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Highlights of Montana’s New Medical Marijuana Law

April 30th, 2011

Yesterday, Governor Schweitzer said he’d allow SB 423 to become law without his signature. He may still veto any time in the next ten days, and we should continue encouraging him to do so, but in case he does allow it to become law, here’s what we have to look forward to:

Patients

  • Your existing card is still valid until it expires; you’ll renew under the new rules.
  • The same medical conditions will continue to qualify you, but if your diagnosis is “severe chronic pain”, the new law is much more strict. The pain must be persistent and of severe intensity, and objectively proven by an X-ray or MRI, or a second physician must confirm the diagnosis after a physical exam.
  • You must be a Montana resident.
  • Once you have your card, if you do not choose a provider, you’ll be able to possess 12 seedlings, 4 mature flowering plants, and 1 ounce of usable marijuana. By choosing a provider, you give up your right to grow for yourself.
  • Failure to notify the state of a change of address within 10 days voids your card.
  • You must carry your medical marijuana card with you at all times.
  • Parents wishing to register their minor children need a second doctor’s recommendation, must submit fingerprints for an FBI background check, and agree that the minor will never smoke marijuana, only use infused products.
  • People under department of corrections supervision are not eligible.
  • Gardens may not be combined and shared, unless you are relatives by blood or marriage.
  • Drivers may be compelled via search warrant to provide a blood sample.  5ng/ml is cause for a DUI charge.
  • If your drivers license is revoked for DUI, your medical marijuana card must be surrendered.

Caregivers

  • A new “provider” registration process is supposed to be available by June 1st, 2011. Anyone who wishes to grow marijuana for someone else will be subject to a fingerprint background check by the FBI, as well as a financial background check (unpaid taxes, student loans, child support).
  • If you do not get one of the new cards in June, you must bring in all your plants and product to local law enforcement for destruction before July 1st.
  • You may choose to register as a “marijuana-infused products manufacturer” instead of, or in addition to, registering as a “provider” (grower).
  • If approved, providers will be allowed to grow 4 mature plants and 12 seedlings each for up to 3 patients.
  • Nobody can sell anything to anyone. No money, nothing of value may be exchanged for marijuana, except that the patient may reimburse the provider for the state application fee.
  • Infused product manufacturers must use separate cookware from that which they prepare “normal” food, and are subject to local health department food preparation rules.
  • You must carry your provider card with you at all times.
  • Law enforcement will be automatically notified of the location of your garden. You may have only one. Law enforcement can conduct unannounced inspections during business hours.
  • Gardens cannot be combined or shared.
  • Must keep a complete set of records showing all transactions with cardholders (by name and ID number), open for inspection by law enforcement at any time during business hours.
  • Advertising of any kind is prohibited, including via electronic media (websites, email). This provision is effective upon passage — mid-May.

Doctors

  • Must describe in writing the medical condition, why it is debilitating, and the extent to which it is debilitating.
  • Must confirm that they have assumed primary responsibility for caring for the patient.
  • Must describe the range of other medications and treatments used to treat the condition.
  • Must confirm that they have reviewed all other medications and supplements and considered their possible interaction with marijuana.
  • Must confirm they have explained the potential risks of marijuana.
  • May not affiliate in any way with providers or infused products manufacturers.
  • May not examine patients where marijuana is being grown.
  • May not offer a discount or incentive to a patient for choosing a particular provider.
  • Will be reported to the Board of Medical Examiners if they recommend for more than 25 patients in a year. This will trigger a formal review of the physician’s practices, for which the physician will be responsible for the costs.
  • Telemedicine recommendations will constitute “unprofessional conduct” under 37-1-316.

Finally, there will be a “hotline” for people to report suspected abuses of the medical marijuana law by anyone, and local governments may ban providers and infused products manufacturers from operating within their boundaries.

If the governor doesn’t veto SB 423, that’s what we have to look forward to.

Don’t Like It?

