{"id":8324,"date":"2018-06-06T00:23:09","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T00:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=3073557"},"modified":"2018-06-06T00:23:09","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T00:23:09","slug":"in-record-setting-veto-hickenlooper-rejects-bill-adding-autism-to-conditions-eligible-for-medical-marijuana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/in-record-setting-veto-hickenlooper-rejects-bill-adding-autism-to-conditions-eligible-for-medical-marijuana\/","title":{"rendered":"In record-setting veto, Hickenlooper rejects bill adding autism to conditions eligible for medical marijuana"},"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\/in-record-setting-veto-hickenlooper-rejects-bill-adding-autism-to-conditions-eligible-for-medical-marijuana\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/in-record-setting-veto-hickenlooper-rejects-bill-adding-autism-to-conditions-eligible-for-medical-marijuana.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday set a new benchmark for vetoes in a year as he rejected a measure that would have provided medical marijuana access for people with autism spectrum disorder, saying he could not ignore \u201coverwhelming concerns from the medical community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we sign that bill we end up, without question, in some way encouraging more young people to look at this as an antidote for their problems,\u201d he told reporters before turning down the legislation, <a href=\"http:\/\/leg.colorado.gov\/bills\/hb18-1263\">House Bill 1263<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The measure would have added autism spectrum disorder to the list of conditions eligible in Colorado for medical marijuana treatment, a list that includes cancer, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, post-traumatic stress or certain chronic or debilitating diseases or medical conditions with certain symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>State lawmakers cannot override Hickenlooper\u2019s veto because they are no longer in session.<\/p>\n<p>According to legislative fiscal analysts, 93,314 people were authorized to use medical marijuana in Colorado as of the end of February, 314 of whom were under age 18.<\/p>\n<p>The governor\u2019s office says Hickenlooper on Tuesday met with families of children with autism as he weighed whether to sign House Bill 1263. Several mothers and their children set up camp outside his office doors at the Colorado Capitol as they waited for news.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think its unfortunate,\u201d said state Sen. Steve Fenberg, a Boulder Democrat and one of the bill\u2019s prime sponsors. \u201cI think there are a lot of families that it would benefit. The reality is the traditional pharmaceuticals aren\u2019t always the right choice for these kids, either.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fenberg also rejected the notion that the legislation could have led to more kids \u2014 outside of those with autism \u2014 using marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not for people who have just a little bit of Asperger (syndrome) or something,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is for people who have kids who at the end of the day are hurting themselves. It\u2019s not a justification to be able to smoke pot. It\u2019s genuinely about medicine to help people. And there\u2019s science behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hickenlooper, as part of his veto, ordered state health officials to study whether marijuana can be an effective and safe treatment for autism.<\/p>\n<p>Hickenlooper vetoed three other bills Tuesday \u2014\u00a0House Bill 1083, House Bill 1011 and Senate Bill 156. They dealt, respectively, with\u00a0exempting private planes from sales and use taxes, allowing publicly traded corporations to invest in marijuana businesses and loosening requirements that counties publish financial information in newspapers.<\/p>\n<p>In all, the governor has rejected 9 measures from the recently ended 2018 legislative session \u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/06\/04\/marijuana-tasting-room-bill-veto\/\"> the most he\u2019s ever turned down<\/a> in one year.<\/p>\n<p>Since taking office in 2010, Hickenlooper has vetoed 23 bills, according to his office.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>The year of his second-highest number of vetoes was 2014, when he turned down five bills.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/06\/04\/hickenlooper-sex-offenders-board-conflicts-of-interests\/\">With the veto<\/a>, Hickenlooper was nearing the finish line Tuesday of sifting through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/05\/13\/most-important-bills-colorado-2018\/\">more than 400 bills sent to him<\/a> by the Colorado General Assembly this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of these bills have very good sides and very bad sides,\u201d Hickenlooper told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>He chose a piece of workforce development legislation \u2014 House Bill 1266, a symbol of one his biggest priorities over two terms\u00a0 \u2014 for his final public bill signing Tuesday before a crowd huddled into his office.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hickenlooper had a pretty good comeback when I asked him who he will be voting for in the governor&#8217;s race in light of ballots going out yesterday (<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BisrFHnxgn\">https:\/\/t.co\/BisrFHnxgn<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t gotten my ballot yet,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jesse Aaron Paul (@JesseAPaul) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JesseAPaul\/status\/1004126352566509568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 5, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cHopefully these programs are going to thrive and endure long after the name Hickenlooper has lost any currency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Hickenlooper was then handed a set of pens from every year of his administration to sign the measure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is, I will say, a little bit bittersweet,\u201d he said as he prepared to turn the bill into a law.<\/p>\n<p>After creating the new policy, Hickenlooper took a few questions from reporters \u2014 whom he thanked for their hard work over the years \u2014 before being showered in applause and preparing to head off to Detroit for a speaking engagement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday vetoed a bill that would have added autism to the list of conditions eligible under state law for medical marijuana treatment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1228,5062,7337,6907,6811,6857,6892,2097,6813,77,56,9,5019,441,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[3798,5063,7338,6909,6816,6859,6893,4665,6818,2655,2636,5022,3015],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8324"}],"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=8324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}