As a former Billings resident, I want to offer another perspective to the May 12 article titled "Federal crackdown busts medical-marijuana industry." The story details the March 2011 raids on businesses in plain sight and says the resulting prosecutions were "widely seen as a success and possibly a model for others." The author failed to account for some things in his "final scorecard" of 33 convictions. Most importantly, a death toll is omitted. Richard Flor was the state's first registered caregiver and the first defendant to be sentenced. An aging Vietnam veteran, Flor's family warned the judge that he would not survive prison. Flor died four months into his five-year sentence. His widow, Sherry, is serving a two-year prison sentence for working as a bookkeeper. [continues 134 words]
HELENA Medical marijuana advocates are making a final try this legislative session to amend the 2011 law that imposed tighter restrictions on what was then a booming industry here. Sen. Dave Wanzenried, D-Missoula, recently introduced Senate Bill 377 for a group called Montana Association for Rights. No hearing date has been set yet. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Business and Labor Committee, but he hopes to get it moved to the Judiciary Committee. SB377 may face long odds for passage because it expands the 2011 medical marijuana law in some ways. [continues 808 words]
HELENA - So far, the 2013 Montana Legislature appears to be no more receptive to medical marijuana than the 2011 session was. The House Human Services Committee on Friday tabled and almost certainly killed four medical marijuana bills by Rep. Kelly McCarthy, D-Billings. The bills all died on 12-4 votes, with 10 Republicans and two Democrats opposing the bills, while four Democrats backed them. McCarthy's bills were intended to fix the 2011 medical marijuana law, Senate Bill 423, which has been challenged in court. He tried to remove those provisions in the law that District Judge James Reynolds of Helena has twice blocked with preliminary injunctions, most recently in January. [continues 520 words]
HELENA --- So far, the 2013 Legislature appears to be no more receptive to medical marijuana than the 2011 session was. The House Human Services Committee on Friday tabled --- and almost certainly killed -- four medical-marijuana bills by Rep. Kelly McCarthy, D-Billings. The bills all died on 12-4 votes, with 10 Republicans and two Democrats opposing the bills, while four Democrats backed them. McCarthy's bills were intended to fix the 2011 medical-marijuana law, Senate Bill 423, which has been challenged in court. He tried to remove those provisions in the law that District Judge James Reynolds of Helena has twice blocked with preliminary injunctions, most recently in January. [continues 520 words]
In short order, a House committee on Friday rejected and then tabled four bills intended to fix parts of the 2011 medical marijuana law that a district judge has temporarily blocked. The House Human Services Committee voted down House bills 340-343, by Rep. Kelly McCarthy, D-Billings, on identical 12-4 votes. All 10 Republicans and two Democrats opposed the bills, while four Democrats supported them. During the discussion, a sharp division emerged among committee members over medical marijuana and the 2011 law, Senate Bill 423. It greatly restricted its use and squeezed the profits out of what had been a booming industry here. [continues 489 words]
Chris Williams' defense was Montana's Medical Marijuana Act. Whose fault was it that he does not know what his basic fundamental rights are as he heads off to prison for political reasons? Marijuana remains illegal because the judiciary has determined the constitutionality of marijuana laws by rational basis. Rational basis is used when no fundamental rights have been declared injured by the defendant from enforcement of the law. Since 1965, 22 million-plus people in the United States have been arrested or summoned to court for violating marijuana laws. That's 22 million people who had standing to question whether marijuana laws are reasonable. [continues 242 words]
The U.S. Constitution helped establish our democratic republic. Working well, it treats residents with fairness, respect and "justice for all." Marijuana has been trying hard to ruin the way we promised to be. For 80 years, our government has punished adults for possession or use of marijuana with jail time and fines to pay. This encourages loss of family and jobs and results in a criminal record, all for doing nothing against anyone. Marijuana has been used for 6,000 years to relieve muscle aches and pain. Is that bad? Adult use does not mean abuse. An adult's desire to use marijuana should not require anyone's permission. It does not cause the trouble alarmists claim it does. An adult can buy alcohol, our worst trouble-maker and killer, at the grocery store. They can buy junk food and tobacco at the grocery, as well, and these are known to cause considerable health problems, even early death. [continues 107 words]