Contact the governor before May 10th and urge him to veto SB 423:

  1. Click here: http://www.montanadrugpolicy.org/alert/46
  2. Click here: http://governor.mt.gov/contact/commentsform.asp
  3. Call: (406) 444-3111 and urge the governor to veto SB 423 and regulate medical marijuana via administrative rules.

As always, if you want to be listened to and be effective, be professional in your correspondence.

Various teams of activists are also speaking with lawyers about the possibility of suing to stop the law from going into effect, and there will likely be a signature-gathering effort in a few weeks to try to stop this bill from becoming law. If you want to help, please contact us, and let us know where you live.

 

 

 

24 comments »

Posted in Medical Marijuana, Montana, Montana Legislature

Senator Art Wittich Participates in Marijuana Economy, and Supports Repeal

April 12th, 2011

We received this from a Bozeman grower who wishes to remain anonymous – for now:

 

IN MED MARIJUANA TESTIMONY, SEN. WITTICH SELLS OUT CONSTITUENTS, CLIENTS AND SICK MONTANANS
During a Senate floor session held on March 31st, Republican State Senator Art Wittich gave pivotal testimony in favor of House Bill 161.  Originally proposed by House Speaker Mike Milburn, HB 161 seeks the complete repeal of Initiative 148, Montana’s medicinal marijuana law, which an overwhelming 64% of voters supported in 2006.  Following Mr. Wittich’s testimony, HB 161 passed the Senate, and it is currently on Governor Schweitzer’s desk for consideration.
Mr. Wittich was elected to the Senate last fall on a far-right, small-government platform that appealed to many Tea Party members.  Prior to being elected, Mr. Wittich worked as an attorney at the Wittich Law Firm in Bozeman, which he founded in 1995, and where he remains senior partner.  Unfortunately, when he spoke in favor of HB 161, Mr. Wittich chose not to reveal to either his conservative/Tea Party constituents, or to his law firm’s clients, that he was playing both sides of the fence on the medicinal marijuana issue.
In fact, at the time of his testimony, Mr. Wittich’s law firm was representing two local medicinal marijuana providers.  However, neither of Attorney Wittich’s clients were warned when they hired his firm that Senator Wittich intended to aggressively advocate for legislation that would destroy his clients’ businesses; condemning them to bankruptcy at best, and turning their principals, employees, agents and contractors into criminals at worst.  Setting aside the apparent and egregious – if not unethical – conflict of interest he exhibited with his testimony, it is clear that while Senator Wittich touts the need for repeal of I-148, Attorney Wittich has been more than willing to make money “representing” medicinal marijuana providers.
Mr. Wittich pulled the wool over his clients’ and his constituents’ eyes in order to gain political and financial capital.  But worse that that, his conduct has threatened the health and welfare of the tens of thousands of Montanans who are, and who yet could, benefit from medicinal marijuana.  The real question for Mr. Wittich is this: If he is so interested in small government, then why is he sticking his hands into sick Montanans’ medicine cabinets?

6 comments »

Posted in Medical Marijuana, Montana, Montana Legislature

Questions For The Local Law Enforcement Agencies That Helped With The Federal Raids

March 29th, 2011

In March 2011, the United States federal government launched raids on numerous medical marijuana providers throughout Montana. We liveblogged the events as they transpired.

Later, the U.S. Attorney released a statement about the raids, praising the 20+ state and local agencies that helped out.

When I saw that long list of participating agencies who aided federal authorities in the enforcement in federal law, I got curious about what exactly their roles were, what they knew, when they knew it, and whether they’d get a share of the seized and forfeited assets. Read more about asset forfeiture here.

Happily, because Montana has right to know guaranteed in our constitution, and we have strong open records laws in 44-5-301 and 2-6-102 (and the sections that follow them), it’s a simple matter to write and ask to see what they’ve got. They can deny me some information, like if the information would jeopardize an ongoing investigation, or violate a person’s privacy. But pretty much everything else is fair game, and they’re legally required to answer.

