The letter was emailed to Holder yesterday and a copy was sent to President Barack Obama plus officials at the US DEA.  A spokeswoman from the Justice Department declined to comment, although she did say the department would review the letter.

Last month, a suburban Denver man who said he was a medical marijuana provider was charged with drug possession in federal court after DEA agents raided his home and found 224 pot plants. Agents became suspicious about the size of the man’s Highlands Ranch operation after he told a Denver television station he expected to make up to $400,000 a year.

Agents also raided two Colorado laboratories that test medical marijuana for pesticides and potency after they applied for licenses from the DEA. The operator of one said he was raided on the day he showed up at the state Capitol to testify on some of the proposed medical marijuana regulations.

Democratic Sen. Chris Romer of Denver, one of four lawmakers to sign the letter, said he’s most troubled by the laboratory raids since the labs appeared to be in compliance with Colorado marijuana law. He said the Highlands Ranch case is less clear-cut.

Romer wants to pass regulations that require dispensaries to grow their marijuana in rural or industrial areas – eliminating neighborhood grows – and have the state keep a confidential database of their location. He said he’s facing resistance because growers fear that the DEA could use the database to crack down on them.

“It’s kind of hard to build trust in the environment that’s been created by these raids,” Romer said.

Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, said the federal government shouldn’t be getting involved in any possible violations of Colorado’s medical marijuana law

1. Alaska
2. California
3. Colorado
4. Hawaii
5. Iowa
   
6. Maine
7. Maryland
8. Michigan
9. Montana
10. Nevada
11. New Jersey
    
12. New Mexico
13. Oregon
14. Rhode Island
15. Vermont
16. Washington

In Seattle there’s a move to give more health-care professionals authority to prescribe medical marijuana.

Senate Bill 5798 expands the list of licensed medical practitioners to include:

• Physicians’ assistants
• Nurse practitioners
• Naturopathic physicians

Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, one of the bill’s sponsors, explains:

“The reason is that, especially in rural areas in the state and away from Puget Sound, because of long distances, many people do not see M.D.s. They see nurse practitioners and physicians assistants who have prescriptive authority.”

Apparently the bill passed through the House on Wednesday with ‘little debate.’ Although two amendments were added that dealt with how the prescriptions should be written.  These amendments mean that the bill will need to go back to the Senate for approval.

Medical Marijuana: Washington State

Colorado is currently a hotbed of medical marijuana action and reaction.  The latest news is that on Tuesday this week in Fort Collins an overflowing chamber met to discuss restrictions for medical marijuana dispensaries.

The proposed ordinance would prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries (MMDs) –– redefined by the council as medical marijuana businesses (MMBs) –– from operating within 1,000 feet of schools, churches and other MMBs. The ordinance would also force MMBs to restrict operating hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

If this ordinance is approved and enacted, all but nine of the city’s 95 registered MMBs would be in violation.  Residents operating home-based dispensaries would be forbidden from renewing their licenses after two years and prohibited from growing or keeping cannabis in their homes.

People supplying only to themselves or one other person would not be considered a dispensary, but would be limited to just one other customer and permitted only 12 plants, and six mature plants.

Current Colorado Medical Marijuana State Laws

Thirty-six citizens spoke at the event; with the pro-ordinance group expressing concern about property prices and risks to families in areas close to home dispensaries.  Alan Donagon, whose house sits across from a home dispensary, said “Who would want to buy our house with that across the street?”

Speaking against the restrictions, dispensary operator Amanda Rose said. ““We aren’t nobodies, we have degrees in horticulture. There are cultivation techniques, different strains … We know those things.”

The council voted 6-1 in favour of the ordinance and said they want more information on some key details of the regulations and how they would affect the operation of MMDs before taking the ordinances up again on March 16.