VOTERS FAVOR NEW MARIJUANA LAW, 44% TO 31% HELENA - 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 Gazette State 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 the Gazette State Bureau, 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 671 words]
HELENA - 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 4 percentage points, although the margin rises with subgroups like gender. [continues 669 words]
HAMILTON - Two Ravalli County Libertarian candidates recently arrested on drug charges are on the front lines of protecting life, liberty and property, according to Ravalli County's Libertarian Party chair. David Merrick said he remains fully supportive of Rob McCoy and Karen Fisher. "I still fully support these two candidates," Merrick said this week. "They haven't harmed anyone." Both McCoy and Fisher are Libertarian candidates for state legislative seats this year. Both were charged with felony drug counts last week after the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office allegedly found more than twice the legal amount of marijuana allowed a medical marijuana provider at McCoy's home. [continues 371 words]
Thanks to the petition efforts of last year, Montana voters will have the opportunity this November to accept or deny Senate Bill 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. [continues 82 words]
Montana voters will decide on Nov. 6 whether to keep the Legislature's medical marijuana law that effectively repealed the 2004 voter-enacted law. Between now and Election Day, additional restrictions from Senate Bill 423 may take effect. Last week, the Montana Supreme Court overturned a District Court judge's ruling that certain provisions of SB423 violated rights guaranteed by the Montana Constitution. Helena District Judge Jim Reynolds issued a preliminary injunction last year, finding that the new law's restrictions on medical marijuana providers and users amounted to unconstitutional infringement on citizens' rights to privacy, to health care and to seek employment (as medical marijuana providers). [continues 523 words]
HELENA -- There is no fundamental right for patients to use any drug, particularly one like medical marijuana that's illegal under federal law, the Montana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, in reversing a lower court decision. In a victory for the state, the Supreme Court's 6-1 decision reversed a District Court's temporary injunction that blocked enforcement of part of a 2011 state law that sought to restrict access to medical marijuana. "In pursuing one's health, an individual has a fundamental right to obtain and reject medical treatment," Justice Michael Wheat wrote for the majority. "But, this right does not extend to give a patient a fundamental right to use any drug, regardless of its legality." [continues 706 words]
(AP) - A November ballot initiative asks voters to reject the Legislature's restrictive law and return to the original law enacted by voters in 2004. HELENA The Montana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that restrictions on medical marijuana sales do not violate the constitutional rights of registered users or providers, overturning a lower judge's decision to block part of lawmakers' restrictive rewrite of state regulations. The justices ruled that the portion of the 2011 state law that limits the number of patients per provider to three and prohibits those providers from making a profit does not violate the Montana Constitution's right to privacy or to pursue employment and health. [continues 346 words]
Tom Daubert, who led the push for the voter-approved law legalizing medical marijuana in Montana, was sentenced Thursday to five years' probation in a federal drug case. "I'm feeling relieved and grateful for the judge's mercy and leniency," Daubert said. " ... I'm very glad he recognized the uniqueness of my particular case." Daubert was among several people charged after federal agents raided medical marijuana businesses, including the Helena-based Montana Cannabis, around the state last year. Daubert had ended his interest in Montana Cannabis before the raids, something U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen noted in imposing probation. [continues 556 words]
HELENA -- The number of medical-marijuana cardholders registered with the state rose slightly in August, new statistics from the state registry showed. As of last Friday, 8,849 Montanans had medical-marijuana cards, an increase of five people from the previous month, according to the registry kept by the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. The July total of 8,844 medical-marijuana cardholders was the first time since May 2011 that the number of cardholders had increased. The number of Montana medical-marijuana cardholders, formerly called "patients," peaked at 31,522 in May 2011. [continues 536 words]
