There are two major medical marijuana laws in Colorado. The initial medical law comprises of constitutional amendment made into law by voters. This allowed the sick and their caregivers to hold, cultivate and make use of the medical marijuana. The next law was passed into law in summer 2010 creating the Colorado medical code which develops double licensing scheme that manages medical marijuana dealings at both state and local level (Cohen, 2010).
The first medical marijuana law was first passed as amendment 20. This prohibited restricted amounts of medical marijuana for the sick and their caregivers. This amendment allows patients and caregivers with medical marijuana registry identification card to possess marijuana. Despite the limitation to the caregivers on the amount of marijuana to distribute, in 2000 caregivers did not adhere to it. To curb this problem, an informal rule was put in place to restrict caregivers to not offer medical marijuana to more than five sick persons.
Later in 2009, Ogden created a memo stating that it was not a positive show to fight medical marijuana patients and caregivers using federal resources. This indicated some light at the end of the tunnel for this law. It led to the implementation of the regulations giving caregivers more responsibility rather than just medical marijuana. Despite the fact that high number of retailers operated as legal retail outlets, Amendment 20 did not completely legalize or control the selling and buying of the medical marijuana. In 2009, all stakeholders meeting involving patient and caregivers was held. The major aim of this meeting was to create governmental plan to make sure that dispensaries would remain strong and stable. A major conclusion reached during this meeting was the fact that Colorado required a stable and strong marijuana distribution system (Cohen, 2010). Additionally, after several meetings, a conclusion requiring that all patients should see a doctor so that he or she can receive a recommendation was reached. In addition, caregivers were required to record their caregiver grow with the Colorado Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division.
Today, Colorado has the highest number of licensed medical marijuana enterprises as compared to other states. Despite the release of the Ogden memo, in June 2011, Deputy Attorney General released a memo limiting this memo by describing the caregiver as an individual person. As at 2012, John Wash, who was the attorney for Colorado required all licensed medical marijuana business that were one thousand feet from school were supposed to close or face civil and criminal sentence. The two incidences are a clear indication of the federal intrusion into the form of business. In 2012, November, Colorado turned out to be the first state in the world to vote for legalization of marijuana. 55% of the electorate voted for Amendment 64 (Room, 2014).
This amendment legalized the use, holding and restricted home growing of marijuana for all adults above 21 years of age. Additionally it ensured that marijuana is managed, controlled and taxed in same way as alcohol is also taxed. The amendment further legalized the cultivation, processing and selling of the marijuana.
An overview of the Amendment 64 seems to conflict with the federal law in that it can withstand federal legal dispute. The only part that the federal law can challenge is the licensing bit. The A64 can only be disputed with in a situation where it is found to upset federal government’s capability to implement Controlled Substance Act (Room, 2014).Additionally, it can further challenged in a situation where it is not possible to comply with both federal and state laws, a situation referred to as positive conflict. Despite this argument, the A64 does not hinder Colorado to implement and enforce federal laws.
References
Cohen, P. J. (December 07, 2010). Medical Marijuana 2010: It's Time to Fix the Regulatory Vacuum. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 38, 3, 654-666.
Room, R. (March 01, 2014). Legalizing a market for cannabis for pleasure: Colorado, Washington, Uruguay and beyond. Addiction, 109, 3, 345-351.
http://sensiblecolorado.org/history-of-co-medical-marijuana-laws/
