Unfriendly Atmosphere for Marijuana Patients in Montana

Submitted by Medical Marijua... on Wed, 09/21/2011 - 16:14
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Recently, laws have been passed to restrict the use and availability of medicinal marijuana in the state of Montana. Despite its legalization due to voter support, there are still many efforts to limit the options of patients, which has led to large decreases in various areas.

For starters, there has been a large decrease in the amount of prescribed patients. According to Roy Kemp, one of the deputy administrators, cardholders have dropped by about 15 percent through the end of last month.

Montana now has less than 27,000 medical marijuana cardholders, a lot less than it did when the substance was first introduced. There are also much less dispensaries, as the new regulations stripped many qualified caregivers of their certification.

In many areas of Montana, it is now very difficult to secure a prescription and almost harder to find a medical marijuana dispensary to fill it. Of the 4,000 caregivers that were stripped of their credentials, only 285 have been able to apply under the new laws.

Further attempts are now being made to restrict medical marijuana and its use, as we hear rumors of fingerprinting and complete background checks on all providers. But are all these limitations and brick walls really doing anything?

According to Kate Cholewa, of the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, they are not. These regulations are not actually decreasing the use of marijuana users; it is simply increasing the amount of illegal marijuana users.

Other medical marijuana supporters have been taking steps to revoke these restrictions. Among them is Patients for Reform-Not Repeal, which has been gathering signatures on a petition to throw out the new laws.

These issues are also currently being discussed in state courts, where injunctions have been placed on certain portions of the law. One such portion is that seemingly ridiculous section that allows unannounced searches of dispensaries and providers. The courts did well here, but they could certainly be doing a lot more.