Colorado House Bill 1284

[DaGreenMachine]

...and if you guys really believe that the idiot posting is really Warren Edson, then i wanna smoke some of the same stuff you are.....

I could ask a question that only Warren could answer? At least one that is very uncommon knowledge, you'd have to have met with Warren to know the answer...would that help?

 

[Mile Hi Dave]

Warren, good to see you posting on here. So maybe you have some inside scoop. What gives?

Doesn't matter where Matt Brown is from. Matt Brown is a lobbyist for dispensaries, and dispensaries ONLY. Dispensaries are the only ones allowed to grow under the bill. Coincidence? 1+1 = 2

I'd let the government crawl up my ass daily if I could legally grow. Not an option in Colorado, thanks to Matt Brown. Wonder how much $$ went under the table to make it happen like that.

The bill will not go as it is now....it still has 6 or 7 committees to go thru, so there will be many more changes. In reality, the only way for us growers to stop Matt Brown, is to stop selling to the dispensaries now...they need us now! If we sit on our asses and do nothing, they won't. As I posted earlier, there are large dispensaries that are buying 75% of their product from vendors now. If we stopped selling to them for 2 weeks, half of em would be screwed! But it sure would get the point across!

 

[Greenmopho]

The bill will not go as it is now....it still has 6 or 7 committees to go thru, so there will be many more changes. In reality, the only way for us growers to stop Matt Brown, is to stop selling to the dispensaries now...they need us now! If we sit on our asses and do nothing, they won't. As I posted earlier, there are large dispensaries that are buying 75% of their product from vendors now. If we stopped selling to them for 2 weeks, half of em would be screwed! But it sure would get the point across!

I will only support and vend to locally owned dispensaries that share my locovore ideologies. Hippies, basically....yea, its legal, but you still gotta pass the hippy test to get my bud! No Suits and No Farmacy for me!

 

[DaGreenMachine]

MHD: Well, you have a point, but the difference between dispensaries and growers is they operate in the public and are organized. We're not...because we have to be MUCH more discrete. No way to organize, and that may be our undoing in CO.

I think our best method is continued, polite calls and emails to the reps in the house, explaining how bad this bill is right now. We don't get an amendment, then we focus on the Senate. So far they are ignoring us, but enough voices will make a difference.

 

[Mile Hi Dave]

MHD: Well, you have a point, but the difference between dispensaries and growers is they operate in the public and are organized. We're not...because we have to be MUCH more discrete. No way to organize, and that may be our undoing in CO.

I think our best method is continued, polite calls and emails to the reps in the house, explaining how bad this bill is right now. We don't get an amendment, then we focus on the Senate. So far they are ignoring us, but enough voices will make a difference.

ENOUGH VOICES???????? Let me tell you about my experience when i testified before the Senate. I was invited by Chris Romer, I still arrived 2 hrs beforehand and signed in. I was the 4th person to sign up to testify. Before any of us patients got to testify, Romer shoved dispensary owner afeter dispensary owner, then lobbyist after lobbyist, before any patients ever got to speak. He wasn't even the person presiding, but he controlled everything.

I have issues with out-of-state interests having a voice in the Colorado chambers, especially lobbyist...I swear if i run into Matt Brown on the streets....

And you are so right, we are still "underground" and, somehow, that needs to change. I know a few of the local growers, but we are all so "behind-the-scenes" and we have absolutely 0 representation. The mom & pops shops are going to be put out of business as well, so only the mega-dispensaries (Cali Immigrants) who have screwed up Cali, so now they bring the money they made there here--thinking it's the next "GoldRush". The smaller shops could not afford to, and lack the ability to grow fine meds--as we all know it takes a long time to learn, not to mention learning pest prevention/temperature control and the whole host of things we have learned.

As written, a grower would have to partner up with a dispensary and vice versa for the smaller shops to survive. I don't know about you, but I am not to in favor of this forced "vertical integration", as they like to call it. Luckily for me, one of my best friends owns a small shop and if it comes down to it, I will work something out with her.