Federal prosecutors continue to ask judges to ban any mention of Montana's Medical Marijuana Act in trials against medical marijuana businessmen. In the latest case, U.S. Assistant Attorney Joe Thaggard argued that Montana's law legalizing growing and distributing marijuana for medical purposes is irrelevant in the case against Chris Williams, Chris Lindsey and four others. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen hasn't ruled on the case in Helena federal court, but U.S. District Judge Don Molloy made a similar ruling in Missoula on June 15. In that case, Molloy dismissed a civil lawsuit brought by 14 individuals and businesses that were among the two dozen medical marijuana businesses raided by federal agents and local law enforcement in March 2011. [continues 411 words]
HELENA - Richard Flor, a former Miles City medical marijuana caregiver sentenced in April to five years in federal prison on charges that he illegally maintained drug-related premises, died in federal custody Wednesday. Flor, along with his wife, Sherry, and their son, Justin, ran a medical marijuana caregiver business out of their home and from a Billings dispensary. Richard Flor was also a co-owner of Montana Cannabis, one of the state's largest medical marijuana operations and a target in the March 2011 raids by federal agents on marijuana providers across Montana. [continues 109 words]
Montana politicians are misleading the public, including the citizens of North Dakota. On Aug. 19, the Dickinson Press published a report about the Montana medical marijuana program as it relates to the upcoming ballot issue in North Dakota, quoting Montana State Sen. Donald Steinbeisser, R-Sidney, as saying, "The problem we had in Montana, before the last session, over half of the people that were using medical marijuana cards were 20- to 30-year-olds," he said. "You know doggone well there's something wrong with that." [continues 175 words]
Missoula city and county law enforcement officers knew Colton Peterson was suicidal when they pressured him to name drug dealers in 2010, according to a federal lawsuit filed by Peterson's parents. In fact, William and Juliena Darling repeatedly spoke to police and a sheriff's detective about their son's suicidal tendencies, and even confiscated his handgun, the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula contends. But police pushed the 21-year-old Missoula man hard, telling him at 1:30 p.m. on July 27, 2010, that if he didn't come up with more names, "we'll put you so far away no one will ever find you," the complaint contends. [continues 454 words]
While it is just a story from a town in Texas, it is a story that deserves wide attention because it involves outrageous overreach by a federal law enforcement agency. The story concerns Craig Patty, the owner of a small trucking company who found out that the Drug Enforcement Agency was secretly paying one of his drivers to use one of his trucks to transport large quantities of marijuana as part of a string operation - all without Patty's knowledge. And he found out about it only after the truck was ambushed and shot up by gangsters aiming to hijack the truck and its valuable load. His driver died after being shot eight times. [continues 464 words]
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. [continues 706 words]
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. [continues 623 words]
Montana's courts shouldn't spend any more time on state medical marijuana laws, a Montana Supreme Court justice says -- again. Justice James C. Nelson's comments were included in a Supreme Court decision issued last week in a case appealing Deer Lodge's approval of a medical marijuana business in 2010. Deer Lodge was within its rights to approve Zoo Mountain Natural Care's business license in 2010, six of the justices concurred, Nelson among them. He added his comments in a separate concurrence. [continues 371 words]
The first time District Judge Ingrid Gustafson saw Katy Irmen, the expectant mother was homeless, jobless, addicted to drugs and convicted of felony drug possession. Last week, Irmen appeared again in Gustafson's courtroom, as she has almost every Thursday for more than a year. But now the slender, 25-year-old mom is clean and sober. She is caring for her 1-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. They have safe housing in Interfaith Hospitality Network's transitional apartments. Irmen arranged reliable day care for her children while she works full time. Neat, poised and self-assured, Irmen's appearance gives no hint of the struggles she waged over the past 14 months. [continues 619 words]
The Montana Supreme Court Tuesday turned to the lyrics of Bob Dylan in denying the appeal of a Havre man who mentioned counter-culture comedians Cheech and Chong in his appeal of a conviction for growing and intending to distribute marijuana. Shawn M. Stoner was charged with the felonies after authorities found five marijuana plants, additional marijuana, a digital scale and other paraphernalia in his residence. Some time after being charged, Stoner sought and received a card from the state authorizing him as a medical marijuana caregiver for one particular patient, and another certifying him as a patient under the state's medical marijuana law in place at the time. [continues 238 words]
The Montana Supreme Court Friday upheld a lower court ruling that hashish and hash oil are not considered marijuana under the state's medical marijuana law. The case arose from the June 2010, arrest of Buddy Wade Pirello on Interstate 90 in Mineral County after a law enforcement officer searched his vehicle and found drug paraphernalia, three marijuana cigarettes, 20 small baggies of marijuana totaling 52 grams (exceeding the amount medical marijuana cardholders are permitted), plus two one-gram bottles, labeled "hash," with liquid in each. [continues 243 words]
Two more people connected with a medical marijuana business on Jellison Road were sentenced to prison in federal court, including the head of an operation prosecutors claim did business across the U.S. According to court documents, Christopher Durbin, 33, of Oregon and Whitefish, owned and operated several businesses in the Flathead Valley, including Four Seasons Gardening, Northern Lights Medical and Good Medicine Providers, all located on Jellison Road in Columbia Falls. Four Seasons sold grow equipment for medical marijuana providers and other people, Northern Lights helped individuals get a medical marijuana patient card, and Good Medicine was a medical marijuana dispensary. [continues 338 words]
The Montana Supreme Court recently upheld a ruling by a Flathead County district court judge relating to the sentencing of two medical marijuana providers who were arrested in the Canyon last year. In the 5-0 ruling, the high court agreed that it is illegal under the 2009 Medical Marijuana Act for caregivers to exchange marijuana with other caregivers. According to court records, Lief Erickson, 48, and Robin Ruiz, 52, both of Kalispell, were stopped by law enforcement on U.S. 2 near Lake Five Road on Feb. 3, 2011. A search of their vehicle turned up more than three pounds of marijuana, 300 capsules containing THC and five vials of suspected THC honey. [continues 459 words]
In a lengthy complaint with footnotes about the "f" word and being vegan, Jason Christ is suing the Missoula Police Department, Missoula County Attorney's Office, Missoula County 9-1-1, and other parties in U.S. District Court. Christ, a medical marijuana businessman, is asking for $50 million in punitive damages, among other demands, for the defendants' "willful and malicious actions" that have caused him "emotional distress." Court documents note Christ, representing himself, is so harassed by the law that the city and county have lost him income, "affected his bodily functions" and forced him to camp "down a vast network of unimproved dirt roads." [continues 787 words]
Montana Supreme Court justices on Wednesday wrestled with the legal issue of whether people have a fundamental, constitutional right to sell medical marijuana, which is legal under state law, but illegal under federal law. A state attorney urged the Supreme Court to reverse a lower-court ruling that struck down part of the law, passed by the 2011 Legislature, that in essence banned the commercial sales of medical marijuana. Assistant Attorney General James Molloy said state District Judge James Reynolds of Helena used the wrong legal standard in blocking that part of the law that forbids any payment to those growing medical marijuana. [continues 748 words]
HELENA Montana Supreme Court justices on Wednesday wrestled with the legal issue of whether people have a fundamental, constitutional right to sell medical marijuana, which is legal under state law, but illegal under federal law. A state attorney urged the Supreme Court to reverse a lower-court ruling that struck down part of the law, passed by the 2011 Legislature, that in essence banned the commercial sales of medical marijuana. Assistant Attorney General James Molloy said state District Judge James Reynolds, of Helena, used the wrong legal standard in blocking that part of the law that forbids any payment to those growing medical marijuana. [continues 749 words]
HELENA - The Montana Attorney General's office will make its case Wednesday to the state Supreme Court that the commercial sale of medical marijuana should be halted. Assistant Attorney General Jim Molloy is set to argue that District Judge James Reynolds improperly blocked that portion of the new medical marijuana law passed by the 2011 Legislature. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs led by the Montana Cannabis Industry Association say that Reynolds should have gone further and blocked the entire law, not just the provision keeping marijuana providers from making a profit. They will ask the state's high court to do so until their lawsuit can be heard. [continues 498 words]
