SNUFF OUT POT SHOPS UNTIL STATE FIXES LAW:

Council Must Order
Dispensaries Closed, Moratorium On New Outfits

The medical marijuana situation has passed the point of ridiculousness
and is now firmly in the realm of the tragic. Unfortunately, all
indications are that Montana can expect increasing problems with
crime, violence and outrageous behavior until we finally get a handle
on our medical marijuana problem.

Last month, for example, was a doozy.

That's when a man was arrested on federal charges for transporting
marijuana from illegal sources in northern California to local
dispensaries in Missoula.

And when another young man pleaded not guilty to allegations he stole
pot plants from the home of a medical marijuana grower in Kalispell
who was beaten to death in April.

And when four medical marijuana "caregivers" pleaded not guilty to
charges of beating a man they suspected of robbing a medical marijuana
dispensary in Ravalli County.

And when a Whitefish doctor was fined for providing substandard care
stemming from her participation in a "cannabis caravan," or traveling
clinic in which doctors see large numbers of patients in a short
amount of time. The Whitefish physician, for example, saw about 150
patients in less than 15 hours. That breaks down to less than 6
minutes per patient.

Also in May, two medical marijuana dispensaries in Billings were
firebombed shortly before the city council passed a six-month
moratorium on new pot shops within city limits.

But these are only a sample of some of the worst cases of medical
marijuana-related crime. To better grasp the heights of absurdity to
which medical marijuana has taken us, we must also note the regular -
and apparently, popular - mass clinics that bring in doctors from
outside Montana to recommend marijuana to large numbers of people, at
least some of whom seem to be suffering from very minor, temporary
ailments - such as hemorrhoids or car sickness.

This is not what Montanans intended when more than 60 percent of
voters approved the Medical Marijuana Act in 2004. That initiative was
meant to help those in severe, persistent pain caused by medical
conditions like cancer. And basically, that's exactly how it
functioned for the first few years - until the Obama administration
announced last October that it would not enforce federal drug laws on
people using medical marijuana in accordance with the laws in their
states.

Technically, Montana's act permits patients who have a "debilitating"
medical condition, and a certification from their doctor, to apply for
a state-issued card that allows them to possess up to 1 ounce of
marijuana. Card-carrying medical marijuana patients may then designate
a "caregiver" to provide marijuana to them. And that, really, does not
sound so bad.

But what we have instead is a too-vague law rife with loopholes that
opportunists are using to engage in drug dealing. We have doctors
essentially selling their signatures at mass clinics. We have people
administering their "medicine" in public places, parolees being issued
"green cards" and an exploding industry that has more to do with
profiteering than meeting legitimate medical needs.

We also have an increasing number of marijuana-related traffic deaths.
Last year, marijuana was involved in 39 vehicle fatalities in Montana,
an increase from 33 in 2008 and 32 in 2007.

And, of course, we have a steeply rising increase in the number of
pot-smoking patients and pot-selling providers. According to the
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, as of May 31
the state counted 16,927 patients in its registry. Missoula alone
counts 2,390 patients - and 479 of the state's total 3,438 registered
caregivers.

This means there are approximately five patients per caregiver in
Missoula County - hardly enough to support a budding business. When
Montanans approved the Medical Marijuana Act, we envisioned a
"caregiver" as someone who would provide medical marijuana to only a
handful of patients at the most. We did not expect to see storefronts
on nearly every corner advertising to the wider public - and putting
profits ahead of medicine.

Given the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration still has
not approved marijuana for medical use, and the uncertain future of
the drug at the federal level, the proliferation of pot shops is
troubling. That is, in large part, why communities across Montana are
proposing zoning changes or approving temporary moratoriums on pot
shops. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, for instance, has
outright banned the sale of marijuana to Native Americans within the
borders of the Flathead Indian Reservation.

So far, however, Missoula's lawmakers have not taken any action to
rein in medical marijuana businesses. They should.

Until the state can straighten out the rampant problems with the
Medical Marijuana Act, Missoula should order existing dispensaries to
cease doing business and impose an immediate moratorium on new shops.

Such a measure would not affect legitimate patients, who would still
be able to use medical marijuana, nor legitimate caregivers, who would
still be free to provide it. But it would put an immediate end to what
is essentially drug dealing until Montana can get its medical
marijuana issues under control.