Lawmaker Doesn't Want Medical Marijuana Patients Smoking Their Meds

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - A bill in the House that would regulate the medical marijuana industry could be taking a new twist.

A local lawmaker is proposing an amendment to the bill that would change the way marijuana patients medicate.

Representative Steve King says smoking anything is bad for you, so he's proposing an amendment to the marijuana bill Monday that says marijuana patients can take their medicine any way they want except by smoking it.

King thinks the THC from marijuana could be put into an inhaler form or made into lozenges or pills. It could also be eaten in food.

King says, "If in fact medical marijuana is for the relief of people's pain and hopefully for their health benefit, the idea of smoking that is not good for them. It's not good for their health."

But Travis Chambers, owner of God's Gift medical marijuana dispensary, disagrees and says, "A person should have their own way of administering the medicine to their self. For some people smoking works better than eating."

Local dispensaries like God's Gift say for some patients smoking is their best option to reduce nausea and pain.

King says a lot of members of the House will be proposing new amendments to the marijuana bill on Monday.

Right now, the bill is aiming to find ways to regulate how dispensaries get licensed and the restrictions put on getting a medical marijuana card.