According to reports, medical marijuana patients in Colorado are facing a growing delay in getting their applications approved as the state’s Medical Marijuana Registry switches over to an online system.
As of last week the office was reviewing applications received at the end of January; they still had over 4,000 applications waiting on them that came in last month, plus 2,000+ and counting from March. So a process that usually takes 20 to 30 days at most is being stretched for some patients to as long as 2 months.
Of course, delays are to be expected, especially as a government bureaucracy gets equipped to be accessed on this new-fangled thing called the Internet, but this shows the inherent problem in government having so much control over something: if they screw it up, nothing happens. If there are delays, patients will wait and complain, but what are they really going to do about it? Write angry emails? So what? In the end they have no recourse but to wait for the state to get around to them. There is nowhere else to go to get permission to use marijuana as medicine.
The online registry itself is presenting more problems since patients can only use it if their doctor is also registered online, and as of now, most doctors who recommend medical cannabis in Colorado are not registered online.
In theory, once the online registry is up and running, wait times are supposed to be cut dramatically, including the wait times for mailed applications. But the same problem will remain; when you have to apply for permission to do something that doesn’t infringe on the rights of anyone else, you are stuck with your masters and their ability to do their job efficiently.
Without marijuana prohibition there wouldn’t be so many rules and regulations growing up around cannabis, medicinal or otherwise. But since it has been illegal for so long it’s seen as something dangerous that needs the ever watchful eye of the government upon it at all times lest someone abuse it and ruin their life by… being too healthy? Not being hooked on deadly and addictive prescription drugs? Having a better quality of life?
Well, whatever they are keeping their watchful eye on, you can rest assured it is very necessary and for your own good. We can’t have doctors just recommending a plant-based medicine that someone can grow in their own home willy-nilly, without getting permission and being registered by the state.
