Pubdate: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 Source: Helena Independent Record (MT) Copyright: 2009 Helena Independent Record Contact: http://helenair.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1187 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW NEEDS SOME WORK New wrinkles in the law often need a little tweaking to straighten out snags, and Montana's voter-initiated medical marijuana measure is no exception. Members of the medical marijuana advocacy group Patients and Families United met with the IR Editorial Board last week to explain why the tweaking is necessary. One bill would benefit patients living in rural areas far from a doctor by allowing nurse practitioners and physician assistants as well as physicians to prescribe medical marijuana. It also would let people with incurable illnesses renew their medical-marijuana registry every three years instead of every year. A yet-to-be-introduced bill would increase the amount of marijuana patents may have on hand so they aren't constantly on the verge of running out. These are sensible measures that shouldn't be controversial, although they probably will be among people who can't get used to the idea that marijuana should be legal for sufferers to use. But the 62 percent of Montana voters who approved medical marijuana in 2004 knew what they were doing. Marijuana, which is safer than many other medicines prescribed to patients all the time, is a proven help for everything from arthritis to multiple sclerosis. Its active ingredients help cancer patients by preventing nausea, vomiting and pain and by stimulating appetite. It is advocated by a variety of medical groups including the American College of Physicians, the American Nurses Association and the American Public Health Association. At last count there were 1,577 Montana patients registered to use medical marijuana. These are people who need help, and it would be wrong to fail to fix a few regulations that only make their lives even tougher. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin