{"id":7294,"date":"2017-03-16T20:22:47","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T20:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2576761&amp;preview_id=2576761"},"modified":"2017-03-16T20:22:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T20:22:47","slug":"thousands-of-colorado-medical-marijuana-patients-caught-in-registry-backlog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/thousands-of-colorado-medical-marijuana-patients-caught-in-registry-backlog\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of Colorado medical marijuana patients caught in registry backlog"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/thousands-of-colorado-medical-marijuana-patients-caught-in-registry-backlog\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"row\" id=\"sticky-outer\">\n<div class=\"large-11 small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: Mar 16, 2017, 1:08 pm \u2022 Updated: Mar 16, 2017, 2:19 pm<span class=\"single-comments-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/16\/colorado-medical-marijuana-backlog-online-registry\/75574\/#disqus_thread\" class=\"commentsNameLink\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <span class=\"author\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/awallace\/\" rel=\"author\">Alicia Wallace<\/a><\/span><em>, The Cannabist Staff<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Colorado\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colorado.gov\/pacific\/cdphe\/medicalmarijuana\">Medical Marijuana Registry<\/a> is in the thick of a six- to eight-week backlog for mailed applications for medical cannabis cards, affecting thousands of patients.<\/p>\n<p>As of Thursday, the office was processing applications received by mail on Jan. 31, 2017. More than 6,000 pieces of mail remain in the hopper \u2013 including the 4,178 pieces of mail that arrived in February.<\/p>\n<p>As the state switches over to an online application system, what amounts to a heavy workload for the registry\u2019s limited processing crew is causing frustration among some within the state\u2019s medical marijuana community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey can\u2019t seem to get their act together in renewing people\u2019s statuses,\u201d said Rob Cagen, 70, of Fort Collins, whose medical marijuana card expired this week. \u201cIt seems crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The mailed application wait times, which typically have been 20 to 30 days, have spiked as a result of January\u2019s debut of the online registry. And patients like Kagen, who was unable to register online, are having to wait as long as two months for their card.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a massive amount of time to wait for your doctor-recommended medicine,\u201d said Brian Vicente, a partner with Vicente Sederberg, a law firm specializing in cannabis regulations. Vicente also is a director of Sensible Colorado, a medical marijuana patient advocacy group.<\/p>\n<p>A key cardholder complaint: Medical marijuana patients can only complete the online application process if their recommending physician has applied online as well. State officials confirmed this is the case, citing the requirement is a function of the site.<\/p>\n<p>Caregivers who grow plants for patients also are required to be registered online before a patient can list them in their application. <\/p>\n<p>As of this week, 66 physicians were registered online. An estimated 600 physicians in the state recommend medical marijuana, state officials say.<\/p>\n<p>Kagen, whose doctor had difficult accessing the site initially, mailed in his application this week and plans to wait it out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m in a way better situation than, I\u2019m sure, a lot of other people are,\u201d Kagen said.<\/p>\n<p>The current situation is temporary, said Natalie Riggins, director of the Medical Marijuana Registry.<\/p>\n<p>Two years in the making, the new online site is designed to be more robust, secure and expeditious \u2014 patients are receiving cards two to three days after applying online.<\/p>\n<p>As of Tuesday, the registry had 21,176 patients active on the online system, representing roughly 20 percent of the total registry, Riggins said. And during the past weekend, the 500 people who submitted applications online received their cards by Monday.<\/p>\n<p>A significant barrier to clearing the backlog has been wrangling the volume of calls and e-mails in addition to the applications, Riggins said.<\/p>\n<p>The office has some advice for patients: The majority of the phone and e-mail queries are addressed on the registry\u2019s website, Riggins said, adding that it\u2019s highly recommended that people check the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.colorado.gov\/pacific\/cdphe\/medical-marijuana-online-registration-system-frequently-asked-questions-faq\">frequently asked questions<\/a>\u201d page before calling or e-mailing the office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce they get acclimated, that mail volume will drop and this system will allow for a much smoother process and will allow us to be much more efficient with how we process (applications),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>For patients whose cards are up for renewal soon, according to the FAQ, \u201cExisting patients should wait to register in the new system until it is time to renew their annual medical marijuana card up to 30 days prior to your card expiring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In January, the registry office received 11,538 total requests, of which 7,868 were pieces of mail and the remainder were e-mails, online submissions and phone calls requiring resolution beyond what the call center could provide, according to information provided by Mariah LaRue, spokeswoman for the medical marijuana registry.<\/p>\n<p>In February the office received 13,227 requests, of which 4,178 were pieces of mail, LaRue said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooking at our upcoming mail volume, we\u2019re pretty confident that by next month at this time, if not by the end of this month, we will be back to a 35-day turnaround by mail,\u201d Riggins said.<\/p>\n<p>The state office that processes those applications has staffed up to input the paper applications into the new system, manage what comes in electronically and answer the surge of queries about the process, Riggins said. The department recently hired five temporary employees, bringing its current processing staff to 12, and has plans to hire more.<\/p>\n<p>The office\u2019s budget, however, is limited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe registry is a cash revenue program and the only source of funding is the $15 application processing fee,\u201d LaRue said via e-mail. \u201cWe do not receive any legislative funding or tax-based funding. The program is sustained strictly off of the revenue brought in by the $15 application fee. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike all fee-based programs in Colorado, we are self-sustaining based on our fee revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Year-to-date, the registry\u2019s revenue totaled $953,499 for the fiscal year that ends on June 30. Expenditures were just shy of $1.2 million, LaRue said.<\/p>\n<p>Patients will be able to submit paper applications through the end of the year; the registry moves fully online in 2018.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Updated March 16, 2017 at 2:10 p.m.<\/strong><em> Clarification: Because of an editor\u2019s error, previous versions of this story included information that inaccurately described the Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry\u2019s funding. The $15 patient application fee is the sole source. <\/em> <\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"entry-meta-author\">\n<div class=\"authorimage\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/awallace\/\" rel=\"author\"><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/thousands-of-colorado-medical-marijuana-patients-caught-in-registry-backlog.jpg\" class=\"authormug\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p class=\"author-desc\">Alicia Wallace joined The Cannabist in July 2016, covering national marijuana policy and business. She contributes to the Denver Post&#8217;s beer industry coverage. In her 13 years as a business news reporter, her coverage has spanned the economy, Sports&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry is in the thick of a 6- to 8-week backlog for mailed applications, affecting thousands of patients. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6813,6848,77,6815,56,9,5019,441,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[6818,6851,2655,6820,2636,5022,3015],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7294"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7294\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}