Ken Gorman was a marijuana activist who was shot and killed in his home on February 17, 2007 when he interrupted a burglary inside his marijuana garden and his killers have never been brought to justice. We remember Ken the best way we know how. By continuing his monthly rally at the capital. A rally that has been a proud part of our community in Denver for the last 15 years
Join us Today from 3-5pm @ Colorado State Capitol Building on the West Steps. Its conveniently located at the corner of Colfax and Lincoln in Denver. Signage and Costumes are always welcome!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Colorado MMJ Patients/Caregivers URGENT CALL TO ACTION: House Bill 1284
Lauren C. Davis, co-counsel
(303) 634-2253 fax: (888) 319-1805
Dear Patients, Caregivers, and Supporters,
We are asking you to take action
1) Mark the date on your calendars
2) Get the word out
3) Pack the room
But you cannot wait until then to make your voices heard. Lawmakers, lobbyists for large dispensaries and law enforcement are already in the back rooms making deals. You need to contact your local State Representatives IMMEDIATELY to arrange face to face meetings.
Meet with your elected officials directly or their staffs, but you must act
This scary proposal:
- creates a bloated, multi-million dollar state licensing authority that will wipe you out of existence
- imposes a year-long statewide moratorium on new dispensaries and grow operations
- prohibits people convicted of any felony or drug misdemeanor, including simple possession of a joint, from being a caregiver
- allows local governments to ban medical marijuana facilities altogether
- re-imposes a Five Patient per caregiver limit
- obliterates your constitutional right against self incrimination
- violates your First Amendment rights
- provides that you can lose your medical marijuana license if any of your employees or agents violates any of the voluminous regulations or the law
- provides that patients can lose their licenses if their caregivers violate the law
- requires you to notify the State every time you hire or fire an employee, partner….
And these are just some of the horrors.
Caregivers need to educate lawmakers on why they cannot do it all. You successfully convinced the Board of Health why the mere provision of medical marijuana for a patient IS a significant responsibility. Now you need to get out there and convince your elected officials.
Caregivers who grow need to educate lawmakers about the difficulties of growing medical marijuana - the issues of strain nutrition, lighting, watering, pests, plant disease, etc.; why you need to be allowed to work with other caregivers to best help your patients (or if you ever want to go on vacation again); the hours and money involved, etc.
Caregivers that own dispensaries/ retail outlets must educate your lawmakers on the business aspects of caregiving and why you should be allowed to run your operation without government strangulation. Your business model will be wiped out of existence under this plan (all but those modeled on Harborside et.al. will be).
Patients – only you can help your lawmakers understand your plight. Why you don’t want the government to interfere in your selection of a caregiver; why you may want a caregiver who has a conviction for cultivation in his past; why you should not lose your medical marijuana rights if your caregiver violates the law.
Time is of the essence in this fight. This bill must be stopped. We will be sending out another email with additional talking points in the next few days. But schedule your meetings
To find contact information for your representatives, go to
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?c=Page&cid=1165693060219&pagename=CO-Portal%2FPage%2FCXPStandardLayout Click on the search function that uses your zip code.
Forward this email, provide hard copies to your patients, and get the word out. You need to contact your State Representatives to convince them to VOTE NO on HB 1284 before it is too late. Remember, in our democracy, your elected officials work for YOU.
Gratefully Yours,
Lauren C. Davis
Robert J. Corry
Attorneys at Law
Attention Colorado: We Need You Today
Earlier this week, SAFER asked you to call on Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper to replace Lt. Ernie Martinez on the Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel after a letter was discovered in which he compared supporters of marijuana legalization to "a cancer eating away at society's resolve and moral fiber."
Hundreds of you sent messages to Mayor Hickenlooper, letting him know such a viewpoint completely contradicts the Panel's mission and that Lt. Martinez should be removed. To our knowledge he has not responded to you or to the media.
A response is needed, and if the Mayor isn't going to provide one, we will!
We need as many people as possible to attend the next meeting of the Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel, which will be this coming Tuesday (2/23) at the Denver City and County Building (1437 Bannock St.). SAFER will be holding a news conference beforehand, which will begin at 3 p.m., so PLEASE arrive by 2:45 p.m. As Hickenlooper begins his campaign to become Colorado's next governor, we must make sure he knows...
WHAT: News conference and meeting of the Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel
WHEN: This TUESDAY, Feb. 23, 2:45 p.m.
WHERE: In front of the Denver City and County Bldg, 1437 Bannock St. (map/directions)
WHY: To call on Mayor Hickenlooper to remove Lt. Ernie Martinez from the Panel and follow the will of Denver voters 
After voters approved a new ordinance designating marijuana possession Denver's lowest law enforcement priority, Mayor Hickenlooper appointed a Panel to implement the new law "to the greatest extent possible." Why would he appoint Lt. Martinez -- an anti-marijuana crusader and the head of an organization fighting to keep marijuana illegal and wipe out medical marijuana -- to a panel that is working to reduce marijuana arrests and prosecutions?
