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For immediate release, August 4, 2010
Dept. of Revenue Cancels
Secret Medical Marijuana Meetings
Contact: Cannabis Therapy Institute
1-877-420-4205
{Denver} -- The Colorado Department of Revenue canceled a secret
meeting of a government advisory board that had been scheduled for
Wednesday after medical cannabis activists protested that these
meetings are subject to Colorado's Sunshine Law, also known as the
Colorado Open Meetings Act. This requires that any meeting of any
public body be "open to the public at all times."
Read
the Westword article about the meeting cancellation.
Activists discovered the plans for secret meetings last week when
Matt Cook, head of the Department of Revenue's Medical Marijuana
Enforcement Division, was asked if he was planning on appointing
an advisory committee similar to the committee appointed by the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). Matt
Cook responded that he had already appointed the committee and that
the meetings would not be open to public observation because "we
would not be able to get anything done."
Apparently, the Department of Revenue had quietly selected a 25-person
Advisory Committee over the past several weeks to advise them on
the hundreds of new rules that the Department of Revenue needs to
promulgate to enact the new Colorado Medical Marijuana Code (formerly
part of HB 10-1284) over the next year. You
can see the members here.
According to emails from Matt Cook, the Department of Revenue then
intended to meet with this Advisory Committee in private until they
had a set of regulations to share with the rest of the industry.
Only at that point would they make the rulemaking process public
and allow other interested parties to observe.
However, the Colorado Sunshine Law requires that any meetings by
any advisory board be open to the public at all times. The Cannabis
Therapy Institute pointed this out to the Department in several
emails over the course of the last few days. Originally, the Department
claimed this meeting was exempt from the Open Meetings Act. However,
on Tuesday evening, after discussion with the Department's legal
team, Matt Cook decided to cancel the Wed. meeting. He told CTI,
"In light of the concerns about this meeting, I will reschedule
at a later date and give you Notice." Presumably, this means
the Department will now comply fully with the Open Meetings Act
and give public notice of the meeting and as well as allow public
observation.
However, it is unclear how the Department of Revenue appointed
these board members in the first place. The Colorado Department
of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) recently appointed their
Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee. The CDPHE went through a process
where they allowed the public to apply for positions on the Committee.
They then reviewed over 100 applications before they selected the
candidates and announced them in a press
release on July 16. The first Advisory Committee meeting was
open to the public.
Why did Matt Cook decide to hand-pick his advisory board and not
allow other members of the industry to apply for these positions?
The Department of Revenue just received $7 million in state application
fees from over 1,000 different dispensaries, manufacturers and growers.
Surely, some of these parties deserve a chance to apply for a position
on the Advisory Board that will help decide how the medical marijuana
industry in Colorado is regulated.
The Department of Revenue is not off to a good start in showing
accountability and transparency in its rulemaking process. On Monday,
the Department called its first-ever rulemaking meeting as an "emergency"
meeting, which allowed them to get around the public notice and
comment period, where no real emergency was discussed.
According to Senator Chris Romer, the main proponent of Colorado's
new medical marijuana law, the Department of Revenue was chosen
to run the medical marijuana program instead of the CDPHE because
the CDPHE had proven that they were antagonistic to the medical
marijuana law over the years. The Department of Revenue was supposed
to fix that problem and be better and more competent than the CDPHE
at implementing the law.
Given this, we would like the Department of Revenue to strive for
the highest standards with their rulemaking authority, and with
all the other authorities that they have over the medical marijuana
program.
Members of the Cannabis Therapy Institute and the Colorado Coalition
for Patients and Caregivers are calling on the Department of Revenue
to re-open their Advisory Committee appointments to a public application
process, just as the CDPHE did for their advisory committee. The
creation of a hand-picked board causes the appearance of impropriety.
Please make a donation to CTI to help us continue in this important
work:
http://www.cannabistherapyinstitute.com/donate.html
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