Pubdate: Sun, 22 Aug 2010
Source: East Oregonian (Pendleton, OR)
Copyright: 2010 The East Oregonian
Contact:  http://www.eastoregonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3903
Author: Joe Barnhart
Note: Joe Barnhart is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a 
service of High Country News (hcn.org). He lives and writes in Dillon, Montana.

MONTANA FALLS INTO POT-PLANT PURGATORY WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The state of Montana is frantically backpedaling six years after 
voters passed Medical Marijuana Initiative 148. (Don't blame me, I 
didn't vote for it.)

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 lollipops.

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: (1) He was 
hardworking - digging out a crawlspace isn't easy, because your 
head's always banging into floor joists. (2) He was industrious - all 
those supplies like potting soil, seeds, grow lights, electrical 
wires, and business cards, point to a stellar retail plan. (3) He was 
competent -- with four-foot high plants, this guy knows fertilizers. 
And (4) He showed foresight. A cement mixer and extra jars means he 
was ready for a teeming business.

Some potential medical pot users, less confident than the Missoula 
gopher, 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 
"amotivational 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.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart