Today, the Colorado Court of Appeals announced its decision in the case of People v. Clendenin, a case handled by attorney Robert Corry. The case dealt a serious blow to patients rights and casts doubt on whether a primary caregiver will receive any legal protection.
The case can be read at: http://www.cobar.org/opinions/opinion.cfm?opinionid=7372&courtid=1.
It is more critical than ever to view the MMJ laws as conservatively as possible. Under the Clendenin case, the Court of Appeals ruled that the primary care-giver affirmative defense does not apply where the provision of marijuana is itself the substance of the relationship. As I have told prospective caregivers who seek my advice, caregiving means more than cultivating and/or providing MMJ to your patient and any such activities must be limited only to patients who have assigned you to be their caregiver (i.e., no walk-in business!). Caregiving requires a personal relationship and providing MMJ to your patient is only one small part of managing the patient’s well-being. In order to receive any protection a caregiver must (1) have a personal relationship with the patient; (2) be assigned the right to cultivate and provide MMJ by and on behalf of the patient; and (3) MMJ must only be a small part of your caregiving service.