[420 Girl]

DENVER - State Senator Chris Romer unveiled his proposal to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado.

Romer wants to create a medical marijuana licensing authority, which grants, refuses and renews licenses.

Among other items in the bill, Senator Romer wants a board to decide whether patients under 21 years old, excluding military veterans, qualify for medical marijuana.

"The kids who want to use it recreationally do not belong in the medical system," Romer said.

Brian Vicente from Sensible Colorado says, "He's ignoring the fact that people under 21 do get sick, and if they do, their doctor should have the right and ability to prescribe medical marijuana."

Dispensary owner Brian Willey said, "We do have a lot of legitimate under 21 people who have Crohn's Disease, or cancer. To subject them to a review board I think is kind of excessive."

Under Romer's plan, patients will only be able to change their primary caregiver up to four times a year.

A more thorough medical marijuana physical will be required, and doctors will not be allowed to get paid by dispensaries.

"Right now the medical model is that basically the dispensaries are paying the doctors to write scripts, and that's just terrible. We don't do that anywhere else in the medical world, where you're incentivized to write a prescription for a controlled substance," Romer said.

Also under Romer's proposal, registered primary caregivers, like licensed chiropractors and acupuncturists, will be allowed to treat up to a quarter of their annual patients with medical marijuana without having a license. But those businesses will not be allowed to get a grower's license.

Romer's bill will be heard by the legislature when they meet next month. Depending on the outcome, it could be signed into law by February.

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