Yesterday the Colorado Board of Health made several controversial changes to State Constitutional Amendment 20, which governs Colorado’s medical marijuana law – as we alerted you last week they might.

Under the rules, caregivers will soon have to offer more significant services to their patients, including transportation and meal preparation. Authorities say this is a way to separate those who really care from “drug dealers.” But to most caregivers, it’s just another way to put them out of business, by adding more expense to their operations.

It’s a nice thought: caregivers cleaning your house, making your meals, and driving you around while providing you with your medicine – and also doing the same for others patients as well. But how practical is that? Many caregivers are already strapped for time and money, and many have their own families to take care of. It’s like a doctor who makes house calls being forced by the government to offer free transportation and house cleaning with their visits. How long would it be before doctors were forced by the market to stop making house calls?

When economic matters are dictated by government policy, it inevitably leads to shortages and job losses. Let’s not extend these poor economic policies to the relatively new industry of medical marijuana.

- Joe Klare