NEW BILL WOULD LIMIT PATIENTS, STOREFRONTS, ADS

HELENA -- When it comes to medical marijuana, the choice for
legislators so far has been between repealing or reforming the law
that allows its use.

But a new Senate bill, which is scheduled to be heard Friday morning,
offers a mix of both to dramatically cut the number of patients and
outlaw storefronts and advertising for the drug.

Senate Bill 423 relies on the 2004 voter initiative first being
repealed. It would then put a much stricter law in its place.

The bill is a product of a three-member subcommittee that was formed
after the Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked last week on bill to
repeal the law.

The head of that subcommittee, Sen. Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, said the
group's new bill seeks to reduce the number of card holders from more
than 28,000 to possibly less than 2,000.

Most current cardholders are registered for the treatment of chronic
pain. Essmann said his bill intends to dramatically cut the number of
chronic pain patients through requiring "objective proof" of their
condition and recommendations from two physicians.

The subcommittee has worked feverishly to crank out the 48-page bill
since the repeal bill stalled. Essmann said he plans to blast the
repeal measure out of committee so the entire Senate can vote that and
his new bill on the same day, most likely Saturday or Monday, if SB
423 clears committee.

Essmann said the reason for calling for repeal first is that he can
see no other way to rein in the law than starting from a clean slate.

While SB 423 contains complex language to coordinate with a repeal,
Essmann said there is nothing to prevent the Senate from killing it
and only passing repeal. Likewise, there is nothing to stop repeal
getting killed and only the reform measure from passing.

But if that happened, the bill would do nothing because it is designed
to institute a new law, not regulate the existing one.

SB 423 would ban all advertisement for medical marijuana, and set up
four types of licenses for people or organizations who would provide
marijuana to card holders: growers, infused product manufacturers,
personal production assistants and couriers. Anyone involved would
undergo a criminal background check. Convicted felons would be
ineligible for any license or to become a card holder.

Organizations could be licensed as growers or infused-product
manufacturers, but they must operate on a not-for-profit basis.
Infused products would be items such as butters and tinctures
containing the active ingredients in marijuana.

Growers would be limited to 95 plants, and couriers would deliver
their marijuana and the products of manufacturers to card holders.

Production assistants would help card holders grow their own if they
choose to. The assistants would be limited to serving four card holders.

For-profit businesses could become couriers, but couriers would not be
allowed to grow or manufacture the drug.

The Public Service Commission would be in charge of regulating all
growers, production assistants, infused-product manufacturers and
couriers, while the Department of Health and Human Services would
continue to determine who is eligible for using the drug. The bill
would also do away with the term "medical marijuana" and replace it
with "therapeutic marijuana."

Here's how it would work with repeal:

The repeal bill, House Bill 161, would stop the issuance of new cards
under the 2004 law immediately, then on July 1 all marijuana would be
illegal again under state law.

If SB 423 is passed, it would force all card holders registered for
chronic pain to re-register through the tougher process, which they
could do starting on June 1.

Businesses would have to apply for licenses with the PSC, which they
could also do while the repeal was in effect, but they would have to
conform to the 95-plant and five-patient limits. However, even newly
licensed providers would not be able to distribute any marijuana until
Oct. 1. During that time, the only way card holders could obtain
marijuana is if they grew it themselves.