New Colorado Medical Marijuana Rules Start in November

As of November 14, Colorado dentists will be allowed to recommendation patients for medical marijuana. Some nurses will also be able to write recommendations. The law is also being extended to those with valid licenses to practice in varying scopes of a physician’s practice.

Doctors will be able to recommend autism patients for medical marijuana as well as those that would qualify for use of opioids, according to Westword. If a patient is approved for a medical marijuana card in lieu of taking opioid medications, those cards are only good for 60-days since the condition would be considered temporary. Some have still voiced concern for patients that do not live in an area where a medical marijuana dispensary is available during the rulemaking process.

Martha Montemayor of Cannabis Clinicians Colorado said, “One of my goals for the next legislative session is to improve patient access to medical marijuana by giving medical patients the right to shop at any dispensary — med or rec — without the burden of taxes and at medical carrying limits. This would really help patients in far-flung, rec-only areas like Parachute and Gunnison. Our patients in those towns have to shop rec and pay the ‘sin tax’ on legitimate medical use, because there are no medical dispensaries within an hour’s drive. A right to shop would solve a lot of access problems.”