! ! Members of the Colorado Senate Judiciary Committee; ! !

public affairs and consulting SHAWN COLEMAN, PRESIDENT 720-839-1560 shawnlcoleman@gmail.com

36 SOLUTIONS

On behalf of the Boulder Area Marijuana business owners, their employees, families, customers and patients that they serve, and I have the honor of representing, I write to express to you our strong opposition to Senate Bill 177 and Senate Bill 178. SB14-177 creates a definition of drug endangered child and SB14-178 creates criminal penalties for drug endangering a child. We agree that ensuring every child in Colorado has a healthy environment to grow up in and a family to love them is of paramount importance. Our concern is that these bills work counter to the goal of keeping families together and making them stronger.

Last year, similar legislation was introduced and Senator Roberts (R-Durango) offered an amendment that was accepted in Senate Committee that would have changed the definition to include use and abuse of a controlled substance. This amendment is central tenant of the harm reduction strategy. All substance use does not equate to substance abuse. The bill was amended in the House to direct a task force to recommend a definition of drug endangered child, a modified result of that groups work is now SB14-177. Unfortunately, drug policy reform groups, medical marijuana patient advocates were not included in the discussion.

While we thank Senator Kerr for his time and were disappointed that Senator Newell was unavailable due to a bill being heard in another committee, we were extremely disappointed to see that none of the recommendations offered in our meeting were incorporated into the introduced bill. The committee should know that we recommended that funding be allocated to ensure statutorily mandated reporters, law enforcement and human services professionals are educated on how to effectively use, but not abuse this tool. We further recommended a clear pathway to family reunification. We finally recommended the concerns of human services professionals that cases of children being subjected to neglect as a result of parental drug use being over-reported be acknowledged and addressed.

Though we were disappointed that these policy improvements that were offered in good faith were not incorporated into the legislation as introduced; it should be noted that even with such amendments, we would not be able to support legislation that creates criminal penalties for public health challenges. We would support measures that would have a preventive effect, however these bills only provide for a punitive effect after a child has been endangered.

To be clear, our opposition to this legislation is not based in the inclusion of marijuana or because alcohol is not included. Our opposition to this bill is simple, it creates criminals out of parents.

The threat of losing custody of children and criminal penalties will have a chilling effect on parents seeking quality medical advice from their physician because physicians are mandatory reporters. Whether the substance is being used for recreational purposes or is the result of medical regimen that turned into dependence over time, a parent should not fear risking their family by ensuring their physician understands their situation or asking for help for a substance abuse disorder.

Children who spend time in child protective services are 50% more likely to not finish High School or end up in the criminal justice system. These children are disproportionally low income, urban and minority. Like all archaic aspects of the drug war, this legislation will invariably burden those least able to mount a legal defense and result in the attendant multi-generational collateral consequences for the guilty and the innocent alike.

! ! !

Our businesses, employees and families stand with the Drug Policy Alliance and the Cannabis Patients Action Network in strong opposition to having cannabis, alcohol or any legal substances added to a definition designed to prevent against children being endangered by the production and sale of methamphetamine.

c.c. Morgan Carrol, President Colorado Senate Rollie Heath, Senator (D-Boulder) Dickey-Lee Hullinghorst (D- Boulder) K.C. Becker (D-Boulder)