Pubdate: Wed, 30 Mar 2011 Source: Whitefish Pilot (MT) Copyright: 2011 Northwest Montana Daily Inter Lake Contact: http://www.flatheadnewsgroup.com/whitefishpilot/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4740 GROUP SUES TO PROTECT MEDICAL MARIJUANA CAREGIVERS A lawsuit filed last week by the Montana Medical Growers Association, a medical marijuana advocacy group, seeks to clarify whether caregivers can transport medical marijuana, cultivate medical marijuana for other caregivers, or sell medical marijuana to other caregivers under state law. The group filed the suit March 23 on behalf of two men facing felonies after a February traffic stop yielded three pounds of marijuana. Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan is named in the lawsuit. Tim Baldwin, a Kalispell attorney who represents the growers association and filed the complaint for declaratory judgment in Flathead District Court, said he hopes the case will set a precedent. "The primary goal is to clarify what the medicinal marijuana act actually allows and, two, it's designed to essentially enjoin... law enforcement and the county attorney's office from prosecuting actions that we believe to be allowed," Baldwin explained. An affidavit attached to the lawsuit identified two of the men involved in the February drug arrests as Leif Erickson and Robin Ruiz. One of them is a registered caregiver and the other a patient, according to court documents. They were arrested by Flathead County Sheriff's Office and Northwest Drug Task Force deputies after their vehicle was stopped on U.S. 2 near Lake Five Road on Feb. 3. According to court documents, a search of their vehicle resulted in the discovery of three pounds of marijuana, 300 capsules believed to contain THC -- tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana - -- and five vials of suspected THC honey. The men were driving to Great Falls to deliver the marijuana, according to the Sheriff's Office. They were charged with criminal possession with intent to distribute, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $50,000. They have both pleaded innocent. The lawsuit claims that numerous law enforcement agencies in Montana operate under the belief that a caregiver is not lawfully able to deliver, transport or transfer marijuana or its paraphernalia to another caregiver. "Based upon this legal presumption, many investigations, arrests and prosecutions are being conducted and the rights, status and legal relationship of caregivers in Montana and in Flathead County are in real and actual risk, jeopardy and controversy," the lawsuit states. Chris Lindsey, the attorney representing Ruiz and Erickson in their criminal cases, wrote that the Montana Attorney General's Office and the U.S. Department of Justice have provided instructions to sheriff's offices and county attorney's offices saying Montana's Medical Marijuana Act does not allow for caregiver-to-caregiver transfers. Baldwin, however, says his clients and other medical marijuana caregivers are not only allowed to transport marijuana, but that they are required to do so by the act. "They have an obligation and a duty to make sure they care for their patients," Baldwin said. Baldwin recently moved to Flathead County from Florida along with several members of his family, including his father, former Constitution Party presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.