I know one thing tho...I will not provide my services as an employee for an hourly wage...and that might be what happens to alot of folks...me, personally, I'll put on my bunny suit and go back underground...

Guess I just ranted again...sorry...this just gets me fired up that the growers are not realizing what is happening to them, that, or they are just planning the same thing I am...

 

[DaGreenMachine]

You nailed one thing. Romer is the ringmaster for this. I'm thinking that the congressmen are looking to him, because he's the "expert" on dispensaries. I know for a fact he's *very* close to a few dispensary owners. How close? That's speculation...I don't trust a politician as far as I can throw them. But you have to ask why is he so invested in this "vertical integration" model? Probably a retirement plan in the works...

All it takes is one smart rep or senator to understand what he's trying to pull. I just haven't found one yet.

Brian Vicente brought up growers in Westword lately. I don't think patient advocates realize how hard this "vertical integration" is going to fuck the patients. Ever had good service/pricing/quality from a monopoly?

Now I'm ranting too Time to write a letter to a rep...

 

[Mile Hi Dave]

I have every reps email addy...every one of em, if ya want them

 

[warrenedson]

If you want them to remove the verticle integration, you need to offer them another way they can manage/regulate the growers. They are not going to let you manufacture a schedule I drug without regulation. The verticle integration and tracking the sales through the dispensary combined with the huge penalty the dispesary would pay if one of their growing permit locations were found to be delivering to the black market, allows the some form of regulation.
The bill is more progressive than any proposed in the nation. Check out the arizona proposal, there patients are not allowed to grow AT ALL if there is a dispensary within 30 miles. What other state allows or would allow open manufacturing and sales? R.I., NJ, Maine all very limited. Michigan, Montana, Washington, Orgegon, nada.

As a patient you would not have to pick one dispensary, you could go in any, like a liquer store.

 

[DaGreenMachine]

If you want them to remove the verticle integration, you need to offer them another way they can manage/regulate the growers. They are not going to let you manufacture a schedule I drug without regulation. The verticle integration and tracking the sales through the dispensary combined with the huge penalty the dispesary would pay if one of their growing permit locations were found to be delivering to the black market, allows the some form of regulation.
The bill is more progressive than any proposed in the nation. Check out the arizona proposal, there patients are not allowed to grow AT ALL if there is a dispensary within 30 miles. What other state allows or would allow open manufacturing and sales? R.I., NJ, Maine all very limited. Michigan, Montana, Washington, Orgegon, nada.

As a patient you would not have to pick one dispensary, you could go in any, like a liquer store.

Any language in the bill could immediately be assigned to growers as well.

EACH LICENSEE SHALL
35 KEEP A COMPLETE SET OF BOOKS OF ACCOUNT, INVOICES, COPIES OF
36 ORDERS, SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS, BILLS OF LADING, WEIGH BILLS,
1 CORRESPONDENCE, AND ALL OTHER RECORDS NECESSARY TO SHOW FULLY
2 THE BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS OF THE LICENSEE, ALL OF WHICH SHALL BE
3 OPEN AT ALL TIMES DURING BUSINESS HOURS FOR THE INSPECTION AND
4 EXAMINATION OF THE STATE LICENSING AUTHORITY OR ITS DULY
5 AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES.

I've told multiple reps the simplest way to regulate growers is:

- Require a real-time plant count, subject to inspection (something dispensaries don't have to do under the bill)
- Label each plant with a unique ID (something dispensaries don't have to do under the bill)
- Label each harvested amount over 2 ounces with a unique ID (something dispensaries don't have to do under the bill)
- Require this "chain of custody" ID to be attached to all purchase orders/invoices (something dispensaries don't have to do under the bill)

Nobody is listening, because they go talk to Romer, and Romer talks them away from it. Tell us who to talk to, because NOBODY IS LISTENING. I listened to the entire committee hearing, growing wasn't discussed ONCE, and I contacted every single member of the committee.