So today, I wrote letters to most of the participating agencies, and a few other state government entities who were probably “in the loop”, and asked the following questions:

  1. Please provide a narrative of how and when you became aware of the federal government’s investigations into medical marijuana in Montana. Please include specific dates and names of all federal agencies with whom your agency communicated about the investigations.
  2. Was your agency requested to help in the investigations in any way? If so, how, and by whom?
  3. Was your agency’s help requested in determining whether the activities under investigation were illegal under state law? If so, how, and by whom?
  4. Is there a written or understood policy that your agency follows with regards to determining whether a federal warrant is lawful under Montana law?
  5. Please describe your agency’s constitutional obligation to ensure that the federal warrants were lawful under state law and executed lawfully.
  6. Please provide a narrative of how and when you became aware of the federal government’s intentions to execute warrants and raid medical marijuana businesses in Montana.  Please include specific dates and names of all federal agencies with whom your agency communicated about the raids.
  7. Please provide copies of any and all contracts, agreements, memoranda, letters, and emails relevant to your agency’s involvement in these federal raids.
  8. How many total staff hours were required to coordinate and execute your agency’s assistance to federal authorities on these raids? Please provide best estimates if staff time was not tracked.
  9. How many of those hours were overtime?
  10. What is the average wage of individuals employed or contracted by your agency who helped to coordinate, assist, or participate in the federal raids?
  11. Please describe in detail and provide copies of supporting documentation (contracts, memoranda, emails, etc), if any, of assurances, expressed or implied, that you received related to your agency being a recipient of a portion of assets subject to forfeiture in the federal raids.
  12. What specific roles was your agency assigned or expected to perform in the investigation of these cases, and execution of these warrants?
  13. Did your agency receive federal raid-related information from, or provide such information to, the Montana All Threat Information Center? If so, what was the nature of the information transmitted?
  14. In State v. Nelson, the Montana Supreme Court noted that under certain circumstances, state entities may not use violations of federal law as a justification for establishing state penalties. Upon which law or rule did your agency rely in considering participation in these federal raids?
  15. Did your agency suspect violations of state law with regards to the targets of the federal raids? If so, why did your agency not act on its own, or in coordination with other state entities?

I’ve requested the information by April 16th, and will publish our findings in future posts.

15 comments »

Posted in Federal, Medical Marijuana, Montana, Prohibition

Will Montana’s Medical Cannabis Patients Support Legalization in 2012?

March 28th, 2011

A version of this article appeared in Kush magazine.

In Montana, there are around 100,000 adult cannabis consumers. Some of them suffer qualifying medical conditions and use cannabis as a natural treatment for their debilitating symptoms. Some use it for non-qualifying conditions, such as insomnia, depression, anxiety, cramps, PTSD.

And then there are people for whom cannabis is a non-medical life enhancer: to increase their enjoyment of food, sex, poetry and cinema, or inspire their art and writing, gardening and programming, or enrich their social interactions, or simply relax after a hard day’s work.

There’s no reason that these two groups need to clash, and in fact, they often overlap. The card-carrying Crohn’s disease patient who derives both symptomatic relief and enjoyment from sharing a fat joint of Super Silver Haze with his buddies before kicking back on the couch to watch Pineapple Express (for the third time) is in both camps.

While cannabis can be a “precious medicine for the sick and dying”, that’s not all it is, and we run a real risk of painting ourselves into a corner and setting up needless conflicts within the cannabis community by insisting that it’s only for one group and not the other.

Legalization would be better for patients than the expensive and bureaucratic system we have now: No “qualifying conditions”, no annual doctor certification requirements, higher product quality, lower prices.

So why would patients not support legalization if given the chance?

Selfish ambivalence, for one. After all, the thinking goes, once “I got mine”, who cares about the rest of you “undeserving” non-patients, right?