Inside the Russell Smith Federal Courthouse in Missoula on Feb. 1, dozens of Chris Williams' supporters stood when the former Montana Cannabis partner was escorted into the courtroom in handcuffs to be sentenced on federal drug and weapons charges. Some of Williams' friends wept. Others clenched their hands. The lingering smell of marijuana hung in the air. Across the aisle, federal Drug Enforcement Agency agents stared straight ahead. The scene inside the courthouse was as unusual as the post-conviction agreement that prosecutors and defense attorneys crafted in Williams' case. Montana Cannabis was once among the largest dispensaries in the state. After federal law enforcement raided the operation in 2011, the Department of Justice indicted Williams and his former partners on felony drug and weapons charges. Three of the partners pleaded guilty and asked the court for leniency. Williams, however, refused to admit guilt. Williams maintained that he operated legally under Montana's medical marijuana law. The innocent plea, Williams said, constituted a protest of federal marijuana policy. [continues 222 words]
Medical Marijuana Grower Chris Williams Was Sentenced Friday to a Mandatory Five Years on a Federal Gun Charge, and Time Served on a Marijuana Charge. MISSOULA - Calling certain mandatory minimum sentences "unfair and absurd," a federal judge Friday sentenced medical marijuana grower Chris Williams to five years in prison the least amount mandated for his federal gun conviction. Williams initially was convicted of four charges of possession of a firearm during a drug-trafficking offense, which could have netted mandatory minimums totaling 80 years. He also could have gotten another five years for the four drug counts on which he was also convicted in September. [continues 739 words]
Missoula, Mont. - A medical marijuana provider who reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors only after a jury found him guilty at trial has been sentenced to five years in prison. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen accepted the recommendation of Chris Williams' attorney on Friday and sentenced the former Helena marijuana provider to time served on a drug charge and five years for a weapons charge. Williams was convicted of eight charges after a September trial in which he was not allowed to use Montana's medical marijuana law as a defense. He faced a mandatory sentence of more than 80 years in prison. Prosecutors agreed in December to dismiss six charges as long as Williams didn't appeal convictions for possessing a firearm in connection with drug trafficking and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. [end]
Missoula MT. - A last-minute flurry of activity surrounding the case of convicted medical marijuana grower Chris Williams did not halt Williams' scheduled sentencing in U.S. District Court in Missoula on Friday. On Thursday afternoon, federal Judge Dana Christensen ordered that a sentencing memorandum, dated Monday, from an Ohio State University law professor would not be given the weight of an official memorandum. Christensen said the memorandum from Douglas Berman, who has raised questions about a plea agreement in the case, was untimely and didn't comply with local rules. [continues 468 words]
BUTTE -- The county superintendent of schools heard testimony Friday in the case of a former Butte High student facing felony drug charges who has appealed his expulsion. Kaedon Caprara, who according to court documents distributed marijuana stolen from a local marijuana dispensary to Butte High students, was treated differently than other students who have broken the district's drug policy, and therefore was wrongfully expelled, his lawyer Shawn Johnson argued before county superintendent of schools Cathy Maloney on Friday. Johnson said records show 47 drug policy violations in the past five years in the district, but none of those students was expelled. [continues 380 words]
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Lawmakers on Thursday were considering a renewed effort to test drivers suspected of driving under the influence of marijuana -- a measure law enforcement agents said is necessary to deal with an increase in such cases. Republican Rep. Doc Moore of Missoula said his House Bill 168 provides a legal limit for the amount of THC -- an ingredient of marijuana -- that can be in a person's blood while operating a motor vehicle. He argued the measure is just aimed at enduring streets are safe, not at the debate over medical marijuana. [continues 276 words]
Lori Burnam was never one to seek the limelight. But the Hamilton woman's advocacy for medical marijuana in Montana propelled her to the forefront of a challenge to the state's new, more restrictive marijuana law. "She was always quiet and took care of her family," remembers her daughter, September Moore. "She also was one to stand up for what she thought was right." Burnam, 66, died Thursday at her home following a six-year battle with lung cancer for which she used medical marijuana to ease the pain and stimulate her appetite. She also suffered from glaucoma, emphysema and other ailments. [continues 948 words]
HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Lori Burnam, a Hamilton woman with lung cancer who became the face of medical marijuana advocacy in Montana, has died at age 66. Ms. Burnam died Thursday at her home of what the medical examiner determined was natural causes, said Chris Lindsey, president of an advocacy group that Ms. Burnam testified for in challenging a restrictive marijuana law. The cancer "had metastasized and was in her bones. The family believes that's what made the difference," Lindsey said. [continues 248 words]
Regarding Ben Forsyth's Jan. 5 op-ed: If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to deter use, it's a failure. The U.S. has double the rate of use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. The criminalization of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis has no basis in science. The war on marijuana consumers is a failed cultural inquisition, not an evidence-based public health campaign. It's time to stop the arrests and instead tax legal marijuana. - -- Robert Sharpe, Arlington, Va. [end]
In the Tribune (Dec. 31) a short-sighted article stated that legalized recreational marijuana is beneficial to our society and government. If we believe the article's street-based rationale, we must ignore the quality research, professional medical experience, and obvious facts that prove cannabis is subtly harmful. As is obvious in the Tribune article, cannabis users often cannot grasp the depth of many hard-to-identify cannabis harms. Neurological research has found that some people using brain functions influenced by the drug, often experience a degradation of logic on the subject. [continues 509 words]
Had Faced Up To 20 Years In Prison MISSOULA -- A federal judge spared a former partner in one of Montana's largest medical marijuana businesses jail time on Friday, straying only slightly from a joint sentencing recommendation by defense and prosecuting attorneys. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen sentenced Chris Lindsey to five years' probation with three months of house arrest, reducing the house arrest time from the six months suggested in the plea deal reached by federal prosecutors and Lindsey's attorney, Colin Stephens. [continues 678 words]
Paul Schmidt, owner of the former medical marijuana dispensary Sleeping Giant Caregivers in Helena, has been sentenced to one year in prison for growing marijuana and money laundering and ordered to forfeit $750,000 in alleged profits. In letters to Senior U.S. District Court Judge Charles Lovell, friends wrote that Schmidt, 57, only became a caregiver after seeing how medical marijuana helped his adult son deal with debilitating, chronic pain and deserved little, if any, prison time. "When the drug was found to significantly help (his son) find some relief, they discussed cultivating the marijuana themselves to help not only (his son) but others as well," wrote William Sackman, who served with Schmidt in the U.S. Coast Guard. "In all instances when Paul discussed his business with me, he referred to everyone coming into his place of business as patients. This was no idle affectation. He was truly interested in helping others." [continues 766 words]
It is a grand irony that on the front page of the Helena Independent Record was an article on Montana medical marijuana caregiver Chris Williams facing years in federal prison for growing and selling the substance. Meanwhile, on the back page of the sports section, a story ran about how some of the biggest banks in the world laundered billions of dollars for drug cartels and will get off with out anyone going to jail. Why is it so hard for our government and justice system to understand if marijuana were legalized, controlled and taxed, this country could begin to solve so many of our drug crime problems. This would put the drug cartels out of business, and put border patrol and drug crime agents into real jobs building roads and bridges. And maybe begin to pay off part of our $16 trillion debt. Nancy Marks [street address redacted] Townsend [end]
In Exchange For Him Waiving Right To Appeal In a highly unusual move, federal prosecutors have agreed to drop six of eight marijuana convictions for Christopher Williams in exchange for his agreeing to waive his right to appeal. In addition, the government has agreed to ask U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen to dismiss the $1,728,000 criminal forfeiture awarded to the government by a jury earlier this year. The agreement was outlined under a settlement filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court. In the document, signed by Williams, U.S. Assistant Attorney Joe Thaggard, and federal public defender Michael Donahoe, they note that this agreement "constitutes the final and best offer to resolve this matter." [continues 580 words]
