The Colorado Hemp Initiative Project (CO-HIP) is the oldest cannabis reform organization in the state, having worked for the re-legalization of cannabis for medicinal, industrial and personal uses for over seven years.  In January 1998, members of CO-HIP along with several patients and health professionals formed Colorado Citizens for Compassionate Cannabis (CCCC) to focus strictly on the medicinal uses of cannabis.  There has been some confusion about whether CO-HIP or CCCC is sponsoring the medical marijuana initiative proposed for the November ballot in Colorado.  To clarify the situation, neither the Colorado Hemp Initiative Project nor Colorado Citizens for Compassionate Cannabis has any involvement in the medical marijuana initiative.

The proponents of the medical marijuana initiative are a group called Coloradans for Medical Rights.  CMR was formed in 1997 as an affiliate to Americans for Medical Rights.  AMR is based in Santa Monica, California and is funded by billionaire George Soros.  AMR, through CMR, is trying to get an amendment on the Colorado ballot that would allow the use of medicinal marijuana by patients.

While we support the legal regulation of cannabis for all its uses, we have some serious concerns about AMR’s proposed amendment.  Although the initiative may be well-intentioned, it is poorly written and may actually endanger patients rather than help them.

We expressed our concerns about the initiative to AMR in the fall of 1997.  We learned that the initiative was drafted primarily by people from out of state.  A representative of AMR’s funders told us that the initiative is only “symbolic”: designed to send a message to the feds, but not ever to be actually implemented.  AMR believes a restrictive initiative can get the support of law enforcement and thereby more easily win.
 
We disagree.  We do not believe amendments to our Constitution are "symbolic." We believe that the welfare of patients should be just as important as winning an election.  We believe it is possible to write a good law that will win and benefit patients.  We don’t think it is wise to make concessions to law enforcement, when we already know that they will oppose medical marijuana just as they have opposed non-psychoactive industrial hemp.  We believe it is more effective to fight law enforcement arguments with the truth about cannabis and not buy into the lies about marijuana.

We have researched the AMR initiative extensively and have concluded that the initiative will endanger patients and may make Colorado marijuana penalties worse than they already are.  We believe the effect of its passage would actually set Colorado efforts at cannabis reform backwards.

The AMR initiative is a constitutional amendment. Therefore the flaws in the initiative cannot be ironed out by the state legislature; the amendment can only be changed by a vote of the people.  Since the process to get an initiative on the ballot is lengthy and expensive, any flaws in the language of the amendment are likely to be with us for a long time, should the initiative become enacted.  Below are some of the concerns we have about the medical marijuana initiative sponsored by Americans for Medical Rights:

1) The AMR initiative fails to create a distribution system for patients to obtain marijuana. In fact, the initiative tacitly outlaws distribution by setting low limits on possession and cultivation.

2) This lack of a distribution system will endanger patients by forcing them to obtain their medicine on the streets.

3) Passage of the AMR initiative will increase the number of patients purchasing marijuana on the streets. This will needlessly endanger law enforcement by expanding the black market in marijuana.

4) Because the AMR initiative is a constitutional amendment, it creates a constitutional standard that marijuana for non-patients is illegal.  (Marijuana is currently not mentioned in the constitution and is only regulated by statutes.)

5) Currently, possession of one to eight ounces of marijuana is a misdemeanor in Colorado; less than one ounce is a petty offense, punishable only by a ticket. The AMR initiative creates a constitutional standard that only two ounces is a “safe” amount of marijuana. The AMR initiative gives the government the reason and the power to increase penalties for possession of more than two ounces, even for non-patients.

6) The federal government provides eight patients with eight ounces of cannabis each month as part of a now-defunct federal medical marijuana program.  The AMR amendment prohibits patients from possessing more than two ounces or cultivating more than three plants.  Since it is impossible to maintain an adequate supply (by federal standards) from only three plants, any patient who tries to maintain an adequate supply will be prosecuted.  This will be detrimental to patients who will not often be physically or financially capable of enduring a lengthy court battle.

7) Passage of the AMR initiative will result in a whole new class of crimes for violation of the amendment.  The specific crimes and their penalties will be determined by the state legislature.  These new crimes will add to the burden of law enforcement and the court system.

8) The AMR initiative interferes with the physician/patient relationship by limiting the diseases for which a physician can recommend marijuana and dictating the dosage and frequency of medicinal use.

9) The AMR initiative opens physicians up to unspecified penalties if the physician discusses marijuana with a patient who does not have one of the “approved” medical conditions designated by the authors of the initiative.

10) The AMR initiative would put control of medicinal marijuana into the hands of the state bureaucrats and police.

11) The AMR initiative would require patients to register with the state and obtain a photo I.D. card in order to receive protection from the law.

12) The AMR initiative would allow law enforcement to scrutinize the registry of medical marijuana users.

13) The AMR initiative may outlaw sterilized cannabis seeds, which are currently legal and used in a variety of food products.  The initiative creates a new definition of marijuana that does not exclude sterilized seeds, as Colorado and federal statutes currently do. Since constitutional law often overrides statutes, the initiative may outlaw sterilized seeds and other currently legal hemp products

14) The AMR initiative makes marijuana appear to be a dangerous drug. No other medication has limits on its use written into the constitution.  In addition, state bureaucrats are not allowed to make medical decisions for other illnesses/treatments.
 

We recommend that you research this initiative further before you decide to support it.
For more information on the therapeutic uses of cannabis and a compassionate alternative to
the law enforcement model of medicine, contact: