When Colorado Attorney General John Suthers cross petitioned on behalf of Beinor v. Industrial Claims Appeals Office,
2011 WL 3612226 (Colo. App. 2011) he challenged the fundamental principles upon which Colorado medical marijuana exists.
The industry has come together in defense of the case and Amendment 20, voted in by Coloradans to allow patient access
to medical marijuana.
The kickoff fundraising party, One Love at Hayters, will take place on Thursday, March 29, and is being hosted by industry business associations ACT4 Colorado (ACT4CO) and Cannabis Business Alliance (CBA).
About the Case
Jason Beinor, the plaintiff and petitioner, is a medical marijuana patient and was a Denver municipal employee until he lost his job for testing positive for medical marijuana.
Beinor is now represented by Andrew Reid, of Springer & Steiner, P.C., a professor at University of Denvers Sturm College of Law, and one of the state’s pre-eminent attorneys for constitutional law.
Beinor, a reluctant spokesperson, has kept a low profile and declined interviews and offers to speak
in public. Yet it is Beinor whose name has become synonymous with Amendment 20 patient rights. The marijuana had been ingested several days prior, he was not impaired on the job, and his employment record was clean. Beinor sought but
was denied unemployment benefits.
In a 2-1 vote, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the Medical Marijuana (MMJ) provisions of the Colorado
Constitution only decriminalized marijuana used for medicinal purposes under the Constitution, but did not secure a right in qualifying patients and their caregivers to use the medication. A qualifying MMJ user or care-giver couldn’t be
criminally prosecuted under state law, but because marijuana remains listed as a controlled substance, the user would remain subject to all other non-criminal restrictions and prohibitions under Colorado law pertaining to the use of
controlled substances.
It is crucial that we as an industry come together in support of Beinor. There is no more important case affecting medical marijuana today. It brings to bearing the key issues from what a latent presence of THC does, or does not do to impact impairment, to the classification of marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance with no medical value, to the tension between state and federal authority, said Robert Hoban, CBA chair and partner at Hoban & Feola.
The Imminent Threat to Patients, Caregivers & the Cannabis Industry is not only may unemployment benefits be denied as in the Beinor case, but other benefits and rights are impacted, from licensed occupations to rights to qualification for student loans, eligibility for welfare and employment assistance as well as parole and probation.
As long as the Colorado courts fail to recognize the Constitutional right to use medical marijuana, each of the 80,000+
qualifying MMJ patients are placed in the position of having to choose between control over their health, or employment, occupation, education, rights and benefits. We cannot let the decision stand, says Rico Colibri, president of
CARE, a medical marijuana patient advocacy group that has provided Beinor’s legal defense resources to date.
Currently the patient, the industry and the attorney general await notice on whether the case will be heard by the Colorado Supreme Court. We are already seeing this case cited from the Court of Appeals ruling. Our priority is to secure
the Constitutional right to medication, which is the purpose of the current petition to the Colorado Supreme Court in the Beinor Case, and virtually all of these other restrictions should fall as well since they would infringe upon a Constitutional
right, according to ACT4CO President Nicholas King.
The kickoff event, One Love at Hayters, 1920 Blake Street, Denver, is the beginning of grassroots mobilization on the part of patients and businesses alike.
Musical performances by Whiskey Tango, Buggsy Mogues and Selecta Nikka T will be performing. Doors open at 6PM and a suggested minimum donation of $10 dollars is requested.
All are welcome to attend.
About One Love
One Love is an inclusive, non-partisan, unaffiliated group of medical marijuana industry and patient stakeholders that exists to unify resources in support of common legal outcomes. Current fundraising activity is being used to support the legal defense of landmark medical marijuana patient Jason Beinor.
http://facebook.com/oneloveforbeinor
About ACT 4 Colorado
ACT for Colorado is a member driven organization of independent cannabis professionals organized and dedicated to ensuring patient access to quality medicine from diverse local sources through advocacy and education. ACT represents over 100 small and mid-sized businesses across Colorado. To learn more, please visit act4co.org.
About Cannabis Business Alliance
The Cannabis Business Alliance is organized and operated primarily for the purposes of promoting the common business interests of its members by encouraging policies which stimulate economic development for the medical marijuana industry as well as as business in general for Colorado; advising and communicating with members concerning industry best practices; serving as the voice of its members to relevant local, state and national governing bodies; and creating and implementing business events and social activities to promote and enhance the members business success.
Learn more at cannabisalliance.org or follow on twitter @Cannabizalliance
Please print, distribute, and attend!
Please print and distribute and encourage ALL to attend!
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