Pubdate: Wed, 02 Apr 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Section: Page 1A
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Ingold

POT-PLANT COUNT LIKELY TO GET CUT IN CRACKDOWN

A crackdown on Colorado medical marijuana patients could trim the
number of marijuana plants being legally grown in the state by tens of
thousands, according to new figures from the state health department.

The crackdown focuses on patients authorized to grow more than the
standard number of marijuana plants, as many as 99 plants for some.
While those patients make up only about 2 percent of the state's
111,000 registered patients, the patients are authorized to grow more
than 85,000 marijuana plants - nearly 12 percent of the total plants
that registered medical marijuana patients are allowed to grow. The
state's new scrutiny of patients with large plant counts comes after
an audit last year warned that such patients may be "distributing the
excess marijuana to individuals without (medical marijuana) cards."

But medical marijuana advocates say the crackdown could also have
far-reaching impacts on patients who use the higher-than-normal plant
counts to create concentrated treatments, which they say help the most
serious conditions. And the crackdown could also affect the supply for
medical marijuana dispensaries, which are limited in how much
marijuana they can grow by the plant counts of the patients who have
designated the stores to grow for them.

"Patients have done nothing wrong here," Teri Robnett, a
medical-marijuana advocate and patient who is authorized to grow 24
plants, said last week during a meeting where officials announced the
crackdown. "And yet patients will be the ones who suffer."

The controversy reaches deep into the folds of Colorado's wrinkled
marijuana laws.

Patients on the state's medical marijuana registry are typically
authorized to grow six marijuana plants - with no more than three of
those ready for harvest at any given time. But doctors can recommend
that patients grow more plants if it is "medically necessary."

In response to the audit, the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment officials this week began sending out letters to doctors
and medical marijuana patients, warning them that the state will now
require better documentation before it authorizes patients to grow
more than the standard number of plants.

Among registered patients who have designated a caregiver, 2,822
patients have plant counts over six, according to health department
numbers. The average plant count for those patients is more than 30,
and there are 93 patients authorized to grow 99 plants. Last year's
audit mentions one patient whose doctor had recommended 501 plants.

At last week's meeting, Dr. Larry Wolk, the executive director of the
state health department, said most patients don't need more than six
plants even if they are making concentrated treatments.

"The technology has really advanced," he said.

But James Clark Jr., a medical marijuana patient and provider to two
dozen other patients on the Eastern Plains, sharply disputed that.
Clark-who cares for 25 patients, including one authorized for 99
plants - said the number of plants needed to make concentrated
marijuana oil depends on the growing technique, the strain being
grown, the grower's skill, the extraction method and other factors.

All told, he said, it can take more than 6 ounces of marijuana-
perhaps three plants' worth-to produce 6 grams of marijuana oil. And
that amount of oil might last some patients only a week.

"This is about caring for some very, very, very sick people," Clark
said.

Mark Salley, a health department spokesman, said the new documentation
requirements will apply when medical marijuana patients register with
the state for the first time as well as when existing medical
marijuana patients renew their registrations each year. 
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