Now more than ever, we need your voice and we need to be heard! JUST INTRODUCED!

TAKE ACTION HERE

Speaker of the House Alec Garnett, Representative Caraveo, and 4 other legislators late Friday night introduced a dangerous piece of legislation to begin chipping away at the medical program, authorizing THC potency levels, and aligning medical and adult-use. They feel this will address marijuana regulatory gaps to better protect youth and address the mental health crises. This bill language will only harm medical patients including those patients who choose to not be on the registry, violates protection of patient/doctor relationship, chips away at the medical program, aligning med with rec, and will plan to authorize THC potency.

Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee

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Please click HERE to sign up to testify in opposition of this reckless bill. Please share widely with your networks and friends and ask for support! Learn how to remote testify HERE. Sign up to Remote Testify HERE. Read HB21-1317 HERE.

WHEN: TUESDAY MAY 18TH at 1:30 pm MST | HCR112

Momentum and support for the RECKLESS language has been gaining traction with much misinformation and we need to first stop this misinformation - then inform and educate to legislate better language.

Partners: Colorado NORML, CPRC, Safe Access Colorado, Veterans For Natural Resources, American Medical Refugee, Southern Colorado Cannabis Council.

Many more organizations in OPPOSITION were waiting in the shadows until this bill was formally introduced. Click HERE to join our growing coalition and opposition today!

Why does this bill matter? Colorado has regulations and statutes placed in law and in Amendment 20 Article 14 - that created penalties for diversion, MMJ card misuse, and underage consumption or purchasing. Marijuana policy should be evidence based. Dispel the myths: https://norml.org/marijuana/fact-sheets

Most research for cannabis - specific to THC wouldn't be funded unless the study is to focus on the harms. NIDA, a member institute of NIH, has as its mission to study factors related to substance abuse and dependence and conducts research on the negative health effects and behavioral consequences associated with the abuse of cannabis. Using regurgitated propaganda we now won't be conducting research, we are going to base laws off already biased anecdotal information. - https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/cannabis-research-database-shows-how-us-funding-focuses-harms-drug

Suicide rates have been on the rise due to the pandemic in many States including non-legal cannabis States. These studies are fact-based and shows how the pandemic has caused an increase of suicide: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IEvdVM497W_v6ZV2kR3VekdHT4rjpu6L/view?usp=drivesdk

Another point to be added is marketing ploy - higher thc for higher prices within the dispensaries. See here on current study here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IKCm_6wKHtGz52MLlMKgU1wG_imr_-CI/view?usp=drivesdk

This Bill will:

• Makes recommendations based on already published studies of THC - regardless of location

• Harms medical marijuana patients by limiting the resources to medicine

• There's already regulatory statutes in the law for underage consumption and distribution

• Invade privacy rights for patients and doctors confidentiality

• Impurities left in concentrates which will have implications such as gastrointestinal and other ill effects we are able to avoid now

Meanwhile, this bill was introduced WITHOUT proper stakeholder meetings, introduced late Friday night to be heard Tuesday, May 18th. We as the biggest impacted people of medical cannabis consumers were not invited to have a seat at the table, but were targeted in this bill. Violation of ethics is of utmost concern - as we were straight up lied to.

We need to think in terms of:

• Parental support

• Mental health

• Community support and impact

• Youth prevention

If looping, mental health, and youth prevention is what is trying to be achieved in this bill language- we need to take THC Potency authorizations and damaging medical marijuana and exposure of physician confidentiality language out of the question and discuss looping!

We will share your support in opposition to the legislators to demonstrate Colorado's demand for safe, convenient, affordable medicine while still protecting kids with educational, communal, and after school programs.

Thank you for taking the time to sign on and forward onto others - this can't happen without your help! Colorado pediatric and adult medical marijuana patients have moved from out of state to get access to legal cannabis - let's not take it away from them now - they are counting on us!

TAKE ACTION HERE

In solitude, Colorado NORML