[3] Founded by Thomas and Larisa Lawrence, the Colorado Compassion Club set a precedent that would lead to the legitimization of the medical marijuana industry.
The Colorado Compassion Club first began as an organization that strives to provide safe access to medical marijuana for qualifying patients, trained caregivers and provided resources for patients and caregivers seeking to become legal under 0-4-287 - ARTICLE XVIII of the Colorado State Constitution,[5] also known as Amendment 20,[6][7] allowing the medicinal use of marijuana for qualifying conditions.
After a raid from local and federal authorities in 2004,[8][9][10] The Colorado Compassion Club, decided the next best course of action would be to go more public in helping others [11] and began dispensing medical marijuana to chronically ill patients on a weekly basis from the Grant Avenue United Methodist Church, followed by a permanent establishment on Colfax Avenue.
The founders of the Colorado Compassion Club made great sacrifices[12][13][14] in trailblazing the medical marijuana industry so that others could follow suit.
The founding members of the Colorado Compassion Club, were the “canaries in the coal mine”[18] and showed the state of Colorado that it was possible to establish a medical marijuana center without further federal intervention while working with community leaders to exemplify a model for other leaders of the medical marijuana community to follow and build upon.