A bill aiming to clarify and legitimize the relationship between Colorado’s medical marijuana patients and their doctors has gained the backing of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

Senate Bill 109 would prohibit financial conflicts of interest among physicians and caregivers, distributors and other medical marijuana providers.

The measure has the bipartisan sponsorship of a pair of state legislators: Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, and Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial.

“We’re dealing with the Wild, Wild West here and we can’t allow it to go on,” Romer said in a news release. “We need to make sure the people who legitimately need medical marijuana have access to it, and we need to get rid of the recreational users who are busying the system.”

On Jan. 27, the first committee passed the bill 6-1, sending it to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Features of the bill include:

Requirement of a “bona fide patient-physician relationship,” which entails a “treatment or counseling relationship,” a physical examination, and an assessment of the patient’s medical history.

Establishment of the definition for a “physician in good standing.”

Requirement of a confidential “registry identification card.”

The bill does not address dispensaries or the number of patients a caregiver may have.