With our state's continued debate on medical marijuana use, and now with Colorado and Washington legalizing recreational marijuana use, it got me to think. As a society, are we ignoring the dangers we are exposing the majority to? I guessed the majority of the people who voted to legalize medical marijuana in the state of Montana, assumed people in need would have the prescription filled in the same procedure all current legal drugs are given. The greater concern I have is the new trend of legalizing recreational marijuana. With drug use (including marijuana) as the sixth leading cause of traffic fatalities, let's see how as a society we have done with another legalized drug, alcohol. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drunk driving represented 40 percent of total traffic deaths in 2006. Not good. [continues 140 words]
Montana Marijuana Advocates Look to Colorado, Washington HELENA A district judge on Thursday temporarily continued to stop the state from enforcing certain restrictions in a 2011 state law aimed at medical marijuana providers. After a two-hour hearing, District Judge James Reynolds of Helena extended his temporary restraining order at the request of James Goetz, the Bozeman attorney representing the Montana Cannabis Industry Association and others. His order continues to block two 2011 restrictions from being enforced one limiting medical marijuana providers to three patients apiece and the other forbidding providers from being paid by patient for pot. [continues 639 words]
I'm an old woman with chronic pain. I have a prescription from my physician for medical marijuana. However, I have been unable to find a pharmacy in town that will fill it. They're all spooked! My physician tells me there are medical marijuana providers out there. I even talked to one. He's out of the business because of the latest initiative passed by a majority of voters in the recent election. I have no hope that the 2013 conservative GOP majority Legislature will do anything to change the situation. [continues 56 words]
Medical marijuana grower Chris Williams is seeking a new trial after being convicted in a federal drug and weapons case that carries the potential for a prison sentence of up to 92 years. He's appealing, but his supporters aren't waiting for the justice system. They've taken his cause to the Internet, in the form of online petitions filed with the White House, with www.SignOn.org, and with www.Care2.com . Together, they've gathered close to 40,000 signatures nationwide. [continues 864 words]
I would like to go on record as strongly disagreeing with Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman's advice to local residents to vote "yes" on I-124, the 2012 ballot measure addressing the Montana Medical Marijuana program because, in Hoffman's words, "This legislation translates to safer communities, a true benefit to all." Hoffman's logic is lacking in many ways. If, in fact, there have been fewer thefts, burglaries, serious assaults and homicides (have there been any homicides ever?) involving the marijuana "industry" in Ravalli County in the past 15 months since parts of Senate Bill 423 have been enacted, it's only because there isn't much of an industry left! Specifically, we have put all the legitimate providers out of business leaving the market wide open to the Mexican cartels, the black market and gangs. [continues 175 words]
As Montanans, although our intentions were good, we were fooled by marijuana advocates who got free rein and basically legalized marijuana in Montana. Fortunately, the Legislature came to our rescue and placed tight restrictions on the use of marijuana. Let's not be fooled again and go back to the dangerous place that marijuana advocates led us to before, where you could get a marijuana card over the Internet, where unscrupulous doctors held caravans across the state encouraging healthy people to get cards as long as they could pay for it, where felony and misdemeanor probationers easily got cards, where dispensaries opened next to schools, where people drove from other states to get their "weed," when there were 31,000 card holders instead of the current 3,000. [continues 185 words]
SB-423, the Montana Legislature's attempt to prohibit medical marijuana, has had a devastating effect on patients. Greg was a finish carpenter until he developed a seizure disorder that made it dangerous for him to handle a saw. His doctors tried to find the right medication, but nothing worked. When I met him, he was in his late 50s, working as a swamper in a bar, seizing regularly, and drinking heavily. He got his "green card," found the cannabis strains that worked for him, and was seizure-free for three years. Greg had also been trying to get sober -- dry spells as long as three weeks. Studies show that alcohol consumption among males drops significantly when medical cannabis is available to them. [continues 104 words]
