MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS SUE GREAT FALLS

Three medical marijuana patients have sued the city of Great Falls
over the city's recent ban on medical marijuana caregivers.

According to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Cascade County District
Court, Great Falls medical marijuana patients Algy Thain, David Sears
and Kraig Jackson say the city commission's June 1 decision to ban
any land use for the purposes of medical marijuana unlawfully
prohibits them from growing their own medical marijuana and causes
them "substantial hardship" by making it difficult to obtain the drug.

"The main argument is that the local city government is a vassal of
the state and has a duty to enforce state laws, not federal," said
Carl Jensen, the Great Falls attorney representing the three
plaintiffs in the case. "The (city commission) has overreached its
authority, inhibiting my client's access to their
medication."

The ban is set to go into effect July 1.

A group called Montanans for Responsible Legislation said Tuesday's
lawsuit is the "first of many" to be filed in the state.

"Our most ill, the very people this law intends to protect, can no
longer wait for equitable treatment and justice," Douglas Chyatte, of
Montanans for Responsible Legislation.

Great Falls City Attorney James Santoro did not immediately return a
call requesting comment on the lawsuit.

The Montana Medical Marijuana Act, which voters overwhelmingly passed
through a 2004 ballot initiative, has become one of the hottest
issues facing lawmakers as hundreds of new patients sign up each
month. The state has seen a fivefold increase in new medical
marijuana cardholders in the past year.

As a result, municipalities throughout the state are instituting bans
or moratoriums on medical marijuana caregiver shops and state
lawmakers are considering ways to reform the law in the next
legislative session. One state senator has proposed an outright
repeal of the law that allows chronically ill patients to use marijuana.

Groups on both sides of the issue agree that the current law is
overly broad and needs to be modified, but Montanans for Responsible
Legislation said patients should not be forced to forgo medical
marijuana in the meantime.

"While it is not our intent to create an acrimonious or adversarial
relationship with the elected officials of Great Falls, we realize
many of our ill do not have the luxury of waiting for the wheels of
the bureaucracy to churn slowly towards a solution," Chyatte said.