DENVER -- A Denver district court judge has overturned a state health board ruling that narrowed the definition of who can supply medical marijuana.

Chief Judge Larry Naves ruled Tuesday that the Colorado Board of Health broke the law by rushing an emergency meeting to redefine the term caregiver.

"I find there was no emergency," Naves said. "There was no consideration of how the plaintiffs and others who are in need of medical marijuana would obtain it."

Naves said, "The board's action Nov. 3 violated the law and is, therefore, invalid and void."

"We are very pleased with the court's decision," said plaintiff's attorney Robert Corry. "The court did the right thing in finding that the Board of Health needs to consult with patients, consult with caregivers and consult with people whose daily lives are affected by its decisions."

A state health department official said she doesn't know if the ruling will be appealed.

Medical marijuana advocates had asked for an injunction blocking the board's Nov. 10 decision, saying it was made with little notice.

Last summer, the board defined a medical marijuana caregiver as one who has "significant responsibility for managing the well-being of a patient who has a debilitating medical condition."

The language made it possible to qualify even if the only thing they did was provide marijuana to a patient.

But health board officials said they had to change the definition last week after the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled on Oct. 29 that a caregiver had to do more for a patient than just supply pot.

The Colorado Department of Health then redefined a caregiver as someone who also provides other services for their clients, such as getting groceries or taking them to a doctor's office.

Medical marijuana users argued that the decision was going to make it more difficult and more costly to purchase medical marijuana.

Plaintiff Damien LaGoy uses medical marijuana to help cope with the nausea he experiences when taking dozens of pills to battle AIDS.

"Those things make me sick," LaGoy told 7NEWS. "We're talking hold-onto-the-garbage-can at 4 a.m. sick."

LaGoy, who has lost 20 pounds from the constant vomiting, said if he can't get marijuana from his caregiver he'll have to get it somewhere else.

"I'd be back on Colfax. That's one possibility," LaGoy said. "And 105 pounds at night, looking for marijuana, that's not a very pretty picture."

Health department spokesman Mark Salley said, "When the board took its emergency action a week ago, it did that in an attempt to clarify any misconception about what it meant to have significant responsibility for the well being of medical marijuana patients."

Salley said the Board of Health will consider the same question when it meets Dec. 16.

When asked if that meeting will include a public hearing, Salley responded, "I think the board needs to consider what form of testimony it will take at the meeting."