New law: Courts can’t force medical marijuana abstinence for users awaiting trial

DENVER — Marijuana use won’t be banned while people await trial in Colorado. That’s according to a new law (SB17-178) signed Thursday.

Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a measure forbidding a court from saying that criminal defendants who are marijuana patients must abstain from pot as a condition of bond.

Colorado has already decided that marijuana use shouldn’t be off-limits for people on probation.

A fiscal analysis prepared for lawmakers says the bond measure won’t cost any money. That’s because pot abstention isn’t usually a condition of bond in this state.

Supporters call the bond change a policy statement. The protection for marijuana use applies only to people with certain medical conditions, not recreational pot users.