Not exactly an enlightened position. Don’t forget that there were an awful lot of non-patients who supported medical marijuana back in 2004. How about returning the favor?

Another objection to legalization you may hear from the only-medical camp concerns taxation. They demand an exemption from taxation, because they say their cannabis is medicine, and no other medicine is taxed.

It’s a nice thought, but there are many reasons cannabis should be taxed.

  • First, taxes are not inherently evil. Taxes ensure we have roads to drive on, that someone comes when we call 911, that we have a civil society in general. What’s taxed and to what degree is worth debating, but it’s absurd to start from a position that all taxes are automatically bad.
  • Second, plugging cannabis tax policy into the law books makes all us responsible adult cannabis consumers in Montana part of a legitimate civil/political structure. It brings us out of the shadows, into the light.
  • Third, while you and I may be passionate about pot policy, a whole lot of people don’t care much. Offering a new revenue source for critical public services can create new allies, and solve real funding problems. In fact, most cannabis consumers would agree that we’re the one consumer group likely to say “please, tax us!”

A final reason that some in the medical marijuana industry may oppose legalization: naked greed.

Medical marijuana is a partial market for cannabis consumers, and hence leaves a substantial portion of the black market intact. By preserving a black market for cannabis, prices (and profits, if your production is efficient) remain high for sellers.

There is no reason that this dried plant material needs to sell for $250 or more per ounce. The drastically more labor-intensive herb saffron sells for less. For perspective, a full football field of saffron flowers produces a mere one pound of the dried herb. A guy could could grow a pound of cured cannabis flowers in a spare bedroom or a corner of his back yard.

Whether the “I got mine” crowd, the naive anti-tax folks, or the greedy business types will be able to sink legalization in 2012 is yet to be seen. Of course the moralistic anti-freedom crusaders will make a vigorous showing as well, so we’ve really got our work cut out for us.

As the day approaches, cannabis consumers statewide should keep talking with one another about the details of legalization, acknowledging that compromise and some sort of tax or fee will probably be a necessary part of any proposal with a chance of passage. But how exactly should it work? What’s got the best chance of winning? Hopefully, we’ll all be able to see that liberating this plant, even via imperfect legislation, is just the right thing to do, and far preferable to the failed, expensive, and destructive policy of prohibition.

21 comments »

Posted in Elections, Medical Marijuana, Montana, Prohibition, Tax & Regulate

Cruelty, Hypocrisy, and Bigotry

March 26th, 2011

On March 25th, 2011, I testified as an opponent of SB 423, a Senate subcommittee’s attempt to “get medical marijuana under control”. A summary of the bill is here. Late in the day, the bill passed committee with a vote of 10-2 and is expected to hit the floor of the Montana Senate on Monday March 28th.

My testimony as prepared:

Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, my name is John Masterson, and I am the founder and director of the Montana chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. At NORML we believe that responsible adult use of marijuana should be of no concern to government.

I am here today to rise in opposition to SB 423.

First though, I would like to thank the Legislative Services Division for producing 50 pages of robust legislation based upon the bad ideas provided to them.

And, I have to say there is one thing about this bill that I like: it seeks to regulate, rather than prohibit, marijuana. Because we all know that prohibition does not work.

However, the rest of the bill is a trainwreck. I believe that in the future, historians will judge this bill, and this effort, as one conducted by dinosaurs, clinging to puritanical ideals that are far from mainstream and undergirded by nothing but ignorance, fear, and prejudice.

We find in this bill several broad themes. The first of which is cruelty.

This bill is cruel to pain patients, whose cards would be revoked this summer, regardless of their medical situation.

This bill is cruel to entrepreneurs, some of whom have put their life savings into their legitimate businesses. Yes, some of them came from underground, out of the darkness, into the light, to participate in the program. This bill puts them out of business.

This bill is cruel to the hundreds, perhaps thousands of employees who worked for those businesses. Many of them were unemployed prior to getting jobs for cannabis businesses as farmers, carpenters, electricians, accountants, and if this bill passes, they could be out of work again.