HELENA - The Montana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday on separate appeals filed by a medical marijuana industry group and the state of Montana. They are appealing separate portions of a 2011 District Court decision that temporarily blocked parts of a much stricter 2011 state law from being implemented. The court will hear the case of Montana Cannabis Industry Association and others against the state at 9:30 a.m. in the court's chambers on the third floor of the Justice and State Library Building, 215 N. Sanders. [continues 641 words]
The Montana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday on separate appeals filed by a medical marijuana industry group and the state of Montana. They are appealing separate portions of a 2011 District Court decision that temporarily blocked parts of a much stricter 2011 state law from being implemented. The court will hear the case of Montana Cannabis Industry Association and others against the state at 9:30 a.m. in the court's chambers on the third floor of the Justice and State Library Building, 215 N. Sanders. [continues 642 words]
A Flathead County landlord who rented warehouse space to a marijuana grow operation was sentenced Monday to a year and a day in a federal prison. Jonathan Janetski, 36, of Whitefish, also will be on supervised release for three years, and must pay a $100 fine, according to the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy. "Janetski owned the location and assisted in transforming the building into a large marijuana plant-growing facility. ... The co-conspirators helped grow hundreds of marijuana plants," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a prepared statement. [continues 70 words]
A new documentary on medical marijuana raised some old issues in Missoula during a discussion following Tuesday's Montana premiere of "Code of the West." The film by Rebecca Richman Cohen traces the 2011 legislative battle to revise or outright repeal Montana's 2004 voter-approved law legalizing the medical use of cannabis. That fight and the simultaneous federal raids that helped lead to the near-shutdown of Montana's medical marijuana industry has made for "the perfect storm of a legal mess" surrounding the drug in Montana, said former Congressman Pat Williams, who moderated the discussion. [continues 515 words]
HELENA - As Montana medical marijuana business owners face federal charges across Montana, a newly produced documentary film, "Code of the West," is screening in four communities across the state this week. Director Rebecca Richman Cohen and her crew spent nearly two years researching, filming and editing the new documentary, which tells the emotional story of the debate surrounding legislative efforts to amend - - and repeal - the 2004 voter-approved law legalizing medical marijuana use by certain patients. Cohen will screen "Code of the West" in theaters across the state this week. Screenings and post-screening panel discussions with high-profile figures from across the political spectrum will take place in Missoula, Bozeman, Helena and Billings in the coming week. [continues 533 words]
A Helena lawyer is asking a federal court judge to throw out the charges against his client, saying that the U.S. Attorney's office has no right to "veto" Montana voters' approval of medical marijuana. Michael Donahoe, a federal defense attorney, said that the federal government "selectively targeted" medical marijuana cultivators and dispensers like his client, Chris Williams, who is a founding member of Montana Cannabis. Donahoe is asking that the case against Williams be dropped. In addition, Donahoe argues in court documents filed this week in U.S. District Court that the federal government's prosecution of medical marijuana providers violates the U.S. Constitution by a "direct and intended" encroachment on Montana's governmental rights under the "Guarantee Clause" of Article 4. [continues 386 words]
A documentary that follows the medical marijuana political debate in Montana, as well as its impacts on people's lives, will be shown in Helena later this month, followed by a panel discussion. "Code of the West" is a film by Rebecca Richman Cohen. In a news release for the movie, she notes how Montana is "at the forefront of national attention" when it comes to medical marijuana. "Once a pioneer in legalizing medical marijuana, the state of Montana is poised to become the first in the nation to repeal its medical marijuana law," Cohen wrote. "Set against the sweeping vistas of the Rockies, the steamy lamplight of marijuana grow houses, and the bustling halls of the State Capitol, 'Code of the West' follows the 2011 Montana State Legislature as it debates the fate of medical marijuana. [continues 553 words]
