When current laws began contradicting a ruling made last week by the Colorado Court of Appeals that stated medicinal cannabis caregivers must have a personal relationship with their patient and provide services other than mere medication, an emergency hearing played out Tuesday morning at the Colorado Department of Public health calling for clarity on current Medicinal Marijuana Caregiver definitions. The board ruled that anyone who supplies medical cannabis should be considered a caregiver under the state’s voter-approved medical marijuana law, but the appeals court ruled that caregivers must have personal contact with medical marijuana patients and do more to help a patient with a debilitating condition than merely provide them with cannabis. See the confusion? The Medical Marijuana community has released a collective “Huh?” when it came down to the decision regarding new rules around caregivers. What is best for the patients and what is best for the community at large has become a muddied mixture of outrage and acceptance, leaving most of us confused and frankly, just a little bit annoyed. When it comes to laws and our constitutional amendments, I’d like to have a bit more of a say and a bit more time to say it. Unfortunately, the board of health neglected to even make a ruling, promising their decision by the 16th of December. Although the medical marijuana law provides it, not everyone can grow their own medical grade marijuana. Many of the patients, such as myself, have afflictions like arthritis which restricts our ability to partake of the grow-your-own lifestyle. Many elderly patients do not have the opportunity to grow, and people with wastings and other disorders find it similarly difficult. A caregiver allows those of us who are not able-bodied enough to grow our own to get medical grade marijuana without all the painstaking work of cultivation. The skill of marijuana cultivation is priceless, providing patients with the pain relief they need. I prefer to know my caregiver personally and to understand how my medication is grown, handled, and processed. I prefer to know them, but I don’t think it should be mandatory. Patients who don’t care to know their caregiver should have a right to do things that way, to keep themselves far away from the messy gray area our laws have provided. We will have to wait and see what happens on December 16th to see where the ruling puts us, But I urge you that now is the time to voice your opinion. To state your case and let the world know how you feel. One voice can change the world, if we let it.

How do you feel about this “decision?”

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