STATE: NO CARDS FOR MARIJUANA SINCE LAW TOOK EFFECT

The state health department is still receiving applications, but has
issued no new medical marijuana cards since May 13, the day before a
tough new law took effect, officials said Tuesday.

"We will not issue any cards until June 1, when the next phase of the
law triggers in," said Roy Kemp, an official with the Department of
Public Health and Human Services.

The new applications can't be processed until the new system under the
new law is in place, Kemp said.

"There are no new applications, no new cards, no renewal cards, no
loss replacement cards, whatsoever," Kemp said.

Department spokesman Jon Ebelt concurred, saying, "The department is
in compliance with the law, and we're not processing
applications."

"That's great news," said Senate Majority Leader Jeff Essmann,
R-Billings, sponsor of the new law, Senate Bill 423. "I wish their
website indicated it. It still has got that they're continuing to
process them until June 20.

"If they are complying with SB423 and suspending issuance of cards and
do not intend to resume issuance until June 1, I'm happy with that."

There has been some confusion over implementation of the law since the
Legislature passed Essmann's bill, and Gov. Brian Schweitzer let it
take law without his signature.

The Associated Press last week quoted Kemp as saying it wasn't
feasible to stop issuing medical marijuana cards while the state
shifts to the more restrictive new law. As a result, he said then, the
agency would continue to process hundreds of applications for medical
marijuana cards.

On Tuesday, Kemp said the agency hadn't issued any cards since the law
took effect May 14.

His comments quoted by the AP raised some eyebrows among some
people.

In a legal opinion written May 19 for Lewis and Clark County Attorney
Leo Gallagher, Deputy County Attorney Jeremy Gersovitz said, "In
conclusion, after spending one hour on this matter, I can find no
authority in SB423 for DPHHS to continue to issue medical marijuana
cards unless they have proceeded under emergency rules."

Kemp said the department will issue cards again once the emergency
rules are in place. The department was given emergency rulemaking
authority under the law, but hasn't adopted rules yet.

The new law repeals and overhauls the state's 2004 voter-passed
initiative that legalized the use of marijuana for certain medical
purposes.

SB423 is intended to greatly restrict the availability of medical pot
by banning growing facilities and requiring cardholders to either grow
it themselves or obtain it from a provider who cannot charge for it
and can only grow for up to three people.

In addition, the law imposes much stricter provisions for people to be
authorized to use medical marijuana for "severe chronic pain," which
is by far the most the most common medical reason claimed by those
obtaining cards.

The number of medical marijuana cardholders in Montana shot up from
about 4,000 in September 2009 to more than 30,600 today.

Meanwhile, federal authorities have raided a number of large medical
marijuana growing operations around the state.

The recently formed Montana Cannabis Industry Association has mounted
a two-pronged attack on the law. It has filed a lawsuit seeking to
have the law declared unconstitutional. The group also is planning to
mount a signature-gathering effort aimed at suspending the new law
until Montanans can decide its fate in a referendum November 2012, if
they get enough signatures.