There is much confusion about Initiative Referendum 124. In an effort to clarify, Youth Connections would like to offer this statement: In 2004, the people of Montana passed an initiative to allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes. Our elected legislators and state and local experts determined this original law was insufficient in regulating the use of marijuana as medicine as evidenced by criminal activity connected to dispensary operations, requirement of little to no medical oversight by a physician, and increased availability of the drug leading to recreational use by youth. [continues 137 words]
Cancer has been trying to kill me for a while now, which is why I hope Montanans will vote "no" on this year's medical marijuana ballot issue. Let me explain. I was diagnosed with lung cancer six years ago. The treatments I went through were horrendous, the pain I experience is excruciating, and the various modern medications I am given cause hideous nightmares. Let me tell you, cancer is a cruel way for a person's life to come to an end. [continues 419 words]
In response to public outcry over the unregulated, out-of-control medical marijuana industry, the Montana Legislature passed Senate Bill 423. After months of deliberation and thousands of testimonies from each side, this bill passed with the support of both Republicans and Democrats. Even though the bill is not in full effect yet, it has put some very needed and welcomed sideboards on this rapidly growing industry. Since its passing, the number of registered medical marijuana users has dropped from 30,000 to 8,849, the number of providers has dropped from 4,800 to 395, and many of the storefronts are disappearing. With the law imposing additional requirements for minors to obtain cards, Montana now has only two cards holders under the age of 18. [continues 361 words]
HELENA - As Chris Williams waited for a 12-member jury to decide his fate last month on eight marijuana-related charges, he was surprisingly calm for a man who knew he could be jailed for 85 years. He mentioned that he had taken a nap and was reading a book, "Ethics for a New Millennium" by the Dalai Lama. "I was almost finished with it, but continued to reread some of the most enlightening chapters," Williams wrote in a letter from his cell at the Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby. "The study of philosophy and religion has always interested me, even though I am not the most educated in either subject." [continues 2506 words]
Chris Williams Is a Complex Man Former Medical Marijuana Provider Painted As 'Compassionate,' 'Intimidating' As Chris Williams waited for a 12-member jury to decide his fate last month on eight marijuana-related charges, he was surprisingly calm for a man who knew he could be jailed for 85 years. He mentioned that he had taken a nap and was reading a book, "Ethics for a New Millennium" by the Dalai Lama. "I was almost finished with it, but continued to reread some of the most enlightening chapters," Williams wrote in a letter from his cell at the Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby. "The study of philosophy and religion has always interested me, even though I am not the most educated in either subject." [continues 2509 words]
Seasoned politicians will affirm that no one lacking a cast iron stomach should witness the making of sausage or law. Either can be traumatic. It is bad enough if these products are created in a butcher shop or legislative chambers. But law (or sausage) made in the street will twist the entrails of the most durable citizen. I have tasted a bit of each of these practices. In addition: I have been bitten on the great toe by an ant as big as a young mouse, sat through every syllable of a 90-minute speech at a Head Start graduation and lived on yellow vegetables for 18 days. [continues 628 words]
Former medical marijuana entrepreneur Jason Christ has been banned from the University of Montana campus after allegedly smoking marijuana in the law school, cursing someone upon being told UM President Royce Engstrom wasn't available, and cursing another person as he sought a parking pass refund. A memo from Sgt. Ben Gladwin from the UM Office of Public Safety, successfully seeking to permanently bar Christ from campus, cited the following allegations: Shortly after 10 p.m. on Oct. 15, campus police responding to a report that a man was smoking marijuana in the law school encountered Christ, who gave them his medical marijuana card when asked for identification. [continues 409 words]
A press conference to charge Attorney General Steve Bullock of botching medical marijuana ballot language quickly soured on pot opponents who found themselves accused of blowing smoke. The anti-medical marijuana group Safe Communities, Safe Kids was staging a press conference Wednesday to announce a political practice complaint against Steve Bullock, when gate-crashing medical marijuana proponents and even a member of Bullock's staff interrupted to deride the charges as election foolery. "You're trying to pull a political stunt using a mechanism that is not set up for this purpose," said Jim Molloy, an assistant attorney general to Bullock. [continues 562 words]
