A little history...In 2004, citizens of Montana voted to enact I-148, making it legal for patients to use medical marijuana with a recommendation from their doctor. 62% of Montanans agreed that patients who could benefit from this medicinal herb should be allowed to do so and be protected under Montana law. It was then up to the state legislature to create the rules and regulations that people would have to follow. Like any new law, the law that they came up with was not perfect, but it worked. People who needed it could get a recommendation from a doctor and then choose to grow the medicine themselves or find a caregiver to do it for them. Most people chose to have a caregiver because it is easier and more cost effective. At first, these caregivers were small, growing cannabis indoors, operating out of their basement or a small warehouse. But as time passed there was a greater demand for caregivers and patients wanting better service. They wanted to be able to go to a store or pharmacy and buy their medicine the same way they filled their other prescriptions. They didn’t want to have to try to get a hold of their caregiver, make an appointment and then meet them in a discreet location. Many patients didn’t feel safe doing this or quickly became frustrated when they could not get in touch with their caregiver. Out of need, the dispensary was born. Most people didn’t even notice them at first, but as demand grew the number of dispensaries also grew. For patients, this was a good thing, prices dropped substantially and they now had a safe environment to buy their medicine with regular business hours they could count on. Some members of the community, however, were not happy. They did not want dispensaries in their neighborhood. They did not want to see ads on billboards and in magazines that pictured pot leaves.

Many Caregivers recognized that there were problems with the law. Parts of the law were vague; and calls to law enforcement agencies and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, the agency responsible for overseeing the law, provided no clear answers. Caregivers trying to operate within the law asked the state legislature for help.

A legislative committee was formed to address the issue. This committee met with law enforcement officials, doctors and the MT Board of Medical Examiners, patients, caregivers and members of the community and came up with a regulatory structure for this new industry in a new bill called HB68. People on all sides felt there was still room for improvement, but it was definitely a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, this bill didn’t get very far in the house because legislators didn’t want to regulate the industry; they didn’t want there to be an industry to regulate. Instead of passing a bill that would put regulations in place to continue safe access for patients, create a reporting system for caregivers to follow that would account for all medicine produced, create an agency to oversee the industry making sure rules were being followed and giving law enforcement the tools they need to keep medical marijuana off the streets, they attempted to repeal the law all together. Their repeal efforts failed however because Governor Schweitzer would not let them flat out repeal a voter initiative. So they threw together a bill that repeals I-148 and puts a new medical marijuana law in place, SB423. When writing this bill they did not take advice from law enforcement or take into consideration recommendations from the MT Board of Medical Examiners. They did not listen to the hundreds of patients who showed up at the hearings begging them not to pass SB423. Instead, they passed a law to put an end to the medical marijuana industry.

“We said you can’t make a profit because we saw that that was a lot of the problem with the industry was it’s such a tremendous money making opportunity.” said Mike Milburn, Speaker of the House, during an NBC Montana news interview.

What do they have against making money? We are living in tough economic times. Many of the people who became caregivers were out of work construction workers and others who had found themselves without a means to support their families. Most caregivers had small operations, providing for 10-20 patients; while only about 10% grew into large dispensaries. These dispensaries put hundreds of people to work and supported many local businesses from gardening supply stores to electricians that say they probably wouldn’t be in business if it weren’t for medical marijuana. The medical marijuana industry was one of the few industries that was actually growing and helping Montana to avoid some of the challenges other states were facing due to the poor economy.

What’s wrong with SB423?

The biggest obstacle patients face is that they can no longer purchase their medicine. They have to grow it themselves or find someone willing to grow it for them for free and without being reimbursed for expenses. Most people have a hard time keeping their houseplants alive, but our government seems to think people should be able to grow medicinal quality marijuana in their homes without any professional help. All they need to do is devote a room or large walk in closet to their grow operation, do some construction to get the grow area ready, buy all the equipment they will need including lights, fans, temperature and humidity controls, etc.) and they are ready to get started. Hopefully they have about $2,000 saved up, because its going to cost at least that much before they ever see any medicine. Now on to the next step: growing the plants. Oh wait, they can’t do that because it is illegal for anyone to sell or give them seeds or starter plants. When asked where patients were supposed to get these necessary items, DPHHS replied “It’s a catch 22”.   So even though it is legal to grow medical marijuana, the law makes it practically impossible to do so.

How is a new patient supposed to get their medicine?

SB423 provides no legal way for a new patient to obtain the medicine the law gives them the right to have. The state legislature admits there are “flaws” with the law. Both the Montana Democratic and Republican parties have put medical marijuana on their platform as something that needs to be fixed. But until then, what are patients supposed to do?

The only people who will be able to legally grow their medicine are the few people who are already doing so. Unfortunately, the law provides no regulations for these private grow operations other than limiting the number of plants and the amount of useable medicine they are allowed to have. There is no one watching them to make sure they are in compliance with the law and no way of ensuring that marijuana is not finding its way to the black market. And with the current limitations in place it is very hard for people to stay within the proper limits. For example, the average plant produces anywhere from about ½ oz to 4 oz, with the average being about 2 oz. The law says each patient is only allowed to have up to 1 oz. What is the patient supposed to do with the extra when they harvest? They can’t keep it, they can’t sell it, they aren’t even supposed to give it to another patient and most people aren’t going to throw away something that they spent so much time and money to grow in the first place. And, is that even legal? Someone could easily take it out of the garbage and it would be the patient’s fault for not keeping his or her medicine locked up.

The current state of the law

Last year a judge issued a temporary injunction against parts of the law because he felt they were unconstitutional. With this injunction in place, patients were still able to purchase their medicine from providers, so it seemed like the law was working. However, a recent Supreme Court ruling lifted that injunction on September 26th, leaving most patients without their medicine.

A group called Patients 4 Reform Not Repeal gathered signatures last year to give voters the chance to vote on the new law. If voters vote FOR SB423, patients will suffer and will not be able to get the medicine their doctors recommend. If voters vote AGAINST SB423, then we will revert back to the old law I-148 and our state legislature will have the opportunity to regulate the law the way they should have done in the first place.

For more information on SB423 and the state of medical marijuana in Montana, please visit www.patientsforreform.org

Jessica Hiatt lives in Bozeman. She is a medical marijuana advocate and was a signature gatherer for the IR-124 petition in summer 2012.