High court rules against medical marijuana providers
The Montana Supreme Court recently upheld a ruling by a Flathead County district court judge relating to the sentencing of two medical marijuana providers who were arrested in the Canyon last year.
In the 5-0 ruling, the high court agreed that it is illegal under the 2009 Medical Marijuana Act for caregivers to exchange marijuana with other caregivers.
According to court records, Lief Erickson, 48, and Robin Ruiz, 52, both of Kalispell, were stopped by law enforcement on U.S. 2 near Lake Five Road on Feb. 3, 2011. A search of their vehicle turned up more than three pounds of marijuana, 300 capsules containing THC and five vials of suspected THC honey.
The case quickly grew in complexity as the two claimed medical marijuana caregivers like themselves were allowed to exchange their products like any other business. Erickson and Ruiz claimed they were delivering the medical marijuana products to a caregiver in Great Falls for distribution to patients there.
The Medical Marijuana Growers Association sued Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan on March 23, 2011, claiming Ruiz and Erickson were legally transferring marijuana under the state’s Medical Marijuana Act.
In a July 21, 2011, ruling, however, Flathead County District Court Judge Stewart Stadler said the Medical Marijuana Act does not allow for medical marijuana transactions between caregivers.
In an earlier ruling, Missoula County District Court Judge John Larson also ruled that caregiver-to-caregiver transactions were not legal. That case was appealed to the Montana Supreme Court by Chris Lindsey, the attorney representing Erickson.
In a July 11, 2011, hearing before Flathead County District Court Judge David Ortley, Ruiz said that prior to his arrest, a representative of the Montana Attorney General’s Office had told him the transactions were legal.
Ruiz’s attorney, Timothy Baldwin, said he had received similar assurances from an employee at the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Baldwin admitted, however, neither he nor Ruiz were able to convince either of the state officials to put their statements in writing.
Erickson and Ruiz eventually pleaded no contest to felony criminal possession with intent to distribute. On Jan. 20, Ortley gave Erickson a four-year suspended sentence. On March 15, Ortley sentenced Ruiz to a four-year deferred sentence.
Justice James Nelson, while concurring with the Montana Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling, called the conflict between state law allowing use of marijuana and federal law prohibiting its use a “continuing fiasco.” The legal conflict remains despite changes in state law since the time of Erickson’s and Ruiz’s arrest.
“The Legislature has since tinkered with the act, going to far as to scrap the original voter-approved scheme entirely and replace it with a new and improved ‘Montana Marijuana Act,’” Nelson wrote. “Yet, with due respect to and without impugning the zeal and good faith of everyone involved in this continuing fiasco, the fact remains that the medical marijuana laws seek to legalize conduct that is violative of the federal Controlled Substances Act.”
Nelson said state courts should not be required to waste any more time dealing with medical marijuana issues.
“After all, as already noted, judges in Montana take an oath to support, protect and defend the federal Constitution and are bound by federal laws, anything in the laws of this state to the contrary notwithstanding,” Nelson wrote. “On this issue, it is time we started doing that.”