This bill is cruel to low income Montanans, some of whom will become sick and want to explore medical marijuana as therapy. Too bad, because they’ll first need to seek four doctor visits in six months, at $150 a pop. Many of them are already on fixed incomes, and this will be impossible.

The second theme we find in this bill is hypocrisy.

We find hypocrisy in that we can buy alcohol and cigarettes over the counter at any convenience store until 2AM, both more dangerous, addictive, and toxic than marijuana.

We find hypocrisy in that this legislature convened with goals of supporting free enterprise, small business, and jobs, and this bill destroys small businesses and eliminates jobs.

We find hypocrisy in that this body and this nation support free speech, and yet free speech is quashed in this bill, by prohibiting all marketing and advertising.

We find hypocrisy in that this bill removes references to “medical” marijuana, in favor of “therapeutic” marijuana, and yet subjects participants in the program to far more onerous restrictions than that which exist for much more dangerous and addictive drugs such as Oxycontin.

We find hypocrisy in the stated intention that this bill is designed to increase public safety and reduce crime. Well, this bill is a gift to the criminal black market. This bill would create crime.

Finally, we find hypocrisy in that this legislature convened to reduce the size of government and reduce expenses. This bill would do the opposite. Have we seen a fiscal note yet?

The third theme we find inherent in this bill is bigotry.

I understand that marijuana scares you. I get that. But criminalizing adults for being otherwise law-abiding marijuana consumers is just another type of intolerance, bigotry.

If you believe that marijuana is dangerous — and it’s not harmless — then all the more reason to regulate, not prohibit.

Because we know that prohibition doesn’t work.

The time is now upon us to legalize and regulate marijuana for all adults, regardless of medical condition.

Thank you.

13 comments »

Posted in Medical Marijuana, Montana, Montana Legislature, Tax & Regulate

Montana Medical Marijuana Federal Raid Protests

March 15th, 2011

The federal raid live blog continues here.

Statewide protests against the dramatic and callous raids on as many as a dozen medical marijuana providers, timed perfectly to “coincide” with a key Senate vote on repealing medical marijuana, commence tomorrow, Wednesday, March 16th, 2011.

In cities statewide, Americans for Safe Access and Montana NORML (among others) are calling for people to convene upon their local city halls at 5PM, in protest of these federal actions and in solidarity with the thousands of affected patients.

What:  Vigils at Local City Halls
When: Tomorrow, Wednesday March 16th, 2011 starting at 5PM
Where: Your Local City Hall
IMPORTANT: Bring signs that say:  “YOUR CITY wants Feds Out of MT” (for example , “Billings wants Feds out of Montana!”)

Some local events have Facebook pages:

If you plan to attend your local event, and to get information about joining a 2PM coordination conference call prior to the vigil,  please send an email with your city’s name in the subject line to: action@safeaccessnow.org

 

Also, in Missoula, an “Out of the Shadows, into the Streets!” march is planned for Saturday the 19th in Missoula. Convene at Caras Park at noon. Bring your signs from Wednesday! Here is the Facebook event page.

If you plan to attend an event please send an email with your cities name in the subject line to action@safeaccessnow.org

29 comments »

Posted in Events, Federal, Medical Marijuana, Montana, Prohibition

Did Missoula Taxpayers Pay for Police Chief to Testify for Medical Marijuana Repeal?

March 13th, 2011

On Friday, March 11th,  Montana’s Senate Judiciary Committee met to hear testimony on HB 161, which would repeal medical marijuana in Montana.

One the proponents testifying in support of the repeal bill was Missoula Police Chief Mark Muir.

Law enforcement officials are generally anti-cannabis (despite many exceptions), and everyone is entitled to their opinion.  Mr. Muir had every right to be there and express his personal views.

However, he appeared in uniform, apparently as a representative of the City of Missoula. At the hearing, he stated:

“Think Gulf oil spill.  Think again when people say we can’t put the genie back in the bottle, that we can’t put a cap on this… I will be available for questions later.”

