The State of Montana is frantically backpedaling six years after voters passed Medical Marijuana Initiative 148. One of 10 states now with medical marijuana programs, Montana has fallen into what might be called pot-plant purgatory as it struggles with blurry laws and even blurrier implementation plans, stalling what might well become a legitimate and major homegrown industry.
In this economy, it’s encouraging to witness any business spring up so quickly from a tiny seed. For marijuana outlet stores, business is flourishing, though some residents have become alarmed. Towns like Lewistown, Kalispell, Great Falls, Montana City, Belgrade, Havre and Billings are suffering runaway growth in dispensaries and have passed moratoria limiting new establishments.
It’s as if toddlers dumped sugar cubes on an anthill while state officials, legal pot users, caregivers and law-enforcement officers all scurry about trying to figure out where the boundaries are.
The biggest loophole in Montana’s medical marijuana law allows non-residents to obtain legal authorization to use medicinal cannabis in the state. Such permissiveness contributed to over 23,500 registered patients by the end of July. And was this large group mostly older and infirm? Not a chance – more than 25 percent were between the ages of 21 and 30.
The Montana Legislature will attempt to better define the state’s marijuana regulatory scheme when it convenes in January 2011. It might also look south for help. In June, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed two bills into law instituting complicated licensing requirements on dispensaries and cracking down on unscrupulous doctors handing out marijuana prescriptions like lollypops.
Meanwhile, opening the pot-filled Pandora’s box has already resulted in an outbreak of drug-related arrests. One of the more interesting occurred earlier this year in Missoula, where a man was arrested for growing nearly 100 marijuana plants in a labyrinth of hand-dug grow rooms under his house. The marijuana plants, flourishing under artificial lighting, had become four-foot giants. In the garage were pickaxes, shovels, a cement mixer and glass jars filled with marijuana. On a table was a stack of business cards promoting “Organic Goodness.”
The Missoula entrepreneur, who was a registered medical marijuana patient, apparently got carried away and far exceeded his quota. Yet once those cute seedlings break through the soil, who can resist cultivating more? Remember planting a bean in a Dixie cup back in third grade? You’d check the windowsill everyday until a green shoot appeared, releasing the overwhelming joy that all gardeners feel. Deep inside, we’re all horticulturists.
The underground grower exhibited some admirable traits:
• He was hardworking – digging out a crawlspace isn’t easy, because your head’s always banging into floor joists.
• He was industrious – all those supplies like potting soil, seeds, grow lights, electrical wires and business cards point to a stellar retail plan.
• He was competent – with four-foot high plants, this guy knows fertilizers.
• He showed foresight. A cement mixer and extra jars means he was ready for a teeming business.
Some potential medical pot users find themselves in a quandary. They pose questions like these on the state website: “I don’t have the money for the registration fee. Can I make installments?” Times are tight, but we’re talking a measly $25 fee here.
Or, “Where do I get seeds? Where do I get plants? Where do I get a bag of medical marijuana?” No doubt an only child. Or, “Do I need to tell my employer and does he have to accommodate the use of medical marijuana while I’m at work?” One can only hope this person does not drive a truck carrying nuclear waste.
Can Montana’s MM program survive the political climate changes that lie ahead? Many chronic pain sufferers hope so; scientific evidence indicates that the active ingredients in marijuana can relieve symptoms from illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS. They’re willing to overlook negative side effects including possible lung damage, potentially impaired short-term cognitive ability and “a motivational syndrome,” a condition defined basically as the loss of get up and go.
But long-term help for Montana, as well as other states, can only come if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gets into the business by regulating marijuana’s active ingredients. What we need is the definition of a legal drug that meets accepted standards for drug purity and potency and clear rules about who gets to grow, sell and consume marijuana.
What we now have is a crapshoot, with vague laws creating legal loopholes big enough for illegitimate pot users and growers to capitalize on.
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(Joe Barnhart is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News. He lives and writes in Dillon).
medicalmontana posted at 1:48 am on Sat, Aug 21, 2010.
Let's not ever forget that the "gold rush" made the state of Montana.
Don't ever take away from human beings trying to fight to the top in a new industry. It's not only what made Montana prosper but it's what made the United States of America prosper.
If we don't fight for the opportunity, than we only hand package it for another multi-billion dollar company to come in and take it from us.
medicalmontana posted at 1:34 am on Sat, Aug 21, 2010.
I first off want to say that this article immediately comes off as something "special" (in the harshest sense of the word) as soon as one sees the page load only to shine upon an overzealous photo of the author himself .
There is a reason that a "guest" column within the pages of the Great Falls Tribune developed over 1,100 comments. "Because it was a guest column."
Had Richard Ecke covered the story as he had from the start there would have not been an article so chalk full of bigotry. It would have been an article devoted to the news. "You know, that stuff that has more than one persons opinion involved?"
But here's the "scoop" since I finally feel as though I have come across a writer made of %100 body fat. A writer that empowers the term idiocratic. Oh, not a term. Is now. Anything not covered by the genius below shall be covered now. Class in session.
The "special" Joe Barnhardt writes,
"It’s as if toddlers dumped sugar cubes on an anthill while state officials, legal pot users, caregivers and law-enforcement officers all scurry about trying to figure out where the boundaries are."
Let's break this down, in blue collar terms. Something most of the people in Montana understand. So below is a translation for dummies.
"It's as if not so long ago people thought there was gold in Montana, so everyone came here like there was some sort of gold-rush or something. Almost like people are losing their jobs and see a chance to make something out of nothing."
Imbeciles.
Who follows the American dream besides the 8 billion people trying out for American Idol year after year.
Let's move on to these four foot monsters.
"This guy knows fertilizers....."
That stunt growth, four feet. Really Joe. Do you even know anything about the marijuana plant. Containing the plant to four feet is a "feat."
I would keep going but this makes me sick. I have to help %62 of the state tomorrow rather than deny pretend they didn't vote.
PossibleFutureTaxpayerResident posted at 1:13 pm on Fri, Aug 20, 2010.
Soooo, let me make sure I understand the situation: Cities, towns, and villages are "suffering" runaway growth? That having a previously untapped source of revenue is somehow to be discouraged? That it is undesireable to increase the revenue stream further by allowing non-residents to spend U.S. currency in the local economy? And finally, that young people (21-30) don't benefit from or require medicinal treatment? Ignoring the obvious fact that this would be a significant step towards a renewable, Earth- friendly, GREEN cottage industry, I don't hear of any reasonable alternatives from the opponents to the current situation. Don't look a gifthorse in the mouth, get in the forefront of a new farm/agro-business. This is one of the major reasons I am looking at Montana as a place for me to raise my family of 5 boys, where my wife and I will continue our education, buy land, build a home, start a family business, pay taxes, spend money, make money, and be usefull and productive citizens...... or there is always, ummmm, Vermont, Alaska, NoCal, you get the point.
cooptaker posted at 9:00 am on Fri, Aug 20, 2010.
Deleted because of the truth .. The Western News is just another part of Libbys problem ..