Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jul 2016
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: Cannabiz
Copyright: 2016 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Nat Stein

WEED DOCTORS SUE MEDICAL BOARD OVER 'ARBITRARY' SUSPENSIONS; HUGO 
WATER SCARE WAS A HOAX

Last week, the Colorado Medical Board suspended the licenses of four 
doctors for allegedly recommending too much marijuana to patients. 
The doctors turned around and sued the health board, winning a 
temporary stay on the suspensions while they decide whether to 
proceed in administrative court or district court. This is the most 
sweeping punishment doled out to medical marijuana doctors in the 
system's nearly 20-year existence.

Among the four is Dr. William Stone, who practices at the MedEval 
Clinic on the northeast side of Colorado Springs. His suspension 
order, issued July 19, contains the written findings of the board's 
inquiry panel. The panel accuses Stone of signing more than 400 
recommendations for possession of more than 75 plants. That, plus 
Stone's performing evaluations online rather than in person, led the 
panel to take "emergency action." The other three doctors are also 
accused of recommending more than 75 plants to hundreds of patients - 
what law enforcement professionals say is an abuse of the legal 
system that is feeding the black market.

In question are a state statute governing "unprofessional conduct" in 
medical practice and the section of the Colorado Constitution that 
says doctors can recommend no more marijuana than is "medically 
necessary." Curiously, the order emphasizes that Dr. Stone 
"authorized the certifications for conditions other than cancer" 
despite there being no provision of the law dictating extended plant 
counts only be reserved for cancer patients. Eight conditions qualify 
Colorado patients for medical marijuana.

The Cannabis Patient Rights Coalition, a local marijuana advocacy 
group, issued a statement cautioning against a rush to judgment but 
acknowledging that purging bad apples could be healthy. "If it is 
proven that these doctors were writing unjustified recommendations or 
were working with organized crime, CPRC feels they should be 
prosecuted to the full extent of the law," the group commented.

False alarm

"Don't drink the water," cautioned a reverse 911 call last week to 
all 750 residents of Hugo in eastern Colorado. Why? It could get you 
high. Well, supposedly.

The strange story began when a Hugo company told public health 
officials that a drug test of tap water - which it did for a point of 
reference while testing employees - came back positive for THC, the 
psychoactive compound in cannabis. That grew into full-blown panic 
when the sheriff's office reported evidence of forced entry and 
tampering at one of the town's well sites.

The Colorado and federal bureaus of investigation got involved, free 
water bottles were rushed in and residents were warned of "worst-case 
possible effects [...] of short-term ingestion": increased anxiety 
and/or heart rate; impaired coordination, thinking, learning ability 
and memory; and psychotic symptoms like hallucinations, paranoia or delusions.

Lincoln County Public Health director Susan Kelly recommended "anyone 
with physical concerns that they may have been affected to call the 
poison control center."

In contrast to that stark tone, nationwide followers of the story 
joked online about rushing to, rather than away from, Hugo for a 
taste of the magic water.

Observers also noted that THC is both fat-soluble and expensive in 
mass amounts, so the prospect of "lacing" a town's water supply 
might've been a paranoid delusion.

Joseph Evans, director of the Denver-based marijuana testing lab 
Nordic Analytical and former EPA scientist, articulated that in the 
Denver Post, telling a reporter that "the one thing that bothers me 
about this story from a scientific perspective is that THC is so 
insoluble in water. I can't imagine, I can't even fathom the idea 
that THC would be in water at any type of solubility to create any 
kind of health hazard."

Finally, over the weekend, tests confirmed no THC in Hugo's water; 
the whole affair was false.

"We are happy to report that the water advisory is canceled 
immediately," the Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook Saturday. 
"Please resume any and all water activities."

Meanwhile, south of Colorado Springs, a watered-down response to real 
toxins in 80,000 people's drinking water is just starting to trickle 
into action.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom