Regardless of being one of many first states within the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana, Colorado will get a C+ relating to guaranteeing affected person entry to the drug, a nationwide medical hashish advocacy group mentioned in a new assessment.
Individuals for Protected Entry mentioned it downgraded Colorado this 12 months due to a brand new legislation that limits entry to high-potency THC merchandise — calling it “the one largest rollback of affected person rights” within the nation.
“Different states have rolled again some affected person provisions, however not as severely, or shortly, as Colorado,” mentioned Abbey Roudebush, the group’s authorities affairs director. The annual report evaluates medical marijuana packages throughout the U.S. and grades them primarily based on components like affected person’s rights, client safety and product security.
The report is the newest criticism of Home Invoice 1317, which went into impact in January after passing with broad bipartisan help.
The measure was supposed to curb youth entry to high-potency THC merchandise by capping the every day quantities individuals can buy and requiring sufferers 20 and youthful to get signatures from two totally different physicians at two separate practices with the intention to receive a medical card, amongst different guidelines. The invoice was supported by father or mother teams that cited anecdotal proof of youth who suffered unfavorable psychological well being impacts, like anxiousness or psychotic breaks, after consuming marijuana concentrates.
Critics say the legislation creates new obstacles to entry for all sufferers, together with for younger individuals who depend on hashish for medical remedy and should should journey lengthy distances to seek out a physician. Some docs say they may not deal with hashish sufferers due to new necessities beneath the legislation, together with a clinic in Colorado Springs which decided to shut down entirely.
The state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division, which is chargeable for licensing and regulating medical and leisure hashish statewide, declined to touch upon the report however famous the company is chargeable for implementing legal guidelines handed by the Normal Meeting.
One of many prime sponsors of the invoice, Home Speaker Alec Garnett, a Denver Democrat, didn’t reply to a request for remark. In current weeks, Garnett has mentioned he’s monitoring considerations in regards to the legislation’s impacts and declined to remark additional due to a lawsuit difficult the constitutionality of the legislation.
The Colorado lawyer basic, on behalf of the state, is searching for to have the lawsuit dismissed.
Individuals for Protected Entry, the most important nationwide advocacy group for medical hashish sufferers, docs and trade teams, has issued an annual report card for state packages since 2014. As extra states have legalized medical and leisure hashish, the group’s rubric modified this 12 months to focus extra on affected person rights and experiences slightly than giving states credit score for legalization, mentioned Steph Sherer, the group’s president.
“We’ve come a good distance … however while you have a look at what sufferers want, we’re nonetheless a fairly far manner off,” Sherer mentioned.
A complete of 36 states and 5 U.S. territories have adopted legal guidelines that permit at the very least some entry to medical hashish, whereas one other 13 states permit to be used of sure cannabidiol, or CBD, merchandise that include little or no THC, the psychoactive substance present in hashish. One other 18 states, plus the District of Columbia and Guam, have handed legal guidelines permitting leisure use by adults over 21.
In Colorado, gross sales at medical and leisure dispensaries hit a brand new file in 2021 at $2.2 billion. The state collected $423,486,053 in tax income, a greater than 9% enhance from the earlier 12 months.
Regardless of a middle-of-the-road grade, Colorado is taken into account to have a “honest medical hashish program” that also wants “substantial enchancment” in some areas. The state’s score dropped after receiving B marks from the group over the previous few years, though main adjustments within the report’s methodology additionally contributed to that lower, mentioned Roudebush.
Amongst all U.S. states, the common grade was a D, reflecting “essential and substantial deficiencies in entry or affected person rights,” in keeping with the group’s rubric.
No states acquired an A on this 12 months’s report card. Maine, which carried out a brand new leisure hashish program two years in the past, acquired the very best grade with a strong B, selecting up credit score for enhancing affected person entry to hashish, packages that permit individuals to see a physician nearly and rules that incorporate suggestions from sufferers and suppliers. Illinois, which acquired a B-, was praised for granting gross sales tax breaks to medical sufferers and permitting medical hashish registrations over a number of years, reducing down on physician visits and costs.
California, Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island additionally acquired C+ grades.
The report was sharply essential of Colorado’s crackdown on high-potency THC merchandise. The legislation ought to be repealed “earlier than it devastates the state’s affected person inhabitants and creates a disaster of entry,” the report mentioned.
The group, nevertheless, credited Colorado lawmakers with the passage of a legislation that expands guidelines for varsity workers to manage medical hashish doses to minors on faculty grounds.
“This is a vital step ahead in offering a secure and honest public training for Colorado’s residents and can take an incredible burden off of the state’s mother and father who’ve been chargeable for dosing up so far,” the report states.
The report additionally urged Colorado and different states to go state-level protections for medical hashish sufferers who might nonetheless lose their job or be discriminated in opposition to for housing as a result of hashish stays unlawful beneath federal legislation.
Roudebush mentioned lawmakers shouldn’t confuse leisure hashish with medical hashish.
“It’s crucial for states and lawmakers … to not overlook in regards to the very actual sufferers who depend on the medical hashish program,” Roudebush mentioned.
