Governor Jared Polis signed a bill Thursday adding new restrictions to the Colorado medical cannabis program. House Bill 1317 moved quickly through the Colorado legislature, passing through the House without delay. The Senate also passed the bill without opposition before sending it to the governor. Lawmakers proposed the measure as an attempt to curb youth use of marijuana products. However, medical cannabis advocates believe the new restrictions add unnecessary obstacles to patients and physicians.
New Restrictions
Under HB 1317, medical cannabis physicians will need to provide a THC dosage amount when prescribing medicine. With the new restrictions, they will also have to provide medical and mental health reviews for their patients. HB 1317 also limits medical cannabis concentrate purchases. All transactions will be entered into a new tracking system and monitored by the state.
Daily medical cannabis concentrate sales limits from 40 grams to only eight under this new bill. Furthermore, medical patients between the ages of 18 and 20 will need additional doctor approval before receiving a medical cannabis recommendation. A daily purchasing limit of 2 grams instead of 8 will be set for them as well, similar to everyone else.
The Colorado School of Public Health will receive $3 million in state funds to create an educational campaign about youth cannabis use and extracted THC. Another $1 million will become available annually through the fiscal year 2023-2024. This funding will go towards a CSPH review of existing research and further study the mental-health effects of cannabis on a person.
An additional $1.7 million will go towards a project for coroners. They will now annually report the results of THC toxicology screens for suicide, overdoes, and accidental deaths for people under 26 years old. This report will go to the Colorado Violent Death Reporting System. All cannabis concentrate products will fall under new packaging or labeling rules created by the state Marijuana Enforcement Division, starting in 2023.
Advocate Pushback
The recreational cannabis industry remains neutral under SB 1317. However, the medical cannabis community voices the loudest resistance. Over 100 medical cannabis doctors sent a letter to Governor Polis, asking him to veto HB 1317, according to Cannabis Clinicians Colorado Director Martha Montemayor. She says the law “will effectively kill medical marijuana in Colorado.”
“The reality is that it’s too easy for Colorado’s youth to access high-potency marijuana… And we don’t have the full picture of how these products impact the developing brain,” House Speaker Alec Garnett said at the bill signing. “This law will help educate consumers about high-potency cannabis, and it will advance critical research that will give us a better understanding of how high-potency products impact developing brains,” he said.
Director Montemayor believes requiring doctors to include dosage and consumption rules with a medical cannabis recommendation makes it a prescription. She says doctors with prescription power must register with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Currently the DEA doesn’t allow prescribing Schedule I drugs. She argues requiring extra doctor visits is a social equity issue as some patients cannot afford one more doctor visit.
“It doubles the cost for all patients by forcing a second diagnosis. Traditionally, cannabis has been a poor person’s medicine because they don’t have health insurance,” she says. According to HB 1317’s language, the majority of the new restrictions will be effective immediately.
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