Judge finds medical marijuana policy promulgated in violation of Sunshine Law

Westword (Denver): In July, four doctors were suspended for allegedly recommending cannabis to patients who didn’t need it for health-related reasons after being referred to the Colorado Medical Board by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Now, however, the CDPHE’s referral process has been struck down in Denver District Court. In a ruling on view below, Judge Jay S. Grant found that the policy had been improperly instituted and ordered the state to immediately stop enforcing it.

This action comes in response to a lawsuit filed in 2015 by nine doctors referred to in court documents as John Does. According to attorney Rob Corry, who represents them, they filed anonymously because “they were being targeted politically by the CDPHE and the medical board, which worked in concert to develop a secret policy in total, blatant violation of the Colorado Open Meetings Law.”

In June 2013, the order notes, the Office of the State Auditor released a “performance audit” of Colorado’s medical marijuana regulatory system. The report found that the CDPHE “does not have sufficient oversight of physicians to ensure they are making appropriate recommendations for marijuana” and advised the department to “determine risk factors to identify potentially inappropriate physician recommendations and to establish guidelines for making physician referrals.”

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