PANEL AIMS TO BLUNT MEDICAL MARIJUANA

An interim legislative subcommittee tentatively agreed Thursday on
some proposals to restrict Montana's fast-growing medical marijuana
industry.

The Medical Marijuana Subcommittee spent the day informally voting on
various proposals that will be incorporated in draft legislation to be
considered by the Legislature's Children, Families, Health and Human
Services Interim Committee on Aug. 23-24. The 2011 Legislature
ultimately will decide on the issue.

Afterward, the chairwoman, Rep. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, said she
believed two of the subcommittee's actions were especially significant
- -- the call for a new dispensary system and restrictions to prevent
physicians being financially involved with medical marijuana
caregivers or dispensaries.

The committee voted to recommend that Montana become a "dispensary
system" through which people with medical marijuana cards could buy
marijuana through dispensaries, or stores, that are designated as
their caregivers. Legislators voted to use the recently enacted
Colorado law as their model.

Colorado, Maine, New Mexico and Rhode Island recently adopted
dispensary systems that require all principal officers, board members,
managers and employees to undergo background checks and be licensed by
the state, according to a report by legislative researcher Sue O'Connell.

Under the proposal, the state would be allowed to inspect the
facilities or any growing operations and examine sales records. The
panel tentatively approved having dispensaries regulated by the state
Revenue Department as the state agency does with establishments that
sell alcoholic beverages.

As of June, nearly 20,000 Montanans had medical marijuana cards, with
the number soaring since last fall after the U.S. Justice Department
directed law-enforcement agents not to arrest medical marijuana users
and suppliers as long as they follow state laws.

Sands said one provider predicted that number could escalate to 50,000
Montanans by the time the Legislature convenes in January. She raised
the specter that 100,000 people, more than 10 percent of the Montana
population, might qualify for medical marijuana cards if they claim
"severe chronic pain," one of the criteria needed to obtain the card.

Rep. Penny Morgan, R-Billings, noted that a staff report showed that 2
percent of Montana's population has medical marijuana cards, compared
with 0.13 percent in Alaska, 0.62 percent in Colorado, 0.95 percent in
Oregon and 0.03 percent in California.

"Why it is that people in Montana are so disabled that they need this
so much?" she asked. "In my opinion, there are a lot of people getting
cards who shouldn't have them. This is not normal with the rest of the
country."

The subcommittee would still allow for caregivers, to be called
providers, who grow or buy marijuana. They would be able to sell it to
an as yet undermined number of patients.

Sen. Rick Laible, R-Victor, proposed limiting one caregiver to five
patients, but later dropped the idea. The panel voice support for some
sort of a tiered system for caregivers, such as limiting a caregiver
to from three and fewer patients, from three to five and so on, with
stiffer regulation the more patients a caregiver saw, but it didn't
settle on a number yet.

Laible supported the dispensary system idea, saying: "We won't need as
many caregivers except for people who are disabled."

Some caregivers in the audience testified they wouldn't be able to
survive financially if they could serve only five patients and would
have to get additional jobs.

"If you limit caregivers to five patients, you will have more
caregivers, not less," said Valerie Sigler. "This is not an easy thing
(growing marijuana) to do. It takes quite an investment. It takes
time. It's a full-time job."

Rick Rosio, owner of Montana Pain Management of Missoula, opposed
limiting the number of patients for caregivers. He said his business
now provides marijuana to 100 patients a day, day in and day out, all
across the state.

"To impose a five-patient limit will kill almost every operation in
the state," said Chris Lindsay.

Another key change recommended by the panel would prohibit a doctor
from being paid or soliciting pay from caregivers and dispensaries. It
also would be illegal for a physician to hold an economic interest in
a business if that doctor certifies the "debilitating medical
condition" that allows a patient to participate in a medical marijuana
program.

Sands said statistics show that many physicians have authorized
medical marijuana cards for a small number of patients. However, she
said there are a handful of doctors who have approved medical
marijuana cards for many, many people.

Imposing these financial restrictions on physicians should stop this
practice, she said.

Afterward, Bill Boast, a Kalispell caregiver, said he would probably
oppose the bill as written for a number of reasons.

"They don't limit a pharmacy as they have my clients," he said.
"Wal-Mart can sell Oxycontin to as many people (with prescriptions) as
they want."