EDIT: Later, Chief Muir stated:

“Repeal is just one option. Certainly a very viable option given the speed at which this problem has escalated out of control. I will tell you that I don’t believe that putting this to a vote of the citizens in a few years is a good idea because it would let this problem continue to grow at too fast of a rate. It’s been growing almost exponentially. We can regulate this. It will be expensive, just as regulating alcohol, just as regulating prescription drugs, all have proven to be very expensive, and the society effects are huge. Let’s remember that there was a medicinal exemption to Prohibition and look where we are today, 91 years later.”

So, he didn’t explicitly recommend repeal, but  by lining up as a proponent, he certainly hinted his encouragement and support for it.

Initiative 148, which created Montana’s medical marijuana program and was approved by 62% of voters. But in Missoula, support was much stronger. Here’s a map of Missoula legislative districts, with voter support for I-148 in red. Click it to see a larger version.

Which leads me to ask, as an employee of the City of Missoula, was Chief Muir acting in his capacity as a representative of the city?

Was his presence, and his message, endorsed by City Council?

Were his travel expenses paid by Missoula taxpayers?

Did he take a vacation day, or was he on the clock?

Food for thought.

Chief Muir knows the law and is a smart and capable guy — I’ve met him.  It’s my assumption that he was expressing his personal views, on his own dime.  But he should have made that clear in the hearing.

 

8 comments »

Posted in Medical Marijuana, Missoula, Montana Legislature, Uncategorized

January 2011 Montana Medical Marijuana Statistics

February 6th, 2011

Patient counts in Montana’s medical marijuana program surged by over 1000 cardholders in a month from December 2010 through January 2011, from 27,292 to 28,362. The number of registered growers grew as well, from 4,807 to 4,843 persons authorized to farm cannabis. The number of doctors with currently enrolled patients shrank by two.

Other highlights:

  • 15.1% of patients reside in Missoula County, 13% in Gallatin County, 12% in Flathead County, and 11% in Yellowstone County.
  • 115 patients do not reside in Montana.
  • 74% of patients cite “Severe or Chronic Pain” as one of their ailments.
  • 3% cite cancer, HIV (AIDS), or glaucoma.
  • 0.18% (51) of patients are under the age of 18. That’s declined from 55 two months ago.
  • Half of all patients are adults age 40 or less.
  • There are 35 “big” caregivers with more than 100 patients. In theory, each may be growing more than 600 plants — that’s a lot of big gardens.
  • Half of all caregivers have exactly one patient; 90% have 10 or less patients.
  • About third of the 357 participating doctors have signed for exactly one patient. 9% have signed for more than 100 patients.

So, again, the program continues to grow.  Compare to just two months ago.

Then, there were 28 big growers. Seven new small businesses have reached the 100-patient mark in that time. These are legal small businesses which benefit their local economies by hiring employees, paying payroll and workers’ compensation taxes, spending money on rent and utilities, buying advertising, engaging the services of accountants and lawyers, and so on. And money spent in a local economy is “recycled”, as the funds paid out to employees and service providers results in a widening network of families buying groceries, paying for housing, and so on.

At 28,000 patients, almost one third of all Montana’s cannabis consumers are probably cardholders. After all, some substantial proportion of patients were probably using marijuana for years before registering. They’ve reasonably desired to “become legal”, preferring the stigma of being ill to the stigma of being criminals, which I can sure understand.

Depending on which bills pass in Helena over the next couple months, some or all of these patients and caregivers will likely have to shut down. If you want to keep track of what’s happening, I encourage you to sign up at http://montanadrugpolicy.org to receive action alerts.

