Ritter announced today he would cut about $6.2 million in spending from the state's general fund and transfer $53.4 million from various cash funds to help balance the budget. Because the state is not receiving as much federal Medicaid aid as expected, Colorado now faces a shortfall in the current budget year of about $60 million."Today's balancing plan continues the same strategies we've utilized throughout the downturn," Ritter said in a statement. "We are preserving essential services, protecting the safety net, minimizing pain and requiring shared sacrifices and shared solutions from everyone. This is a responsible plan that continues to position Colorado for a healthy and sustainable recovery."

Today's actions announced by Ritter would: Save $4.9 million from a 1 percent reduction in payroll costs achieved largely by not filling jobs.

Cut $1.3 million from the Department of Corrections, including a $250,000 savings from spending less than expected on clothing and cash for inmates leaving prison; and an $89,100 savings from reducing 20 private prison beds at the Trinidad Correctional Facility.

"This industry is like a bolting horse running out of a stable that's on fire," said Sierra Neblina, owner of the Medimar Haven dispensary in Lakewood, Colo. "We need to get a hold of our own industry."

Denver has some 250 dispensary storefronts and Boulder, Colo., has more than 100. So far, the state has issued more than 66,000 cards that allow holders to purchase medical pot. Card demand is so high that there's a six-month waiting period.

Now, experts estimate more than 100,000 Coloradans can buy medicinal marijuana legally. On April 1, the Medical Marijuana Registry at the state health department stopped accepting walk-up applications and will only process those sent by mail.

"The changes are necessary due to the explosive growth in the number of medical marijuana applications," said Mark Salley of the Colorado Health Department. He said the number of applications jumped from 270 per workday in August 2009 to about 1,000 in February 2010.

Yet, few see legalized marijuana as a way to boost the economy and create jobs, according to an Associated Press/CNBC poll. About a quarter of those polled said legalized pot would lead to more jobs, but 57% said there would be no effect. Sixty-two percent approve of states taxing the drug, with people in the West more likely to back the idea.

Call it Marijuana Country

Like California, which was the first to OK medical marijuana in 1996, Colorado's marijuana infrastructure and culture are well ahead of the other 12 states that followed.

Though Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington allow the practice, they are in various stages of start-up mode.

Similar ballot measures or legislation allowing medical marijuana are pending in 14 more states this year: Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin. The City Council of the District of Columbia today considers a bill to allow the sale and use of medical marijuana.

Those states have a lot to learn from California and Colorado. In the Mountain State, the jump in dispensary openings and applications for medical marijuana cards appears to be a direct result of key events — both local and national — that essentially loosened restrictions.