Conviction upheld for Colorado pot doc

The Colorado Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a physician sentenced to a month in jail for prescribing marijuana without first conducting the necessary exam procedures required by law.

The case against Dr. Joseph Robert Montante has become an important test in how far Colorado can go regulating doctor-patient relationships when it comes to pot.

Montante was convicted for attempting to influence a public servant. That’s because the doctor allegedly made an improper recommendation of medical marijuana to an undercover detective at a clinic in Loveland in 2012.

The doctor appealed his conviction. But the state’s second-highest court rejected his appeal in a decision released Thursday. Judges dismissed the doctor’s claim that he was being punished for his personal opinions about pot.