An activist who long advocated for strict regulation of Montana's once-booming medical marijuana industry pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal drug charge. "I'm an honest person. I plead guilty," Tom Daubert told U.S. Magistrate Jeremiah Lynch in response to a charge of conspiracy to maintain drug-involved premises. Daubert, 59, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $500,000 fine and three years' supervised probation. Lynch set sentencing for Sept. 6. Under a plea agreement, Daubert will pay a total fine of $50,000. However, any possible prison time won't be known until Judge Dana Christensen sentences him. [continues 313 words]
HELENA -- The number of registered marijuana cardholders in Montana fell below 12,000 as of March 31 for the first time in two years. A total of 11,993 cardholders had registered as of March 31 with the program run by the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. That's the fewest cardholders, formerly called patients, in Montana since the 12,081 who registered as of March 31, 2010. In addition, there were 421 medical marijuana providers, previously called caregivers, registered with the state as of March 31. They are legally authorized to grow and sell marijuana to licensed cardholders. Those numbers plummeted after peaking at 4,848 in March 2011. [continues 513 words]
Montana ranks ninth among the top 17 states for marijuana use among teens, which is predictable, according to local law enforcement officials who blame the state's "goofy" and "convoluted" marijuana laws. "This comes as no surprise," said Billings Deputy Police Chief Tim O'Connell. "We are definitely seeing an increase in the schools, and it's definitely related to bad legislation. We can thank the passage of legalizing marijuana. The laws aren't clear." [continues 653 words]
HELENA - Four of the six medical marijuana providers who are suing the U.S. government over last year's raids of pot businesses across Montana have been arrested on federal drug charges, their lawyer in the civil lawsuit said Tuesday. The medical marijuana businesses of the four plaintiffs arrested Tuesday and last Thursday were among more than 26 homes, businesses and warehouses searched in sweeping raids last spring that shut down many providers and cast a pall over Montana's booming pot business. [continues 593 words]
Sheriff Linder did a grave injustice to few thousand Billings voters who will be looking to vote against him in his upcoming election in 2014. He allowed or encouraged the feds to raid medical marijuana providers. They were fully in compliance with the new laws. Hundreds of medical marijuana patients were affected. There are multiple-sclerosis patients who have found strains to help them, now worried. There are cancer patients who have lost tinctures which were helping them deal with chemotherapy. The sheriff is the chief elected law enforcement officer of our county, but did not defend state authorized businesses. He's looking for a slice of the asset forfeiture pie to buy new laptops. There is a clear Supreme Court ruling, Printz v. United States. This says for local sheriffs "the Federal Government may not compel the States to enact or administer a federal regulatory program." So standing behind the Controlled Substances Act is preposterous. Josh Daniels Billings [end]
MISSOULA - Evan Corum of Whitefish got six months in federal prison and another six of house arrest after federal agents busted his medical marijuana operation last year. Michael Kassner of Kalispell got a year and a day for his involvement in another medical cannabis case. So did Tyler Roe. Jonathan Janetski, charged along with Kassner and Roe, is looking at up to three years in prison, according to his lawyer, Todd Glazier of Kalispell. But, he says: Janetski didn't grow marijuana. [continues 673 words]
Evan Corum of Whitefish got six months in federal prison and another six of house arrest after federal agents busted his medical marijuana operation last year. Michael Kassner of Kalispell got a year and a day for his involvement in another medical cannabis case. So did Tyler Roe. Jonathan Janetski, charged along with Kassner and Roe, is looking at up to three years in prison, according to his lawyer, Todd Glazier of Kalispell. But, he says: Janetski didn't grow marijuana. [continues 671 words]
