CRACKED POT LAW NEEDS A FIX

The wheels are in motion for changes to Montana's dubious medical
marijuana industry (or should we say racket?), and changes are
definitely in order.

A legislative committee has approved a series of measures that would
make it more difficult to get a medical marijuana card, set more
stringent conditions for those who grow and sell medical marijuana,
and make it easier for the state to track and regulate the industry.

It has indeed become an industry, with the number of card holders
growing from just a few thousand last year to 23,500 at the end of
July. That astounding change is thanks largely to "cannabis caravans"
that traveled the state, with doctors rapidly screening and approving
those in "desperate need" of medical marijuana. The caravans have been
discontinued, however, and replaced with online applications for
cards. A Billings reporter this week got a doctor's recommendation for
medical marijuana after an eight-minute online conversation.

Jason Christ, executive director of the Montana Caregivers Network,
thinks that eight minutes was too long a wait, and not surprisingly,
he is unhappy with the new restrictions that are being proposed for
the Legislature.

"I think these bill drafts simply don't make sense and don't reflect
the will of the people," he says.

Well, we beg to differ. Montana voters approved a medical marijuana
ballot initiative in 2004 after being exposed to a campaign that
highlighted terminally ill people or unfortunate souls with serious
pain. There was an impression that medical marijuana would be used for
exceptional purposes.

But that's not what happened, and there seems to be a reluctance to
accurately describe what has happened. But we'll give it a stab: while
many card holders probably have legitimate medical issues, a good
share of medical marijuana cards are being acquired by potheads with
no serious ailments.

And we'll take it a step further. Some marijuana "caregivers" are
nothing more than profit-seeking pot dealers.

Take the case of two sisters who were arrested in the Havre area this
week for suspect transactions at their "Ganja Gardens" business. An
undercover investigation revealed that the sisters were selling more
than the one-ounce state limit, they weren't selling to designated
patients as required, and their marijuana grow operation was not
substantial enough to provide the amount of pot they were
distributing, raising suspicions that they were buying their weed from
elsewhere. And that's not how it's supposed to work.

But that's the big problem here; Montana's medical marijuana law is
not working the way it was supposed to work in many ways.

"When I talk to my constituents -- even those who voted for it -- they
say, 'This is not what I voted for,'" said state Sen. Roy Brown, R-Billings.

He's not alone in that observation. If marijuana advocates want
legalized marijuana, hey that's cool, put it on the ballot and let's
see what happens. But exploiting the state's medical marijuana law
isn't cool, and the Legislature is right to bring the law in line with
the intent of Montana's voters.