HOW LAW ENFORCEMENT, JUDICIAL SYSTEM DEAL WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA ISSUE

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have medical marijuana
laws. The Montana Medical Marijuana Act was voter initiated in
November 2004 by 62 percent of Montana voters. The act permits the
"qualifying patient or caregiver" to "acquire, possess, cultivate,
manufacture, deliver, transfer, or transport marijuana not in excess
of 1 ounce per patient and six plants per patient."

The patient must have a "qualifying medical condition" as deemed by a
physician in order to obtain a card. The patient obtains his or her
medical marijuana from caregivers. A caregiver may receive "reasonable
compensation" to help with administering medical marijuana. Currently
30,000 people in Montana have medical marijuana cards; the majority of
cardholders are between the ages of 18 to 35. As of Feb. 1, 11
caregivers and 145 cardholders were registered in Richland County.

The challenge with medical marijuana is that medical marijuana is
marijuana. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug. The federal government has
made Schedule I drugs illegal. Both federally and in Montana, Schedule
I drugs cannot be prescribed; however, the federal government will not
prosecute cardholders or caregivers for possessing the correct amount
of marijuana or relevant marijuana paraphernalia. The U.S. Justice
Department has stated federal agents will only target medical
marijuana distributors when they violate both federal and state law.
The Medical Marijuana Act does not "allow or prevent" criminal
prosecution of a caregiver who uses marijuana or paraphernalia for
personal use. These contradictions make applying local laws and
probation statues challenging. "Unless the state gets iron clad
guidelines, medical marijuana is a problem for the state and Richland
County," City Judge Gregory Mohr said.

The main problem for Mohr and the justice system is that most of the
laws in effect today have been in place for hundreds of years. The
newest law, besides the most recent Medical Marijuana Act, was put
into effect in 1986. The Supreme Court hands down motions every week
that change the way Mohr deals with cases. The Medical Marijuana Act
allows medicinal use of an illegal drug, and Mohr has to honor that
act. Yet the act is clear on one thing. It "does not permit any person
to operate, navigate, or be in actual physical control of any motor
vehicle, aircraft, or motorboat while under the influence of marijuana."

The act raises some challenging issues for probation and parole
officers. Offenders must obey city, state, and federal laws while on
probation, and marijuana is illegal, but the card allows smoking the
drug. "The Department of Corrections will allow medical marijuana
cards, but these cards can be void if imposed as a condition of
probation," Probation and Parole Officer Lloyd Dopp said. But the card
is not a perfect solution. It is a misdemeanor if a person knowingly
or purposely fabricates or misrepresents a registry identification
card to a law enforcement officer. And as Mohr reiterates, "the card
is tied to the patient's address."

As far as local law enforcement is concerned, the Medical Marijuana
Act does not make it mandatory for caregivers to register with local
law enforcement. This adds to the perception of marijuana moving from
marijuana as a drug to marijuana as a prescription. Undersheriff
Dennis Palmer said, "The law needs to be changed. The simple labeling
of marijuana as "medical" started a perception that marijuana must be
OK. This perception is incorrect as marijuana still has more
carcinogens than tobacco. The act sends our youth a terribly mixed
message. Any drug use does impact a community negatively such as
criminal activity, domestic disputes and financial problems." In
reference to those concerns, recently the city of Sidney passed
Emergency Ordinance 510, which extended the previous Ordinance 450.
Emergency Ordinance 510 will "prohibit any property in the city of
Sidney to be used by a caregiver, as defined by the Montana Medical
Marijuana Act, to grow manufacture, pro! duce, or distribute marijuana
for a period of 90 days."

Sources for this article can be found at:
http://www.dphhs.mt.gov/medicalmarijuana/title50chapter46mma.pdf

http://www.dphhs.mt.gov/medicalmarijuana/frequentlyaskedquestions.shtml

The following sources were inadvertently omitted in the previous
article on medical marijuana risks.

http://www.ondcp.gov/publications/html/marijuana.html

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/marijuana/marijuana_ff.html

http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/

http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//PHD641/PHD641.pdf