Medical marijuana advocate, and attorney, Robert Corry spoke out today about waiting nine hours to speak in front of the Colorado House Judiciary Committee in regards to HB 1284 (see link for current version). One thing that he was really displeased with was the presence of so many law enforcement officials, and whether or not they were on paid time. “We’re going to be looking into whether those folks were receiving overtime — whether the taxpayers were paying them to lobby against the taxpayers’ interest,” he said. “It’s unseemly that our attorney general’s office and police officers are lobbying the legislature about what the laws are. Law enforcement should enforce the laws. They shouldn’t be in the game of trying to shift those laws one way or the other.”
When asked if the protests preceding the meeting were counterproductive, Corry said he supports them. “We got our views out, that’s what rallies are for.” When asked if he was disappointed about the delay of a vote by the Colorado House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Corry said he was not. “We’re happy the judiciary committee didn’t take a vote or consider amendments last night. That’s a good thing, because this process needs to slow down. We’ve been getting a new draft on almost a daily basis, and each time, the bill has been almost completely reworked. That makes it difficult to do a detailed, cogent, line-by-line commentary on something that changes almost every day. I’m not accusing anyone of nefarious motives. But we need to slow this process down, because it affects thousands upon thousands of sick and vulnerable people, and their lives depend on it. So I’m happy they’re going to take a more deliberate approach.”
When asked what he would do if the current bill was approved, Mr. Robert Corry stated, “We always have the choice of going across to Denver District Court and taking our chances. There’s no guarantee how it will work out, but I’m a lot more familiar with the inside of a court room than I am with the inside of the Capitol.” After such a long, heated exchange at the Colorado capital yesterday, it is very apparent that the current bill will not be accepted by medical marijuana patients, dispensaries, and activists. On the flip side, it sounds like law enforcement and the authorities are not happy with the bill either, as they are still calling for the ‘shut them all down’ approach. There is still no word when a new version of the bill will be drafted, or if there will be a vote on the current bill, but I will report it as soon as it hits my e-mail. Stay tuned and stay active!
