Smoking in the Rockies Colorado’s Medical Marijuana Registry Ron Hyman, State Registrar.
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Transcript of Smoking in the Rockies Colorado’s Medical Marijuana Registry Ron Hyman, State Registrar.
Smoking in the Rockies
Colorado’s Medical Marijuana Registry
Ron Hyman, State Registrar
History
Amendment - November 2000 Statute – C.R.S. § 25-1.5-106 Regulation – 5 CCR 1006-2 July 2001 – Registry established May 2010 – Additional statutes to
license dispensaries and define MD-patient relationship
Key Players Patient – person who has a debilitating
medical condition Physician – doctor of medicine who
maintains, in good standing, a license to practice medicine issued in CO
Primary Care-giver – person, other than the patient and the patient’s physician, who is 18 years of age or older and has significant responsibility for managing the well being of a patient
Patient
Applies to the Department for registration with the program Supplies written documentation from a
physician showing diagnosis of a debilitating medical condition and a recommendation that the patient might benefit from the use of medical marijuana
Name, address, date of birth, SSN of patient Identifies primary care-giver, if the patient
has one
Debilitating Medical Conditions
Cancer Glaucoma HIV/AIDS Cachexia Severe Pain Severe Nausea Seizures Muscle Spasms
Primary Care-givers
Defined as a person 18 years of age or older – not a business/corporation
Significant responsibility Dispensaries
Proliferation New statute to license (Dept of Rev)
Confidentiality
Patients, primary care-givers and physicians all protected from identification by the Amendment
Law enforcement limited to seeking confirmation from the Department of registry identification cards presented to them by patients and primary care-givers
Protections of the Program Amendment affords patients and
primary care-givers the following rights in the criminal realm: If physician has diagnosed a patient with a
debilitating medical condition and recommended marijuana, patient and primary care-giver can raise an affirmative defense to criminal charges
If patient or primary care-giver are in lawful possession of a registry identification card, an exception from criminal laws exists (i.e. no charges filed)
Registrations – 2004 to 2010
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009* 2010*
# C
ard
s I
ssu
ed
*Projected
Registrations - 2009 by Month
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
Jan
Feb
Mar
AprMay Ju
nJu
lAug Se
pOct
Nov
*
Dec
*
# C
ard
s I
ssu
ed
*Projected
Mail Received by Month 2009-10
Conditions
Severe pain 26,650
Muscle spasms 8,907
Severe nausea 5,225
Seizures 619
Cancer 698
Cachexia 572
HIV/AIDS 252
Glaucoma 292
Gender and Age Group
Age Group Male Female
<25 2,813 762
25-34 6,138 1,655
35-44 4,403 1,303
45-54 3,297 1,732
55-64 2,887 1,251
65+ 1,994 838
Total 21,532 7,541
Typical Day
Mail – 1,000 pieces Good Applications – 600 Bad Applications – 200 Other - 200
Phone – 200 Email – 100 Verifications (law enforcement) - 20
Work Flow
Packet: App, MD, ID, $ Triage: Reject, New, Renewal, Change Money deposited Data entry/update Exceptions handling Card Issued Scanning/Filing
Staffing
Current – 3 perm, 10 temp
Added – 5 perm, 8 temp
Needed 60+ to keep up 120 to reduce backlog within six months
Revenue
Annual fee to patient - $90 Fees adjusted periodically based on
costs to operate program Fees retained by program
Except when the legislature takes
Authority to spend Indigent waiver
Growth
From a portion of an FTE to a full blown program with multiple units, supervisors, manager
Backlog – storage, lockbox Impact on service counter Constructed new office space Already looking into expansion space
Legal Issues
Lawsuits by advocate community Testifying in court cases Public hearings Legislative committees US Attorney Last year my legal bill was >$200K
Other Challenges
Staff morale Fraud Number and frequency of changes Maintaining confidentiality Verifications for law enforcement Federal law enforcement
Conclusion
A money-maker
Challenging customers
Politics