MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEASURES CONSIDERED

When it comes to medical marijuana in Montana, it's easy to stir up a
hornet's nest of controversy -- although medical marijuana advocate
Tom Daubert says that shouldn't be the case on a bill he and others
are supporting this week.

"It's as uncontroversial as a bill with the word 'marijuana' in it
can be," he says of House Bill 73, which would allow not only
physicians but also nurse practitioners and physician assistants to
prescribe marijuana for medical use in Montana.

The same probably can't be said about another marijuana-related bill
up for hearing this week, which will face vocal opposition from
supporters of Montana's medical marijuana program.

Senate Bill 212, sponsored by Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, says
if a medical-marijuana patient or "caregiver" is driving and involved
in a traffic accident or traffic stop by police, the police can
demand a blood test of that person.

If the person refuses, their medical-marijuana registration card can
be revoked, and if the test shows they have a certain level of
marijuana residue in their bloodstream, the card can be revoked for life.

Jackson says he's concerned about the high number of Montanans who
are killed or injured by impaired drivers.

"I consider this a special situation," he says. "If they are taking
marijuana and (driving), that's very serious."

Daubert, who represents the medical-marijuana group Montana Patients
and Families United, says he's seen no indication of any problem with
medical-marijuana patients or their caregivers driving under the
influence. A "caregiver" is someone legally designated to supply
patients with their marijuana.

The two bills are among several affecting medical marijuana this
Legislature, from both sides of the issue. Others yet to be
introduced include a proposal to make it easier for patients to
possess the amount of drug they need and one to close an alleged
loophole allowing caregivers to use the drug.

For now, however, the focus is on the two introduced bills.

HB78 will be heard before the House Human Services Committee
Wednesday afternoon; Jackson's bill is before the Senate Judiciary
Committee Tuesday morning.

Rep. Julie French, D-Scobey, the sponsor of HB73, says she's heard
complaints against her bill, but that opponents often want to argue a
point already settled: The legality of medical marijuana.

Montana voters made medical marijuana legal in 2004 by passing
Initiative 148 with 62 percent in favor.

As of last month, nearly 1,600 patients in 42 Montana counties have
been approved as medical-marijuana users, usually to alleviate pain
caused by chronic diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis.

French says her bill simply puts rural patients on an equal footing
with urban Montanans when it comes to finding a health-care
professional who could prescribe medical marijuana.

Current law allows only a physician to designate someone as eligible
for medical marijuana. As physicians become scarce in rural Montana,
severely ill patients who might need the drug would have to travel
hundreds of miles to see someone they don't even know, she says.

HB73 also would allow someone with an incurable medical condition to
renew their medical-marijuana registry every three years instead of every year.

"As with any other medicine we prescribe, we don't go out of the way
to make life hell for (the patient)," French said.

French and Daubert say HB73 is fairly innocuous, and hope it can
overcome any opposition from those who don't like the fact that
medical marijuana is legal in Montana.

As for Jackson's SB212, Daubert says it could penalize
medical-marijuana patients who aren't driving under the influence.
Elements of marijuana stay in one's system for days after using it,
and the user could fail the blood test and then lose his or her
medical marijuana registration card, even though they weren't driving
while impaired, he says.

"There's no scientific basis for the standards (in the bill) for
impairment," Daubert says. "Those who medicate with marijuana would
be pretty much guaranteed to fail the test."

Jackson says if it's true that medical-marijuana patients aren't
driving much at all, let alone under the influence, then they
shouldn't be worried about his bill.

"But if they are out there driving around, and they kill someone, it
would be pretty hard to convince the family members (of the victim)
that it wasn't a problem," he says.

Still, Jackson says he'll look forward to Tuesday's hearing to listen
to arguments against his proposal.

"I want to use the public process to see if we have a problem in this
area," he says.