Pubdate: Fri, 24 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

SPONSOR DEFENDS MEDICAL POT LAW

HELENA -- The sponsor of the controversial new medical marijuana law 
defended it Friday, warning of "unfortunate consequences" if a judge 
temporarily blocks its implementation.

Voicing his strong support for the 2011 law, Senate Majority Leader 
Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, said he hopes District Judge James Reynolds 
doesn't temporarily enjoin Senate Bill 423.

"We need to remember we had a bipartisan group of legislators that 
came together in the end in that conference committee that returned 
the law to what voters intended -- a small program for truly ill 
individuals, a limited number of individuals," Essmann said in an interview.

"I hope the judge doesn't prevent a good-faith bipartisan effort to 
put some meaningful sideboards on a situation that shocked a lot of Montanans."

The Montana Cannabis Industry Association, a trade association of 
marijuana groups, sued over the new law and has asked that it be 
temporarily blocked before it takes full effect July 1.

Essmann said SB423 explicitly grants police powers to cities, towns 
and counties to regulate location and operation of medical marijuana 
businesses. Voters in his district were upset that medical pot 
dispensaries were located a block from schools in Billings, he said.

He said a temporary injunction may jeopardize that provision.

Essmann, an attorney, said he's not aware of any legal authority 
granting the court authority to enjoin the full law.

"I think it's beyond the scope of a court's power, and it will have 
unfortunate consequences," Essmann said. "That's what raises a 
separation-of-powers question."

Federal charges filed Thursday against some medical marijuana 
caregivers show that the business model promoted by those financing 
the Cannabis Industry Association lawsuit isn't legally viable, he said.

The original language of the 2004 voter-passed initiative legalizing 
the use of medical marijuana for certain medicinal purposes said 
nothing about selling marijuana or operating storefront dispensaries, 
Essmann said. Voters didn't vote for a de facto legalization of 
marijuana, he said.

"The Legislature was grappling with trying to conform the law to a 
series of letters from U.S. attorneys that indicated a commercial 
business model would still be prosecuted," he said. "So that's why we 
voted for that approach."

In related news, Anna Whiting Sorrell, director of the state 
Department of Public Health and Human Services, wrote Essmann and 
fellow Billings Republican Reps. Ken Peterson and Cary Smith to say 
she's asked agency lawyers to review the department's interpretation 
of one part of the law.

The legislators had questioned the department's comment on its 
website's "frequently asked questions" about the new law, saying that 
a husband registered as a provider couldn't grow medical marijuana 
for his wife, who is a patient, in their home.

Sorrell said in light of the department's pending review and the 
court hearing, that issue had been dropped from that section on the website.

During the hearing, James Goetz, attorney for the Cannabis Industry 
Association, asked a department official about it, saying: "What 
conceivable worldly purpose does this provision serve?"

In response, Roy Kemp, the department's chief regulator, said, "This 
section is difficult and is under department review. If the 
department has misinterpreted this section, it will be redone."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart