MONTANA FALLS INTO POT-PLANT PURGATORY WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The state of Montana is frantically backpedaling six years after
voters passed Medical Marijuana Initiative 148. (Don't blame me, I
didn't vote for it.)

One of 10 states now with medical marijuana programs, Montana has
fallen into what might be called pot-plant purgatory as it struggles
with blurry laws and even blurrier implementation plans, stalling
what might well become a legitimate and major homegrown industry.

In this economy, it's encouraging to witness any business spring up
so quickly from a tiny seed. For marijuana outlet stores, business is
flourishing, though some residents have become alarmed.

Towns like Lewistown, Kalispell, Great Falls, Montana City, Belgrade,
Havre and Billings are suffering runaway growth in dispensaries and
have passed moratoria limiting new establishments.

It's as if toddlers dumped sugar cubes on an anthill while state
officials, legal pot users, caregivers and law enforcement officers
all scurry about trying to figure out where the boundaries are.

The biggest loophole in Montana's medical marijuana law allows
non-residents to obtain legal authorization to use medicinal cannabis
in the state. Such permissiveness contributed to over 23,500
registered patients by the end of July. And was this large group
mostly older and infirm? Not a chance - more than 25 percent were
between the ages of 21 and 30.

The Montana Legislature will attempt to better define the state's
marijuana regulatory scheme when it convenes in January 2011. It
might also look south for help.

In June, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed two bills into law
instituting complicated licensing requirements on dispensaries and
cracking down on unscrupulous doctors handing out marijuana
prescriptions like lollipops.

Meanwhile, opening the pot-filled Pandora's box has already resulted
in an outbreak of drug-related arrests.

One of the more interesting occurred earlier this year in Missoula,
where a man was arrested for growing nearly 100 marijuana plants in a
labyrinth of hand-dug grow rooms under his house. The marijuana
plants, flourishing under artificial lighting, had become four-foot
giants. In the garage were pickaxes, shovels, a cement mixer and
glass jars filled with marijuana. On a table was a stack of business
cards promoting "Organic Goodness."

The Missoula entrepreneur, who was a registered medical marijuana
patient, apparently got carried away and far exceeded his quota. Yet
once those cute seedlings break through the soil, who can resist
cultivating more?

Remember planting a bean in a Dixie cup back in third grade? You'd
check the windowsill everyday until a green shoot appeared, releasing
the overwhelming joy that all gardeners feel. Deep inside, we're all
horticulturists.

The underground grower exhibited some admirable traits: (1) He was
hardworking - digging out a crawlspace isn't easy, because your
head's always banging into floor joists. (2) He was industrious - all
those supplies like potting soil, seeds, grow lights, electrical
wires, and business cards, point to a stellar retail plan. (3) He was
competent -- with four-foot high plants, this guy knows fertilizers.
And (4) He showed foresight. A cement mixer and extra jars means he
was ready for a teeming business.

Some potential medical pot users, less confident than the Missoula
gopher, find themselves in a quandary. They pose questions like these
on the state website: "I don't have the money for the registration
fee. Can I make installments?" Times are tight, but we're talking a
measly $25 fee here.

Or, "Where do I get seeds? Where do I get plants? Where do I get a
bag of medical marijuana?" No doubt an only child. Or, "Do I need to
tell my employer and does he have to accommodate the use of medical
marijuana while I'm at work?" One can only hope this person does not
drive a truck carrying nuclear waste.

Can Montana's MM program survive the political climate changes that
lie ahead? Many chronic pain sufferers hope so; scientific evidence
indicates that the active ingredients in marijuana can relieve
symptoms from illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS.

They're willing to overlook negative side effects including possible
lung damage, potentially impaired short-term cognitive ability and
"amotivational syndrome," a condition defined basically as the loss
of get up and go.

But long-term help for Montana, as well as other states, can only
come if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gets into the business
by regulating marijuana's active ingredients. What we need is the
definition of a legal drug that meets accepted standards for drug
purity and potency and clear rules about who gets to grow, sell and
consume marijuana.

What we now have is a crapshoot, with vague laws creating legal
loopholes big enough for illegitimate pot users and growers to capitalize on.