SPONSOR DEFENDS MEDICAL POT LAW

HELENA =AD The sponsor of the controversial new
medical marijuana law defended it Friday, warning
of =93unfortunate consequences=94 if a judge temporarily blocks its
implementation.

Voicing his strong support for the 2011 law,
Senate Majority Leader Jeff Essmann, R-Billings,
said he hopes District Judge James Reynolds doesn't enjoin Senate Bill
423.

We need to remember we had a bipartisan group of
legislators that came together in the end in that
conference committee that returned the law to
what voters intended=ADa small program for truly
ill individuals, a limited number of
individuals,=94 Essmann said in an interview.

I hope the judge doesn't prevent a good-faith
bipartisan effort to put some meaningful
sideboards on a situation that shocked a lot of Montanans.=94

The Montana Cannabis Industry Association, a
trade association of marijuana groups, sued over
the new law and has asked that it be temporarily
blocked before it goes into full effect July 1.

Essmann said SB423 explicitly grants police
powers to cities, towns and counties to regulate
location and operation of medical marijuana
businesses. Voters in his district were upset
that medical pot dispensaries were located a
block from schools in Billings, he said.

He said a temporary injunction may jeopardize that provision.

Essmann, an attorney, said he's not aware of any
legal authority granting the court authority to enjoin the full law.

I think it's beyond the scope of a court=92s power,
and it will have unfortunate consequences,=94
Essmann said. =93That's what raises a separation-of-powers question.=94

Federal charges filed Thursday against some
medical marijuana caregivers show that the
business model promoted by those financing the
Cannabis Industry Association lawsuit isn't legally viable, he said.

The original language of the 2004 voter-passed
initiative legalizing the use of medical
marijuana for certain medicinal purposes said
nothing about selling marijuana or operating
storefront dispensaries, Essmann said. Voters
didn't vote for a de facto legislation of marijuana, he said

The Legislature was grappling with trying to
conform the law to a series of letters from U.S.
attorneys that indicated a commercial business
model would still be prosecuted,=94 he said. =93So
that's why we voted for that approach.=94

In related news, Anna Whiting Sorrell, director
of the state Department of Public Health and
Human Services Department, wrote Essmann and
fellow Billings Republican Reps. Ken Peterson and
Cary Smith to say she's asked agency lawyers to
review the department's interpretation of one part of the law.

The legislators had questioned the department's
comment, on its website's frequently asked
questions about the new law, saying that a
husband registered as a provider couldn't grow
medical marijuana for his wife, who is a patient, in their home.

Sorrell said in light of the department's pending
review and the court hearing, that issue had been
dropped from the frequently asked question on the website.

During the hearing, James Goetz, attorney for the
Cannabis Industry Association, asked a department
official about it, saying: =93What conceivable
worldly purpose does this provision serve?=94

In response, Roy Kemp, the department's chief
regulator, said, =93This section is difficult and
is under department review. If the department has
misinterpreted this section, it will be redone.=94