Pubdate: Wed, 08 Aug 2012 Source: Missoulian (MT) Copyright: 2012 Missoulian Contact: http://www.missoulian.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/720 Author: Charles S. Johnson MONTANA MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENT NUMBERS UP FOR 1ST TIME SINCE MAY 2011 HELENA - For the first time in more than a year, the number of registered medical marijuana cardholders in Montana increased last month, although slightly. As of July 31, Montana had 8,844 registered medical marijuana cardholders, according to the Medical Marijuana Program in the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. That's 163 more than the 8,681 registered at the end of June. It's the first monthly increase in medical marijuana cardholder numbers since May 2011, when the monthly totals rose to 31,522 from 30,609. Since May 2011, medical marijuana cardholder numbers have nosedived, dropping to less than a third of the total then. A more restrictive 2011 state law, Senate Bill 423, that made it more difficult to qualify for a so-called "green card" and for providers to qualify to grow and sell marijuana legally. Another factor was the federal raids on more than two dozen Montana marijuana growing businesses in March 2011, with a number of people charged and convicted of crimes. The number of providers, formerly called caregivers, also rose to 399 at of the end of July from 390 the previous month. The number had peaked at 4,838 in March 2011. The latest statistics showed 224 physicians are associated with patients currently enrolled in the program, down from 225 the previous month. The number of physicians peaked at 365 in June 2011. * So why have the patient numbers started to increase again? Roy Kemp, deputy administrator of the Quality Assurance Division in the state Department of Public Health and Human Services, said he believes the number of cardholders has reached an equilibrium. "During the course of implementation of (SB) 423 - it was implemented a year ago in July - we saw a precipitous decline in people not renewing," Kemp said. "During each of the months, there were people renewing their cards and new patients coming on. Where we had huge drops, we had new patients coming on in every month of the last 12." Kemp added, "Really, what you're looking at right now is where you have none of the chaff in the new registry." People under supervision by the state Corrections Department can no longer get medical marijuana under the 2011 law, he said. People who decided they couldn't find a caregiver or lacked the access to one or the money to afford medical marijuana also dropped out, Kemp said. He said department officials thought the number of medical marijuana cardholders would eventually stabilize at 8,000 to 9,000. But Kemp said he's not making any predictions, adding: "As volatile as this is, you know damn well it could go in any direction." * Chris Lindsey, president of the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, agreed there are still new cardholders signing up. "Even with a bad law, there are people out there who still believe in the therapeutic value of cannabis as medicine," he said. "Doctors still make recommendations, and their patients aren't all folks who are simply reapplying. It also includes new patients in the program." Lindsey attributed the drop of cardholders to people who let their medical marijuana cards expire after the new law took effect because they didn't "trust that the program would provide them protection from law enforcement efforts - and in fact may have put them at greater risk." All cardholders now in the program applied after the 2011 law took effect, he said. Cards are good for one year. "I think it is reasonable to assume that the attrition rate will be much lower because we are now past the exodus of patients who left out of disgust at the current bad law," Lindsey said. "This may, of course, be a statistical anomaly, but I suspect that we will see the numbers trending up slightly as we move forward." Voters in November will have a chance to reject or retain the 2011 law when they vote on Initiative Referendum 124. "We hope that the voters will reject the current law by rejecting IR-124 at the ballot, and demand that the legislature provide us with a better set of regulations that will help both communities and patients alike," Lindsey said. - --------------------- [sidebar] Medical marijuana cardholders HELENA - Here are the number of medical marijuana cardholders registered with the state, by month: * May 2011: 31,522. * June 2011: 30,036. * July 2011: 27,355. * August 2011: 26,492. * September 2011: 24,821. * October 2011: 20,223. * November 2011: 19,239. * December 2011: 18,012. * January 2012: 15,984. * February 2012: 14,364. * March 2012: 11,993. * April 2012: 10,640. * May 2012: 8,724. * June 2012: 8,681. * July 2012: 8,844. Source: Montana Medical Marijuana Program Registry, state Department of Public Health and Human Services. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt