Wake-Up Call: Colorado Legislature goes to pot

The Colorado Legislature officially went to pot yesterday, when Senator Chris Romer finally introduced what remains of his medical-marijuana proposal: Senate Bill 109, which would put a strict lid on the relationship between a doctor and a would-be medical marijuana patient. The Colorado health department was at the Capitol, too,...

By Patricia Calhoun

January 21, 2010

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The Colorado Legislature officially went to pot yesterday, when Senator Chris Romer finally introduced what remains of his medical-marijuana proposal: Senate Bill 109, which would put a strict lid on the relationship between a doctor and a would-be medical marijuana patient.

The Colorado health department was at the Capitol, too, asking the legislature's budget committee for another $186,000 to handle the backlog of patients who've gotten a doctor's approval but have been waiting months to get their cards from the state. The department has already asked for an additional $140,000 -- but really, that's chump change. In fact, it's less than what the department collected in a single day, November 12, when a record 1,650 applications came in, at $90 a piece.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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