rockies executive director ... More >>

Colorado Public News gets grant to provide health-care coverage for 14 media outlets

Photo: Joe Mahoney​Ann Imse envisioned Colorado Public News as a way to fill the reporting gap left by the disappearance of newspapers like the Rocky Mountain News, where she once worked. The problem was trying to get someone to pay for it -- and a year later, Imse, CPN's editor, succeeded, la ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Nearly 2,000 MMJ patient recommendations nixed over quiet rule change

​Over the past week or so, medical marijuana patients across the state have learned that doctor recommendations for the card allowing them to use MMJ have been rejected. Why? A new health department policy that slid into place almost unnoticed -- one that's likely to disenfranchise and anger n ... More >>

Medical marijuana fees: AIDS sufferer can't afford license despite new indigent patient rule

Damien LaGoy.​Yesterday, the board of health considered lowering medical marijuana license fees for indigent patients -- and wound up eliminating them for those who qualify. Problem is, the criteria used to determine indigency leaves out many people in need -- including AIDS-patient Damien La ... More >>

Medical marijuana: $90 license fee too high for indigent patients & everyone else, advocate says

Laura Kriho.​Back in August, medical marijuana advocates protested when Governor Bill Ritter proposed using $9 million in MMJ fees to help plug a budget hole. No doubt this topic will rise again at 9:30 a.m. this morning, when a board of health public hearing will address the question of lower ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Will Kevin Grimsinger's false stories hurt MMJ campaign for PTSD?

Kevin Grimsinger.​Last week, Sensible Colorado's Brian Vicente decried the health department's rejection of a petition to add post traumatic stress order to conditions that can be treated by medical marijuana. Along the way, he specifically cited Kevin Grimsinger, a veteran who'd become the po ... More >>

Medical marijuana's rejection by health dept. for PTSD treatment could lead to lawsuit for hearing

Brian Vicente.​Members of Colorado's health department held a hearing before deciding not to make Tourette's Syndrome a condition approved for medical marijuana treatment. But that wasn't the case with a petition involving post-traumatic stress disorder -- and Sensible Colorado's Brian Vicente ... More >>

Medical marijuana nixed for Tourette's in CO: "The system has failed," Brian Vicente says

Brian Vicente.​Yesterday, Colorado's board of health considered and then rejected the prospect of formally adding Tourette Syndrome as a condition that can be treated by medical marijuana in this state. It's a decision that incenses Sensible Colorado's Brian Vicente, who earlier petitioned the ... More >>

Cannabinomics: The Marijuana Policy Tipping Point: Where does Colorado land?

​According to Christopher Fichtner, a psychiatrist and former Illinois mental health director, the country's on the verge of radical marijuana policy change (i.e., legalization) -- something Fichtner writes about in his new book, Cannabinomics: The Marijuana Policy Tipping Point. And it looks ... More >>

Medical marijuana acceptance in Europe can fuel U.S. expansion, says Cannabis Science CEO

Dr. Robert Melamede.​Cannabis Science Inc., a Colorado Springs company, wants to boost the cannabis-based pharmaceutical industry in the United States. But rather than focusing solely on investors in America, the firm is putting a big emphasis on Europe. Right now, according to president and ... 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 >>

In the weeds: Why did the Colorado health department put a Texas felon on its pot advisory committee?

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 marijuana stats: Is White House looking for link between dispensaries and crime?

Crime center?​Last November, deputy attorney general David Ogden wrote a memo advising U.S. Attorneys in states where medical marijuana has been legalized to give a pass to MMJ businesses following local laws. But now, an e-mail trolling for info about dispensary-related crime suggests that so ... 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 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 >>

Rob Corry accuses Health Dept. of getting between medical-marijuana patients and doctors

Rob Corry has the CDPHE in his sights again.​Back in January, when attorney and medical marijuana advocate Rob Corry called on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to reveal how much money it had collected from MMJ patient fees, he complained about a waiting period for perm ... More >>

Syringe exchange legalization bill clears first legislative hurdle

​ A bill that would legalize syringe exchange programs in Colorado cleared its first hurdle today. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved it with two nay votes. Last year, Westword wrote about the state's lack of legal syringe exchange programs, which swap injection-drug user ... More >>

Medical marijuana bill: Brian Vicente says, "We're definitely feeling more positive"

Brian Vicente is still keeping his initiative options open.​As of two days ago, the latest version of HB 1284, the bill to regulate the medical marijuana industry, looked something like this. But yesterday's hearing before the House judiciary committee resulted in a number of significant chang ... More >>

Pot power players Who's Who in Colorado: The anti-marijuana team

​Keeping track of all the individuals and organizations duking it out on the front lines of the state's medical-marijuana debate is trickier than picking through the med strains at your corner dispensary. To help weed through the chaos, we've created this guide to the state's top marijuana pow ... More >>

Medical marijuana doctors "need to come out of the closet and be part of the solution," says CannaMed medical director

A graphic from the website of CannaMed USA, where Dr. Paul Bregman serves as medical director.​Attorney Rob Corry has significant issues with Senator Chris Romer's legislation concerning the relationship between doctors and medical marijuana patients. Less critical is Dr. Paul Bregman, the me ... More >>

Carol Boigon doesn't hate medical marijuana -- but she does have some issues with it

Carol Boigon outside the Tattered Cover -- where addicts (of coffee) have been known to congregate.​At last night's Denver city council meeting, the member who seemed to have the most problems with a pot proposal that will get the public-hearing treatment next Monday was Carol Boigon. At one p ... More >>

Colorado's chief medical officer charges some medical marijuana doctors with substandard care

Ned Calonge is appalled by the level of care provided by some dispensaries.​The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Board of Health has had a rough few months navigating the issue of medical marijuana. In July, the board determined that a caregiver only had to provide a pat ... More >>

Colorado's marijuana growing pains continue

​In July, at the end of a marathon twelve-plus hour hearing attended by hundreds, the state health board rejected contentious new restrictions on medical marijuana dispensaries, including one that may have limited them to five patients each. But that doesn't mean questions and controversies su ... More >>

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

Live blog: The Colorado Health Department's medical marijuana hearing

The Latest Word is at a Colorado Board of Health's hearing, where the board will consider new medical marijuana regulations that some believe will jeopardize the newly booming industry, as Joel Warner reported last week ("Will Monday be judgment day for Colorado's medical marijuana industry?"). We'l ... More >>

Why doesn't Colorado get the point of needle exchange programs?

A Healthy Paycheck

Denver Health may cut services, but its execs won't feel the pain.