Judge tmporarily halts med mj limit

[Heretic.Ape.]

Pot law on hold
Judge temporarily halts medical marijuana limit
Steven R Nickerson © The Rocky

David Damien LaGoy displays his medications. He appeared in Denver District Court before Judge Larry Naves on Tuesday. LaGoy sued the state because the medical marijuana provider he wanted to use had reached the five-patient maximum.

By David Montero, Rocky Mountain News
July 4, 2007
For now, David Damien LaGoy can get his marijuana - thanks in large part to a judge's ruling Tuesday. LaGoy sued the state because the registered medical marijuana provider he wanted to use, Daniel Pope, had reached the state's five-patient maximum and couldn't help him.
The lawsuit claimed the five-patient rule was unfair. Denver District Judge Larry Naves agreed, calling the policy arbitrary. Naves granted an injunction that temporarily allows registered providers to take on as many patients as they like.
"There is no reason this plaintiff should suffer," Naves said.
During the hearing, LaGoy sat quietly - his gaunt, 105-pound frame shivering from being in the air-conditioned courtroom. At one point, Pope draped his blazer over his shoulders to help keep the 47-year-old warm.
LaGoy said during a court recess that he hadn't had any marijuana since last week and that it had been a battle to keep the medications he takes for AIDS and Hepatitis C down. The marijuana, he said, eases the nausea. He testified that if he continues to be erratic about taking the battery of pills, he likely would die.
Naves' ruling, he said, gave him hope. "It felt good," he said. "I don't gamble, but it's like winning the lottery."
Lawyers for the Colorado attorney general's office argued there were many medical marijuana providers registered with the state and that LaGoy had options. State Registrar Ron Hyman testified that of the 636 caregivers registered with the state, 548 were single-patient providers - meaning each one could take on four more patients under the state statute.
But LaGoy said providers were hard to find and that he had developed a trusting relationship with Pope.
"It's not like they're listed in the Yellow Pages," LaGoy said.
In his ruling for the temporary injunction, the judge also criticized the way the Colorado Department of Health and Environment came up with the five-patient policy.
Naves accused the agency of not actively involving the public in the process and also not seeking professional medical input on the matter. The department came up with the five-patient maximum after voters approved the medical marijuana amendment in 2000.
Mark Salley, spokesman for the department, said his agency was prepared to follow through with the judge's ruling.
"We'll be looking at how best to move forward from here," Salley said. "If people think a limit is appropriate, a way to establish a limit is to involve the state board of health with public input."
No date has been set for LaGoy's lawsuit to be tried on its merits, although attorneys for LaGoy believe it could happen in the fall. Based on LaGoy's health, Naves said he was inclined to hurry things along.