The attorney for Christopher Williams filed a motion Friday seeking an acquittal or at least a new trial for his client, saying U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen erred when giving the jury instructions in the only medical marijuana case in Montana to go to trial. The 12-member jury convicted Williams in Helena on Sept. 27 on eight counts, including conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana; manufacture of marijuana; possession with intent to distribute marijuana; and four counts of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense. Since the firearm offenses carry a mandatory minimum of five years to life imprisonment, plus mandatory minimums of 25 years for second and subsequent convictions, Williams could be facing a minimum of 80 years in prison. [continues 707 words]
Montana voters on Nov. 6 will approve or reject five ballot items including whether to require parental notification before a minor's abortion and whether to declare that corporations do not have constitutional rights regarding campaign spending. But along with citizen lawmakers in five other states, marijuana-related ballot initiatives will, in the long run, have a far greater impact nationally. Medical marijuana has already been approved in Montana. Voters in two states, Massachusetts and Arkansas, will decide if marijuana can be used for medical purposes with the advice of a licensed doctor. If passed, Massachusetts will join nearby states -- Connecticut, Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island -- where the drug is already used to ease pain caused by cancer and other serious medical conditions. [continues 418 words]
Does the will of the people continue to have any meaning in Montana? Not if the politicians have anything to do with it. Never before has a voter passed initiative been overturned by the Legislature. If the voters approve IR 124, the bill repealing Medical Cannabis, it may be the first time, but make no mistake, not be the last. Folks like Larry Jent and Mike Milburn, who have no problem telling you how you cannot think for yourself, gleefully admit SB 423 was in fact a repeal of the 60+ percent voter-approved medical cannabis law. [continues 172 words]
Let's start by clearing up any confusion about Initiative 124. Voter approval would cement restrictions on medical marijuana approved by the 2011 Legislature. Rejection would restore the 2004 voter-approved law that legalized the medical use of marijuana in Montana. So - "for 124" is for extensive restrictions. "Against" ditches them in favor of the less severe 2004 law. "Trying to explain what will happen under (the initiative) is a little bit ridiculous," said Bob Brigham, campaign manager for Patients for Reform, Not Repeal. "It's tough to convince people that it will actually be that bad." [continues 597 words]
Let's start by clearing up any confusion about Initiative 124. Voter approval would cement restrictions on medical marijuana approved by the 2011 Legislature. Rejection would restore the 2004 voter-approved law that legalized the medical use of marijuana in Montana. So - for 124 is for extensive restrictions. Against ditches them in favor of the less severe 2004 law. "Trying to explain what will happen under (the initiative) is a little bit ridiculous," said Bob Brigham, campaign manager for Patients for Reform, Not Repeal. "It's tough to convince people that it will actually be that bad." [continues 798 words]
Let us assume for a moment that I have discovered, while studying dandelion plants and how they regenerate, that if one collects and crushes enough of these seeds amounting to a 16th ounce of dandelion powder and further discovers that ingesting at least this much daily, I am relieved of an excruciating pain that I experience frequently from a spinal arthritic inflammation. Now suppose that I have discontinued the use of the expensive prescription drug issued by my rheumatologist after I have discovered that there seemed to be no adverse affects from the ingestion of this dandelion powder and I have decided that though the collection and grinding of these seeds is time consuming and labor intensive that it is worth it to save a few thousand dollars via self-medication. [continues 667 words]
On the first chilly fall evening in October, a few people sat in chairs in the Manhattan Community School Library. The superintendent of Manhattan schools was there. A couple of residents from the area and members of the American Civil Liberties Union occupied a few more chairs. The librarians made bags of popcorn and pulled down the projector screen for a movie. Whether the audience that might have filled the empty chairs was home watching the presidential debate or absent in an act of opposition, few showed up Wednesday night for the screening of Code of the West. [continues 581 words]