1 comment »

Posted in Medical Marijuana, Montana

Montana NORML Newsletter – Good News on HB 33 and Other Local News

January 25th, 2011

Friends,

Earlier this morning in the House Judiciary Committee, HB 33, the any-amount-of-cannabis-metabolites-is-DUI bill, was tabled. This means it’s likely dead. Republicans and Democrats alike saw it as an overreaching of authority and science to charge people with DUI just because of some traces of chemicals in their urine.

Relish that news, as there may not be a lot more good news out of this legislative session. We’ll see.

Also, there’s a hearing tomorrow about SB 193:
http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2011/billhtml/SB0193.htm

This bill is interesting is that it attempts to “tighten up” the medical marijuana program with subtle tweaks, rather than dramatic re-invention.

Some if these tweaks include:

  • raises patient app fee to $150
  • requires  patients and caregivers to sign statement not to divert
  • two physicians required for minors
  • caregiver registration fee of $200
  • caregivers must be residents and submit fingerprints
  • caregivers may not have criminal records that include crimes of violence or felony drugs (unless more than 10 years ago)
  • automatic card revocation for diversion
  • increase to 2.5 oz possession limit
  • plants must be grown in enclosed locked facility
  • 2.5 oz every 14 days max sold per patient
  • caregiver must maintain records of those sales, available to cops on request
  • no public smoking allowed

Have an opinion on these matters? Here’s next steps for action:

In other news, the state bill to prohibit cities and counties from passing law designed to establish law enforcement priorities was proposed by Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg in response to Missoula County’s Initiative #2, which recommended that law enforcement treat adult marijuana crimes as their lowest possible priority:  http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_4a730082-2847-11e0-8f9c-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story

Curiouser and curiouser.

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Posted in Elections, Initiative #2, Medical Marijuana, Montana, Newsletter, Prohibition

Montana NORML Newsletter – Missoula Fundraiser, Legislature and the News

January 6th, 2011

Friends,

First, a heads up:  I’m headed out of town for a week. While I am gone, you might receive email updates from our friend and Montana NORML board member Cynthia Wolken. She’ll let you know if anything happens in the legislature that needs your immediate attention.

The legislature convened on Monday and marijuana-related bills are swirling like smoke in a hookah.  By our friend Kate‘s last count, there are now 24 separate bills (click for a summary).

Whatever happens, rest assured that our medical marijuana program (if it still exists) will be a lot different in a few months. For now, though, it just keeps growing and growing.

Two events this month that warrant your attention:

On Saturday, January 8th in Missoula, join Irvin Rosenfeld at Zoo Mountain Natural Care for a fundraiser and book-signing. Mr. Rosenfeld has received 300 joints a month from the federal government for the past 25+ years and is a remarkable advocate for legal access to cannabis. Here’s the Facebook event page.

Then, the big one:

On Saturday, January 15th in Missoula, please plan on attending a fundraiser to benefit Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy, Montana’s only 501c3 public education group devoted to raising awareness about marijuana policies. This event is co-sponsored by many cannabis-focused organizations, including Montana NORML. Facebook users, click here to read about the cannabis coalition that’s formed over the past few months.

Event Details (check the Facebook event page or the Montana NORML Blog for full details):

When: Saturday, January 15th, 5PM-11:30PM
Where: Holiday Inn Parkside, Missoula, 200 S. Pattee St
What: Silent Auction, Fancy Dinner, and live music from House of Quist, The Dodgy Mountain Men, and more.
Admission: $5, or $75 with sit-down dinner (proper attire required)

Full details are here. Don’t miss this.

And here’s an idea for caregiver businesses. If you love what you do and want to help preserve the law, how about sponsoring some of your patients to join us? Buy their tickets and bring them to the event!  :)

And now, the news…

Montana Marijuana News

Last but not least:

If you have money to donate this week, send it to:

Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy
PO Box 7146
Missoula MT 59807

and/or click the yellow donate button on our website.

If you have time, register at http://montanadrugpolicy.org

If you have neither (really?), just forward this message to a friend.

Onwards.

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Posted in Events, Medical Marijuana, Missoula, Montana, Newsletter