NATUROPATHY BILL DOESN’T SURVIVE PAST COMMITTEE
A bill that would have regulated “naturopathic doctors” died in a House committee Monday despite supporters’ repeated efforts to save it.
House Bill 1064 would have created a registration system for naturopaths with four-year degrees who have been licensed to practice in another state. Fifteen other states license or regulate naturopaths, and the bill would have required Colorado to recognize naturopathic medicine licenses issued in other states.
It also would have banned nondegreed practitioners from calling themselves naturopaths.
Naturopathy emphasizes traditional remedies, such as herbs and vitamins, to aid the body in healing.
Supporters said the measure was needed to protect the public from nondegreed and unscrupulous people calling themselves naturopaths.
But the bill has faced opposition from physicians, who say naturopathy is not a science, and from nondegreed naturopaths, who didn’t want to be forced to stop.
The committee shot down the bill on a 7-6 vote, despite attempts to make it more palatable to opponents.
Fire-safe smokes move forward.
A House panel on Monday passed a measure that would require all cigarettes sold in Colorado to be “fire-safe.”
The cigarettes are designed to extinguish themselves after a few minutes if a smoker isn’t puffing on them. Supporters of Senate Bill 26 said the cigarettes can prevent many fire deaths. Tobacco companies also have not opposed the effort. The bill moves to the full House.
Fertilizer inspection bill goes to governor.
Lawmakers have given final approval to a bill giving state agriculture officials the right to inspect large tanks of anhydrous ammonia that farmers use for fertilizer. The House approved the measure on Monday. It now goes to the governor.
