MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW BEING REVIEWED

Rep. Gary MacLaren, R-Victor, is confident that Montana's medical
marijuana law will look quite different at the end of next year's
legislative session.

And he's sure it won't stop there.

"We'll probably find that in two years hence that we will have to
modify it some more," MacLaren said. "There is always something that
will be overlooked."

MacLaren is part of a subcommittee of the Children, Families, Health
and Human Service Interim Committee that has been reviewing proposed
changes to the 2004 law.

The subcommittee meets Thursday in Helena to consider any
modifications before passing a draft bill onto the full committee
later this month.

MacLaren said the resulting proposed bill will be just one of many
offered during next year's legislative session.

At this point, the changes being considered by committee
include:

. Requiring patients to get recommendations from two physicians when
seeking a registry card for medical marijuana to treat chronic pain;

. Requiring fingerprint background checks for people who provide
marijuana for medical use;

. Revoking medical marijuana registry cards when patients violate the
Medical Marijuana Act or certain other provisions of state law;

. Prohibiting anyone with a felony conviction from being a caregiver,
the term used for people who provide medical marijuana; and

. Prohibiting people who are on probation or parole from taking part
in the medical marijuana program as either a patient or caregiver.

MacLaren said the changes are designed to stop people from abusing the
law.

For example, MacLaren said there are some physicians who have made a
business out of prescribing medical marijuana.

While two-thirds of the physicians who have prescribed medical
marijuana have done so with four or less patients, 20 doctors have 100
medical marijuana patients or more.

"They are just making a business out of it," MacLaren said. "That's
not what the law intended to do."

MacLaren said the committee also wants to keep medical marijuana out
of the hands of felons and drug dealers.

"Right now the law allows people on parole to have a medical marijuana
card," MacLaren said. "That just drives probation officers nuts. These
people are not supposed to be using drugs as part of their parole."

The committee is also looking at changing the names of those who use
and distribute marijuana under the law.

MacLaren said people in the medical profession object to the name,
caregiver.

"That implies that people are offering medical care to people, which
isn't what they're doing."

Caregivers sell medical marijuana to patients - a name the committee
also doesn't care for.

"We would like to see patient changed to cardholder," MacLaren said.
"They are a patient as long as they are going to their doctor. Once
that stops, they become a cardholder."

MacLaren said the committee has taken a hard look at what's happened
in the other states in its attempt to revise the law.

There are currently 14 states with medical marijuana
laws.

Montana's medical marijuana law was passed through the initiative
process in 2004, he said. That process doesn't always take into
account all the complexities of complicated issues.

"The original law was six pages long," he said. "Ours right now is 26
pages."

The subcommittee meets at 10 a.m. in room 137 of the state capitol
Thursday. The public is invited to attend and will have a chance to
comment.

The subcommittee may modify the bill draft before approving a final
version. It will then go to the full interim committee for
consideration during an Aug. 23-24 meeting in Helena. If the full
committee approves a bill draft, the bill will be referred to the 2011
Legislature.