HELENA - In 2004, Montana voters legalized medical marijuana by a higher percentage than any other state in the nation. Sixty-two percent of the state's electorate voted in favor of the Montana Medical Marijuana act, making marijuana legal to treat the symptoms of certain ailments and conditions. For five years, the number of people who registered with the state as marijuana patients and caregivers grew at a relatively slow pace. That changed in 2009 when U.S. Deputy Attorney General David Ogden issued a memo advising U.S. attorneys in states with medical marijuana laws to not focus federal resources "on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana." [continues 610 words]
Chris Williams, who wanted to challenge the federal government over its handling of medical marijuana prosecutions in Montana, was led to jail in handcuffs Thursday after 12 jurors convicted him of eight drug- and firearms-related charges. Williams sat quietly and unemotionally, with his hands folded on the table in front of him, as the three men and nine women, their voices shaking at times, told the court that their verdict was unanimous. His attorney, Michael Donahoe, requested that Williams not be detained until sentencing, noting that he's already working on an appeal to the Ninth Circuit. [continues 1322 words]
Federal defense attorney Michael Donahoe requested a mistrial Thursday in the medical marijuana case of Chris Williams after prosecutor Joe Thaggard compared Williams and his partners to dogs. In his closing statement, Thaggard told the jury that Williams was involved in criminal conduct and when he did that, he would get involved with bad people. "If you lie down with dogs, you just might get fleas, and you can't say you didn't know that would happen," Thaggard said. Donahoe objected, but was overruled by U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen. However, after the jury left the courtroom, Donahoe moved for a mistrial based on the statement. [continues 445 words]
On the issue of Senate Bill 423, which puts ridiculous regulations on medical marijuana: if you are in favor of this bill, you are not seeing the big picture. Put the marijuana to the side for a moment. The people of Montana voted for a bill to legalize something that helped hurt or sick people to live a more comfortable life. There were no problems with this substance, other than the Legislature seeing it as a booming industry that they had no control over. That, my friends, is what this whole mess is all about: government control. [continues 277 words]
HELENA - A jury on Thursday convicted a medical marijuana provider of drug trafficking and firearms charges, upholding the U.S. government's raids of state-regulated pot dispensaries in its first test at trial. The provider, Chris Williams, was barred by the trial judge from making the case that he and Montana Cannabis followed the state medical marijuana law that voters approved in 2004. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen ruled state laws were irrelevant in the case involving alleged violations of the federal Controlled Substances Act. [continues 712 words]
Montana voters support the more restrictive medical marijuana law and strongly back a ballot issue requiring girls under age 16 to get parental consent before having an abortion, a new Lee Newspapers poll shows. They also favor another ballot issue that would deny state services to "illegal aliens." Mason Dixon Polling & Research Inc. took the poll Monday through Wednesday for Lee Newspapers, interviewing 625 registered voters who said they were likely to vote in November. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points, although the margin rises with subgroups like gender. [continues 669 words]
Thanks to the petition efforts of last year, Montana voters will have the opportunity this November to accept or deny SB 423, the new medical marijuana law. However, in talking to people recently, I have found that many of us are not really aware of what this law entails. While this law is being presented as the tighter regulation that medical marijuana does in fact need, the actual effect will be to eliminate the entire industry overnight. Among other questionable aspects of the new law, SB 423 would make it illegal for any medical marijuana caregiver to charge money for their service and product. Clearly no business can operate under these conditions. I am not trying to tell anyone how they should vote. I just want to do my best to make sure everyone understands what the new law would entail. Local businessmen will lose their investment. Local jobs will be lost. Many of us believe that by saying no to this draconian law, we can pressure the next legislative session to present a reasonable middle ground. Davin Nelson Livingston [end]
Inside Montana
