Pubdate: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT) Copyright: 2011 The Billings Gazette Contact: http://billingsgazette.com/app/contact/?contact=letter Website: http://www.billingsgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/515 Author: Charles S. Johnson, Gazette State Bureau MEDICAL MARIJUANA INJUNCTION HEARING STARTS TODAY HELENA -- A hearing begins in District Court here today on a request by the Montana Cannabis Industry Association and others seeking a preliminary injunction to stop implementation of the state's new medical marijuana law. The hearing begins at 8:30 a.m. today (Monday) before state District Court Judge James Reynolds of Helena and is scheduled to last two days. A law passed by the 2011 Legislature and allowed to become law without Gov. Brian Schweitzer's signature repealed Montana's 2004 voter-passed law legalizing the use of marijuana for certain medical reasons. The new law imposes new restrictions to make it much harder for people to qualify to legally use medical marijuana and adds tougher regulations. It bans large medical pot growing operations and instead sets up a system where cardholders can grow their own medical pot, or obtain it from providers, but at no charge. Providers can grow for up to three people, including themselves. In addition, the law adds new stiffer requirements for people claiming "severe, chronic pain" to obtain medical marijuana cards. Some lawmakers believed that category was the major loophole used to get cards. As of May 31, Montana has about 30,500 people with medical marijuana cards, up from about 4,000 in September 2009. More than 80 percent of the cardholders claimed "chronic pain" or "severe or chronic pain or muscle spasms." However, a number of people testified at hearings that medical marijuana had helped them treat a variety of diseases, including chronic pain, epilepsy, glaucoma and others where prescription drugs failed. Those seeking the injunction contend the new law violates the plaintiffs' constitutional rights to equal protection, privacy, dignity, freedom of speech and due process, said the complaint filed last month by Bozeman attorneys James Goetz, J. Devlan Geddes and Jim Barr Coleman. In response, Attorney General Steve Bullock and some assistant attorneys general argued that the new law is not unconstitutional. A preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the law in its entirety would create significant problems and confusion, according to the memorandum by Bullock, James Molloy, his chief deputy of consumer protection, and Mark Mattioli and Stuart Segrest, assistant attorneys general. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.