MISSOULA - A Flathead Valley landlord faces prison time for his tenants' medical marijuana operation. The attorney for Jonathan Janetski said the landlord faces up to 36 months in federal prison when he is sentenced on April 19 on a charge of maintaining drug-involved premises. The charge against Janetski stems from the March 2011 federal raids on medical marijuana operations across Montana that targeted an operation run by his tenants, Evan Corum, Michael Kassner and Tyler Roe. The tenants already have been sentenced on federal drug charges. Attorney Todd Glazier said he believes Janetski is the only landlord charged in the 2011 raids. He said the experience should be a cautionary tale to those who rent to medical marijuana businesses. [end]
HELENA - A year after agents raided his medical marijuana operation in a sweeping sting that shut down pot providers across Montana, Chris Williams is stepping up his challenge of the federal operation that changed the face of the industry in the state. Williams, a former co-owner of the now-defunct Montana Cannabis, and more than a dozen other providers are taking a constitutional fight over the federal crackdown to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a district judge dismissed the case in January. He also is preparing for his own possible arrest related to last year's raids. [continues 783 words]
The number of medical marijuana cardholders in Montana continues to plummet, while the number of legal marijuana providers is a fraction of its peak, as the industry faces an uncertain future here. The 2011 Legislature passed of a much more restrictive law, Senate Bill 423, which has reduced these numbers. Then there were several dozen federal raids of medical marijuana growing operations, along with the arrests and convictions of some owners. The combination of the new law and the federal raids has put a damper on the once-booming industry here, officials say. [continues 1309 words]
The prohibitionist model is one of blind ignorance, abject failure and economic collapse. Its underlying ideology is one of fear, envy, greed and hate. Never have so many been endangered and impoverished by so few, so quickly! Do you wish to greatly reduce, even almost eliminate the market in illegal narcotics? Then please help us to dismantle prohibition enabling us to legalize, regulate and tax! Do you wish to bring about an enormous reduction in the presence and influence of organized crime? Then please help us to dismantle prohibition enabling us to legalize, regulate and tax! [continues 72 words]
The use of synthetic marijuana is an unintended side effect of the war on natural marijuana. Military personnel and others who are drug tested are turning to potentially toxic drugs made in China and sold as research chemicals before being repackaged as legal incense. Expanding the drug war will only add to what is already the highest incarceration rate in the world. Chinese chemists will tweak formulas to stay one step ahead of the law and two steps ahead of the drug tests. Misguided efforts to protect children from drugs are putting children at great risk. [continues 92 words]
HELENA-The number of medical marijuana cardholders in Montana continues to plummet, while the number of legal marijuana providers is a fraction of its peak, as the industry faces an uncertain future here. The 2011 Legislature passed of a much more restrictive law, Senate Bill 423, which has reduced these numbers. Then there were several dozen federal raids of medical marijuana growing operations, along with the arrests and convictions of some owners. The combination of the new law and the federal raids has put a damper on the once-booming industry here, officials say. [continues 1310 words]
When federal agents raided medical marijuana businesses around Montana last year, the consequences for those indicted as a result seemed dire. They faced mandatory minimum sentences of at least five years in prison on some charges, with maximum penalties of 40 years and fines ranging as high as $5 million. But the sentences handed down so far, all the result of plea agreements that saw some charges dropped, have been considerably shorter, ranging from six months to 18 months. And in one case where attorneys agreed on sentencing guidelines of 24-30 months for each of three men, a federal judge in Helena halved the minimum, sentencing them instead to a single year. Senior Judge Charles Lovell criticized the guidelines as "excessive," making particular mention of the fact that the three men, who operated businesses in Helena and Great Falls, believed their work to be legal under state law. [continues 919 words]
HELENA -- The number of medical marijuana cardholders in Montana continues to plummet while the number of legal marijuana providers is a fraction of its peak, as the industry faces an uncertain future here. In 2011, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 423, a much more restrictive law that reduced the number of cardholders. Then there were several dozen federal raids of medical marijuana growing operations, along with the arrests and convictions of some owners. [continues 1044 words]
Inside Montana
