Colorado protects marijuana use while patients await trial

DENVER (AP) — Marijuana use shouldn't be banned while people await trial. That's according to a bill that passed the Colorado Legislature Monday.

The bill applies only to medical marijuana patients, not all defendants. But the bill forbids a court from saying that criminal defendants who are marijuana patients must abstain from pot as a condition of bond.

The measure has already passed the Senate and now awaits the signature of Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is expected to agree to the idea.

Colorado has already decided that marijuana use shouldn't be off-limits for people on probation.

A fiscal analysis prepared for lawmakers says the bond measure won't cost any money. That's because pot abstention isn't usually a condition of bond.