Medical marijuana rulemaking meeting room too small to fit all the people wanting to attend?

At the first meeting.

The Department of Revenue's medical marijuana advisory committee has been controversial from the beginning, and not only because meetings weren't open to the public until after advocates complained.

Now there are gripes from the likes of Cannabis Therapy Institute that the meeting space is too small for everyone who wants to attend the next session tomorrow.

Courtesy of Cannabis Therapy Institute

Part of the crowd at the first working group get-together.

The first hint of an issue came courtesy of an e-mail this week from committee member and prominent medical marijuana attorney Rob Corry to the DOR's Matt Cook. In response to a reminder note about the next meeting, scheduled for tomorrow, Corry wrote:

A reminder of my own: As I mentioned last meeting, I still have space available -- at zero cost to the State -- that will accommodate more members of the public than the conference room at 1881 Pierce. Please advise if you'd like to take advantage of my offer, which is made in the spirit of continuing to be a team player.

That was followed by a CTI release about the meeting that featured this lengthy aside:

This is a very small room with limited seating capacity. The first workgroup meeting was attended by over 100 spectators, with many spilling into the hallway. Despite many complaints from the public, the Department of Revenue has refused to secure a larger venue for these meetings. The DOR received over $10 million in application fees from the medical marijuana community in July and August, so they certainly have the funds to rent a larger room. Since so many of our community are disabled, the lack of effort to accommodate patients by the Department of Revenue is especially appalling.

The release goes on to suggest that folks interested in attending show up early -- but how early? Cook's note to board members said the meeting will take place at 9 a.m. tomorrow, but the DOR's website says 9:30 a.m. Oh, the suspense.

Page down to see more photos from the first working group meeting, courtesy of CTI, as well as the latest release: