Medical marijuana: $9M to plug budget hole proof MMJ’s getting normalized, says advocate

Yesterday, Cannabis Therapy Institute’s Laura Kriho criticized Governor Bill Ritter’s proposal to use $9 million in medical marijuana fees to help make up for a budget shortfall. But Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation‘s Matt Brown, sees the move as evidence medical pot is becoming increasingly entrenched in the system. “It spoke to me about how much we’ve normalized the idea of medical marijuana here,” he says.

Granted, Brown isn’t entirely comfortable with putting the MMJ money into the general fund, since HB 1284, the main medical-marijuana-regulatory measure, “is very clear in establishing that these are locked cash funds that are not to be used indiscriminately.”

Nonetheless, “other cash funds were effected, too, and my hunch is that most of those are also locked cash funds” — and he’s right. The legislature will have to approve unlocking them.

“This definitely looks like an emergency action outside of regular procedures, and maybe lawyers will have a view about it,” he goes on. “But I think it’s telling that medical marijuana is one of the few cash funds that are not only covering expenses but running a surplus. And the reality of medical marijuana here in Colorado meant that, in this time of crisis, it was on the list along with other well-established funds that were running a surplus, too.”