Council tables marijuana regs

The Whitefish City Council voted unanimously on July 6 to table a vote on zoning regulations for the medical marijuana industry. A vote on the draft regulations was also tabled on May 17. Councilors Ryan Friel and Chris Hyatt, along with mayor Mike Jenson, were absent.

The council faced three options — review and adopt the regulations drafted by the Whitefish City-County Planning Board, make specific recommendations to the draft and send it back to the planning board, or delay a decision while more information on the medical marijuana industry is collected.

The council opted to follow city attorney Mary VanBuskirk's suggestion to review what other cities in Montana have done about regulating medical marijuana and report back.

The councilors are also awaiting a Montana State Attorney General's opinion on whether they would be violating their oaths of office if they approve an ordinance that violates federal law.

VanBuskirk noted, however, that the city had not yet requested an opinion because the council had not yet approved an ordinance that created that particular situation.

Councilor Bill Kahle, however, pressed on, saying he wanted the state attorney general to answer the broader question without having an ordinance drafted and approved by the council on a first reading only.

VanBuskirk said that was possible. She also noted that several cities in Montana have allowed the medical marijuana industry to operate in various ways without a challenge by the federal government.

New regs proposed

With about 20,000 Montanans certified to use medical marijuana and more than 2,700 licensed as caregivers to supply medical marijuana, Gov. Brian Schweitzer weighed in on the exploding industry in early June.

The voter-approved petition legalizing the medical use of marijuana in 2004 did not work out as intended, he said, and the state legislature now needs to fix it. Most people with a medical marijuana card don't use it because they need it but because they want it, he said.

During a visit to Montana Pain Management's marijuana clinic in Missoula, Schweitzer said the industry has gotten ahead of regulations and the laws needed to be tightened. He suggested limiting the number of growers and providers in the same way the number of lawyers, doctors and pharmacies is limited.

The Montana Pharmacy Association on June 5 announced they will not support dispensing medical marijuana until research proves the drug is effective and guidelines for dosages are established. The organization also pointed out that marijuana is an illegal drug under federal law, which put a stop to one state legislator's proposal to have pharmacists put in charge of dispensing medical marijuana.

Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, revised his proposal and proposed instead that the state control and contract out grow operations and then provide medical marijuana to licensed caregivers, based on the model of the current state liquor license system.

An interim legislative committee concluded four months of hearings on medical marijuana by the end of June and began drafting changes to the state law. The draft could be completed by August. Among the possible changes — creating a regulatory board to oversee the medical marijuana industry, annual reviews of patients' cards to see if they're valid, and taking another look at the kinds of health conditions that can qualify a person for a card.

In addition, physicians who recommend medical marijuana for patients could be required to have established practices in Montana, conduct face-to-face evaluations of patients and look at patients' medical records before making a recommendation.

The latter changes were proposed in response to traveling clinics organized by the Montana Caregivers Network, which founder Jason Christ claims has helped provide 16,000 patients with access to doctors. Christ told the legislators on June 28 that he runs a million-dollar-a-year company while high on marijuana, which proves that using marijuana doesn't make people "dumb."

The Montana Caregivers Network announced last week that it will stop hosting the one-day clinics across the state, which some believe boosted the number of medical marijuana patients in Montana from 842 at the end of 2008 to about 20,000 now. The organization says it will instead team up with medical marijuana providers in Missoula, Billings, Bozeman and Helena to provide regular doctors hours for visiting patients.

Big business

The state's medical marijuana industry has become big business and attracted the interest of at least one high-tech, out-of-state company. Cannabis Science Inc., a biotech firm based in Colorado Springs, Colo., paid 12 cents a share to acquire Montana Pain Management on June 17.

Officials also began finding out-of-state medical marijuana being sold in Montana's growing number of dispensaries, in violation of the state law. A Missoula man arrested on May 12 was found ferrying 74 pounds of marijuana from Humboldt County, Calif., to medical marijuana dispensaries, according to Missoula police.

Richard Biggs, 31, was also allegedly carrying $39,500 in hundred-dollar bills when his Chevy Avalanche was stopped on I-90, the police reported. Four duffel bags contained 20 different marijuana strains with names such as Grape Crush, Blue Train Wreck and Willy Wonder.

Caregivers who do grow their own medical marijuana have been found growing more than the legal limit of six plants per patient. On June 7, Flathead County sheriff's deputies discovered a grow operation on Highway 35 near Bigfork with 49 plants. The caregiver was legally allowed to grow 12.

Meanwhile, cities across Montana continued to adapt to the medical marijuana industry. In Missoula, city planners developed a map with thirty 1,000-foot buffer zones around elementary and secondary schools where distribution of dangerous drugs is prohibited by state law.

Missoula city attorney Jim Nugent said the law is in full effect and was not affected by passage of the state's 2004 Medical Marijuana Law. The buffer zones cover about 17 percent of the city's area and encompasses one of Missoula County's 565 registered caregivers.

Bozeman city officials on June 24 considered a new ordinance that would make smoking medical marijuana in public a misdemeanor offense. The ordinance was intended to address visual concerns.

In Great Falls, three medical marijuana patients filed suit in district court on June 22 seeking an injunction that would allow them to grow marijuana inside the city limits. Funded by Montanans For Responsible Legislation, the three claimed the city's moratorium on medical marijuana businesses effectively shut down patients who want to grow their own.

And in Billings, police officers found themselves delivering medical marijuana to patients after shipping companies discovered the contents of packages and refused to deliver them. FedEx and UPS officials said they wanted to avoid the risk of breaking federal law — even within Montana.