Saturday, February 20, 2010
One Love Festival/Caregivers' Cup Patient Empowerment Event
Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010
4:00 pm til 10:00 pm
Oriental Theater
4335 W 44th Ave
Denver, CO
The Colorado Cannabis Caregivers' Cup is a fun and humorous competition among legal patients and caregivers to see who has cultivated the "best" medicine. This competition will take place in conjunction with the "One Love, People Get Ready" entertainment event at the Oriental Theatre, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative. So, in addition to getting to see some of Colorado's best medicines, you will get to hear great music, speakers and meet a lot of other patients and caregivers.
CANNABIS CAREGIVERS' CUP MEDICINE ENTRIES
If you are proud of your garden. here are the rules:
1) You must be a legal Colorado patient or caregiver.
2) A $50 donation or equivalent raffle items will be requested for your entry.
3) You must provide 28 grams of your medicine in a glass jar. All medicine will be photographed, so pick your most photogenic buds. Medicine will not be returned but will be donated to needy patients.
4) Entries must be received between 4:00pm and 5:00pm at the Oriental Theatre on Feb. 21.
5) Each medicine jar must have a label which includes:
Name: Cultivator's name as they would like to be credited publicly.
Strain:
Method grown:
Indoor or outdoor:
Elevation grown:
Organic or non-organic:
Medicinal testimonials: What conditions does this strain work well for?
JUDGING
Judging: The judges will be all the legal patients at the event. To be a patient-judge, we are requesting a $25 donation. Each patient will be given a scorecard. Since different cannabis strains are used to treat so many different conditions, judging the "best" medicine would be impossible. Therefore, we will judge the medicine based on aesthetic properties. Awards will be given in these categories: Most Photogenic, Best Aroma and the coveted Patient's Choice Award.
AWARD
The winner of the Patient's Choice Award will win an APPLE IPAD (suggested retail $499.)
VENDOR TABLES:
Want to table at the event? Click here to submit an application.
MEDICINE
Medicine-dispensing and medicine-combustion will not be allowed at this event. However, the Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative will have vaporizers available for legal patients and "pot luck" food contributions will be donated to share.
Please note: This is a private, not a public, event. Access is limited only to legal patients and caregivers showing positive, affirmative defense as provided by the Colorado Department of Health Medical Marijuana Registry, as well as accompanying state-issued photo identification at the door. This is solely an educational gathering. Absolutely no medication will be dispensed on site. Rules prohibit any discussion of specific instances of securing medication with "no drug dealing" allowed in "any way, shape or form" onsite during this event. We reserve the right to refuse entry to this private gathering.
This event is sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative.
http://www.meetup.com/North-Denver-Medical-Marijuana-Discussion-Group/
All proceeds will go to support the Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative and the fight against repressive legislation that would deny safe access to medicine for patients.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Attention Colorado Patients Rally Today!
The President is coming to town and we will joining Sensible Colorado today across the street from the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver at High NOON in Protest of the latest DEA raids in Colorado...
According to SensibleColorado.org
Medical Marijuana Patients and Supporters to Rally at President Obama Event
DENVER, CO — On Thursday, February 18, at an event to be attended by President Obama, medical marijuana patients and supporters will participate in a protest of the continuing federal raids of medical marijuana patients and providers in Colorado. This event is a response to the recent Drug Enforcement Administration raids of two front-range medical marijuana testing facilities and the Feb. 12 raid of a licensed medical marijuana grower in Highlands Ranch.
“These DEA raids are out of compliance with both the will of Colorado voters and that of the White House,” said Brian Vicente, event organizer and director of Sensible Colorado. “In particular, the recent, armed raid and arrest of licensed medical marijuana provider Chris Bartkowicz, highlights the rogue nature of the regional DEA office. “President Obama needs to be made aware of this agency’s miscreant actions.”
Colorado voters passed a medical marijuana law in 2000. In October, 2009, the Department of Justice issued a memo instructing federal agents to refrain from focusing resources on the arrest and prosecution of individuals following state medical marijuana laws. That memo is available here.
WHAT: Medical Marijuana Protest at Event Attended by President Obama
WHO: **PHOTO-OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE** with Sign-Waving Medical Marijuana Patient, Providers, and Supporters.
WHEN: Thursday, February 18 from Noon - 1:00 PM
WHERE: Across from the Fillmore Auditorium, at the corner of Colfax and Clarkson in Denver, CO.
See Everyone There!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
DEA: Colorado marijuana dispensaries are illegal
The Associated Press
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — The top Drug Enforcement Administration officer in Denver says marijuana dispensaries that are popping up across the state are illegal.
Federal agents raided the home of a marijuana grower who spoke publicly about his large and profitable operation in his basement. DEA agents arrested Chris Bartkowicz at his Highlands Ranch home Friday during a raid in which agents seized dozens of marijuana plants.
Denver DEA Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Sweetin says marijuana is not medicine and is still illegal under federal law. Sweetin said he's been gathering information on dispensary owners and their operations for months.
"Technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law," Sweetin told The Denver Post. "The time is coming when we go into a dispensary, we find out what their profit is, we seize the building and we arrest everybody. They're violating federal law; they're at risk of arrest and imprisonment."
The raids and Sweetin's comments come nearly four months after Deputy U.S. Attorney General David Ogden sent a memo advising federal law enforcement that people using medical marijuana in "clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws" not be targeted for arrest.
Sweetin said the memo deals with medical marijuana patients and small-scale growers, not commercial enterprises. Guidelines in the memo call for examining the number of plants and the profits that exceed what state law intended in determining which ones are illegal, Sweetin said.
Parts of an interview Bartkowicz gave to Denver station KUSA-TV for a story that was to air Friday night were published in The Denver Post.
"I'm definitely living the dream now," he said before his arrest of his marijuana growing operation that he hoped would turn profits in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
U.S. Attorney spokesman Jeff Dorschner said Bartkowicz would remain in custody through the holiday weekend before prosecutors decide Tuesday whether to file charges.
Meanwhile, about 95 miles south of Denver, jurors in Pueblo Saturday were deliberating a case that could clarify limits on how much medical marijuana users could grow.
Prosecutors Anthony Marzavas and Steve Jones argued that 55-year-old Thomas Sexton used language in the state's constitutional amendment to manipulate the system to get more plants than needed. Sexton faces marijuana cultivation and possession charges.
"That's as simple as it gets," Jones said during closing statements Friday. "This is not a movement, it's a trial, and the law still exists that makes this a felony."
Police seized 128 marijuana plants when Sexton's home was raided in August 2007. Colorado's voter-approved medical marijuana law allows users to have 2 ounces of marijuana or six plants, but allows more under certain circumstances.
During his trial, Sexton told the jury that he uses medical marijuana because of pain caused by metal plates and braces screwed into his right femur following a 2004 skiing accident. Sexton said he also provided marijuana for six patients, saying he and two others had a doctor's recommendation for additional marijuana.
Two of those patients testified that they eat their marijuana or distill the plant in oil or butter and use it as a topical solution, requiring more plants than if they smoked it.
Both cases come as medical marijuana proponents call for lawmakers to establish clear rules for dispensaries.
"All we're trying to do is follow the rules," said Matt Brown, executive director of Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation.
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — The top Drug Enforcement Administration officer in Denver says marijuana dispensaries that are popping up across the state are illegal.
Federal agents raided the home of a marijuana grower who spoke publicly about his large and profitable operation in his basement. DEA agents arrested Chris Bartkowicz at his Highlands Ranch home Friday during a raid in which agents seized dozens of marijuana plants.
Denver DEA Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Sweetin says marijuana is not medicine and is still illegal under federal law. Sweetin said he's been gathering information on dispensary owners and their operations for months.
"Technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law," Sweetin told The Denver Post. "The time is coming when we go into a dispensary, we find out what their profit is, we seize the building and we arrest everybody. They're violating federal law; they're at risk of arrest and imprisonment."
The raids and Sweetin's comments come nearly four months after Deputy U.S. Attorney General David Ogden sent a memo advising federal law enforcement that people using medical marijuana in "clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws" not be targeted for arrest.
Sweetin said the memo deals with medical marijuana patients and small-scale growers, not commercial enterprises. Guidelines in the memo call for examining the number of plants and the profits that exceed what state law intended in determining which ones are illegal, Sweetin said.
Parts of an interview Bartkowicz gave to Denver station KUSA-TV for a story that was to air Friday night were published in The Denver Post.
"I'm definitely living the dream now," he said before his arrest of his marijuana growing operation that he hoped would turn profits in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
U.S. Attorney spokesman Jeff Dorschner said Bartkowicz would remain in custody through the holiday weekend before prosecutors decide Tuesday whether to file charges.
Meanwhile, about 95 miles south of Denver, jurors in Pueblo Saturday were deliberating a case that could clarify limits on how much medical marijuana users could grow.
Prosecutors Anthony Marzavas and Steve Jones argued that 55-year-old Thomas Sexton used language in the state's constitutional amendment to manipulate the system to get more plants than needed. Sexton faces marijuana cultivation and possession charges.
"That's as simple as it gets," Jones said during closing statements Friday. "This is not a movement, it's a trial, and the law still exists that makes this a felony."
Police seized 128 marijuana plants when Sexton's home was raided in August 2007. Colorado's voter-approved medical marijuana law allows users to have 2 ounces of marijuana or six plants, but allows more under certain circumstances.
During his trial, Sexton told the jury that he uses medical marijuana because of pain caused by metal plates and braces screwed into his right femur following a 2004 skiing accident. Sexton said he also provided marijuana for six patients, saying he and two others had a doctor's recommendation for additional marijuana.
Two of those patients testified that they eat their marijuana or distill the plant in oil or butter and use it as a topical solution, requiring more plants than if they smoked it.
Both cases come as medical marijuana proponents call for lawmakers to establish clear rules for dispensaries.
"All we're trying to do is follow the rules," said Matt Brown, executive director of Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation.
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