There's loopholes big enough to drive a truck through them for the dispensaries. For example:

A MEDICAL MARIJUANA CENTER MAY SELL NO
12 MORE THAN TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF ITS TOTAL ON-HAND INVENTORY TO
13 ANOTHER COLORADO LICENSED MEDICAL MARIJUANA LICENSEE.

Sell 25% of it's on-hand inventory. Sell 25% per week? Per day? Per Hour? How will the state ever know what it's on-hand inventory is, and it didn't exceed 25%?

There is MORE potential for abuse with vertical integration. A dispensary could much easier "cook the books" on its own than with two independent parties involved in a transaction, each with a different set of records subject to inspection. A simple concept applied in accounting, but ignored here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_duties

As far as other states, New York's proposed legislation is a highly regulated model that REQUIRES growers to be separated from dispensaries. They see the potential for abuse...



Lastly, if this is Warren Edsen, no offense but your spelling is really bad for an attorney. If you are Warren Edsen, answer me this question:

On your "price schedule" document that you provide to prospective clients, what are the first 4 words on item #2?

I hope you are Warren, because at least it looks like we have a chance to get your ear and help sway your opinion, which right now seems anti-grower/pro-dispensary.

 

[Mile Hi Dave]

If you want them to remove the verticle integration, you need to offer them another way they can manage/regulate the growers. They are not going to let you manufacture a schedule I drug without regulation. The verticle integration and tracking the sales through the dispensary combined with the huge penalty the dispesary would pay if one of their growing permit locations were found to be delivering to the black market, allows the some form of regulation.
The bill is more progressive than any proposed in the nation. Check out the arizona proposal, there patients are not allowed to grow AT ALL if there is a dispensary within 30 miles. What other state allows or would allow open manufacturing and sales? R.I., NJ, Maine all very limited. Michigan, Montana, Washington, Orgegon, nada.

As a patient you would not have to pick one dispensary, you could go in any, like a liquer store.

Hey imposter...if you really were Warren, you would know that the Colorado State Legislature as well as 11 other states have alreay submitted to the feds for rescheduling. Although it will only move it to a Schedule II, it's a step that will open things up for research....and that, my friend will open things up. As far as us growers are concerned, and I think I speak for most, I have no problem with getting a "grower's lic"...no different than any other farmer that gets inspected.

I welcome them to inspect my perfectly legal grows. Anywhere I grow, I have more licenses than I need, and I plan on keeping it that way.

As I stated before, this thing is a long way from being done with several more committees to go, there will still be many more changes.

 

[scarred4life]

I disagree with warren on a lot of this, but we should really stop hassling him about his identity...the whole point of icmag is anonymity, and I don't see anyone questioning the identities of other personalities on here: samtheskman, tomhill, rezdawg, BOG, shanti, etc.

DGM, have you considered that anyone with access to edson's price schedule could answer your question and that all posts are automatically spell-checked on here, so any misspellings reflect the informality of the boards, the haste of the writer, or an intentional misspelling?

BTW, in the Tiger in the Rockies thread, "warren" seemed to have access to details about HB1284, draft C BEFORE the draft was released in the media. Whether he’s actually the guy pictured in Skunk 5.8 etc, he’s got some info that’s useful for all of us, and it would be disappointing if we drove him away with pointless ad hominem attacks.
Am I really scarred4life???? One day you’ll wonder

 

[Mile Hi Dave]

I disagree with warren on a lot of this, but we should really stop hassling him about his identity...the whole point of icmag is anonymity, and I don't see anyone questioning the identities of other personalities on here: samtheskman, tomhill, rezdawg, BOG, shanti, etc.

Then why use his name?

DGM, have you considered that anyone with access to edson's price schedule could answer your question and that all posts are automatically spell-checked on here, so any misspellings reflect the informality of the boards, the haste of the writer, or an intentional misspelling?

No...you have the option to spell check.....

