Medical Use Of Pot Legal In Colorado Until 1995
by Dan Luzadder

June 01, 1998 - Rocky Mountain News - letters@denver-rmn.com

Even before it has won a spot on the November ballot, organized groups are clashing over a proposal to allow marijuana use for people with serious illnesses.

But what few Coloradans -- including proponents of the initiative -- realize is that for nearly two decades, Colorado had a medical marijuana law that suspended criminal penalties for cancer and glaucoma patients who possessed marijuana.

The 1979 law was repealed as "obsolete" in 1995.

Legislative records also show that former Republican House Majority Leader Chris Paulson -- head of the citizen's group opposing the proposed initiative -- was among those who backed the marijuana law.

Paulson voted for a bill in 1981 that made it clear that synthetic forms of marijuana and street pot could be legally obtained by patients to treat their symptoms.

Paulson, in fact, was a co-sponsor of the legislation. In his role as lead critic of the marijuana initiative, Paulson said things have changed.

"Fortunately, we have learned a lot more (about marijuana) since then," he said. "What we now know is that it is much more potent and damaging today than the stuff that was available 20 years ago."

Coloradans for Medical Rights, the proponents of a well-financed medical marijuana initiative, have begun collecting petition signatures statewide to get the issue on the November ballot. It would allow marijuana use for people suffering from cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other serious illnesses.

Citizens Against the Legalization of Marijuana, backed by local police agencies and district attorneys, is trying to keep the initiative from reaching voters.

Colorado's earlier medical marijuana law apparently had little impact.

The law put responsibility for administering the marijuana program in the hands of the chancellor of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, a facility that focuses on cancer research.

Patients needed a doctor's certification and approval from a university-based committee of cancer researchers to obtain the drug.

Dr. Vince Fulginiti, former UCHSC chancellor, asked lawmakers to repeal the statute as "obsolete" in 1995.

Jeff Thompson, former public affairs director at the medical center, said Fulginiti requested the repeal after receiving a letter from a cancer patient in Breckenridge who and requested that he make marijuana available to her.

"I don't think he (Fulginiti) really wanted to be caught up in supplying marijuana to people," Thompson said.

Martin Chilcutt, a retired psychotherapist heading the group pushing the medical marijuana initiative, said he was surprised to learn of the now-defunct law.

Laura Kriho, author of another ballot initiative on medical marijuana, said she was aware of the law but did not believe people seeking to use the drug for medicine ever benefited from it.

Whether the program actually served any patients and, if so, how many, remains unclear. The program's principal cancer researcher, Dr. William Robinson, is now involved in cancer research in Australia. He could not be reached.

Political battle lines in the marijuana initiative fight were drawn when the Colorado House and Senate both passed a resolution condemning the initiative, even before the signature drive began.

Paulson's group and prominent state Republicans, including front-running GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bill Owens, brought former U.S. drug czar William Bennett to Colorado last month to speak against the initiative.

Chilcutt and his group -- who have modeled their initiative on successful referendums in California and Arizona -- argue that many seriously ill Coloradans cannot tolerate FDA-approved prescriptions for pain, nausea, seizures and glaucoma, but can benefit from marijuana, used for centuries to treat such symptoms.

Their initiative would allow certified patients to possess up to two ounces of marijuana and to grow up to 6 marijuana plants in their homes.

Chilcutt's initiative would require doctors to certify that patients were qualified to possess marijuana by virtue of specific medical conditions outlined in the initiative. Identification cards would be issued and names placed in a confidential registry.

Kriho's initiative would allow possession or cultivation of marijuana upon a recommendation by a physician that it could be helpful for treating pain or illness.

Both initiatives would amend the state Constitution.

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