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Cannabis Therapy Institute

The Cannabis Therapy Institute promotes cannabis education, research and advocacy. We are not a medical marijuana provider. We are comprised of volunteers.

Education

Cannabis Health Fair, Sept, 12, 2009

Advocacy

Recently, our advocates helped secure a victory for Jason Lauve, a Boulder County Medical patient who was being prosecuted for having "too much" medical cannabis. The jury acquitted him on the grounds that the language in Article XVII, Section 14 of the Colorado Constitution was vague in regards to how much medicine is "medically necessary" and that a patient was allowed to decide whatever amount they needed. Jason uses cannabis to manage his chronic pain caused by a skiing accident in 2004 when a snowboarder flew into his back and destroyed his spine. Jason's therapy requires him to ingest his cannabis medicine by first sifting the the trichomes (small fine outgrowths on the cannabis flower that contain the most medicinal value) off of the cannabis flowers and making "cannabutter" out of them to use in other foods. This takes considerably more dried plant material than cannabis smoking or vaporizing does, but the pain relieving effects are greater and last far longer. Jason said he could get 8-10 hours of pain relief just by ingesting cannabis trichomes in the morning. Jason does not get "high" off of this type of therapy. Although he still needs to take some synthetic pharmaceutical medicines, the cannabis enables him to take fewer of them. Cannabis therapy is safer, less expensive and with fewer side effects than addictive and dangerous narcotics. Cannabis allows Jason to have an enhanced quality of life and not to be doped up all the time on synthetic pain killers.

The jury foreman said Jason could have had "a ton" of medicine and they still would have acquitted him. While this jury verdict is not a legally-binding precedent, we believe it sends a strong message to the Boulder County District Attorney and local law enforcement agencies that it is going to be very difficult to convict a patient or caregiver for possessing "too much" medicine in Boulder County.

Read more about Jason's case.

Jason Lauve with the 34 ounces of medicine
that was returned to him after his acquittal.