 

[scarred4life]

"warren" might use his name to make us pay attention b/c he's a high profile mmj lawyer. he might also use his name b/c he's an outsider making a legit living off all of this, and wants to communicate that his elitist, ivory tower sensibility makes him want to "strangle" working class folks who aren't too "sophisticated" to see the appeal of names like "green crack" and "trainwreck" (look up his wall street journal interview)

you totally could be right though, dave, we may have an imposter

either way, warren's narrow-minded comments about pot culture and the way that the state legislature plays dumb about aspects of hb1284 that are obviously unfair to the working class really illustrate how the war on drugs is a class war. laws have kept cannabis in the black market for going on three generations and lawyers scoff when it reemerges into legality a century later with a punk haircut.

 

[Mile Hi Dave]

Hey scarred...I am on a "short" list that gets a copy of the Bill from Romer, when changes are made. It wasn't hard to get on that list. Besides, the changes are posted on the web as it goes as well, right on the State Legislature site. So the info he/she may have been telling you, may really not have been so "priviledged"

 

[DaGreenMachine]

Fuck it - I've emailed warren to see if it's really him. Feel free to do the same.
[email protected]

Warren is an attorney and if anyone knows what his rights and risks are, it's him. Some day I hope to operate publicly too, sign my real name to my posts. I can't wait for that day.

I wholeheartedly welcome Warren to the conversation. I don't want to waste my breath on some troll however.

 

[Mile Hi Dave]

Fuck it - I've emailed warren to see if it's really him. Feel free to do the same.
[email protected]

Warren is an attorney and if anyone knows what his rights and risks are, it's him. Some day I hope to operate publicly too, sign my real name to my posts. I can't wait for that day.

I wholeheartedly welcome Warren to the conversation. I don't want to waste my breath on some troll however.

Hey...I use my real first name!!

 

[warrenedson]

I have always used my real name and have maintained the same e-mail since what, 1994. [email protected]. MSN made me add [email protected] then, when I created warrenedson.com, after I quit as head of the Lakewood Muni PD's office I added [email protected]. Now that I have merged with Kumin Sommers I think I also now have [email protected]. The price schedule line depends on which schedule you have. Kumin sent Greg one and I have another.

Want to know my Rockies seats?
How about the Mammoth?

I have never hidden behind any alias. If you really know me, you know I am sitting in Ceasar's house in Key Largo right now typing on a mini computer and could give two shits about my spelling, unless it is a member of the Red Sox.

Rescheduling on a Federal level? While I support it it isn't going to happen for many years. If it did, you would all be bummed because the FDA would step in and force years of BS testing. Again any of you looked into the regulations surrounding manufacturing other scheduled drugs?

This isn't about what I want, it is about what is going to happen and what is realistic.
Also, Roemer????? Massey is driving the bus at this point.

 

[warrenedson]

Do guys actually like having your "medicine" named after an event where people where killed due to an marijuana intoxicated train conductor? How about when you all add Afgani and call it "Plane Wreck." How about when we compair it to crack? Shall we name a strain "Killer Meth"? How do you think this effects the general public?

Yes I would sacrifice "pot culture" for legalization.

BTW: I do not use interner explorer so this won't let me use the spell check. While you all hate me, can anyone help with the spell checker?

 

[warrenedson]

I get my copies of the bill straight from that carpet bagging Kansas Cityian Matt Brown. Again, anyone who knows me knows his office is upstairs!!! and it also smells of mold. I am hoping I will get to meet his parents when I am in KC in a couple week seeing the Sox and the Rapids. BBQ suggestions anyone? I am partial to the burned ends at Gates.

 

[warrenedson]

BTW: My Rockies seats are Section 132, Row 11, seats 3 + 4
had them since law school and the Mile High days
Anyone want Game 2 this year? April 10th. Didn't get game 1, Doug did. I won't make you donate to CMMR. Seriously.
First one to e-mail me at [email protected] requesting the seats gets them, I will be in KC that weekend.

Thanks Murph