cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Law Creates Tangle of Legal Issues





Marijuana Law Creates Tangle of Legal Issues
Posted by CN Staff on December 31, 2004 at 21:23:21 PT
By Chelsea Deweese for the Missoulian
Source: Missoulian 
Now that using marijuana as medicine is legal under state law, legitimate patients don't have to fear arrest anymore. But there's one catch - buying pot is still illegal in Montana.And that's just one of the gray areas surrounding Montana's new medical marijuana law.
The Montana Medical Marijuana Act, approved by 63 percent of voters in November, allows patients to use marijuana to relieve suffering caused by diseases like cancer, glaucoma and HIV, or by chronic pain. Many unanswered questions surround the law as it takes effect Saturday, and patients and law enforcement officers are waiting to see what happens.Montana, and the 10 other states that have legalized medical marijuana since 1996, are also waiting to see whether the U.S. Supreme Court decides state medical marijuana laws trump federal laws prohibiting the drug in the ongoing Ashcroft v. Raich case.Joining states like Alaska and Maine, Montana will allow patients or their caregivers to possess up to an ounce of marijuana or up to six marijuana plants.But in order to be protected under the law, residents must first obtain a written recommendation from an oncologist or other medical doctor saying they have a debilitating medical condition and would benefit from using marijuana. Then they have to pay $200 to register with the state, and must pay to reregister every year.Roy Kemp, who's in charge of creating the registry as the licensing bureau chief for the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, said the fee is necessary to cover the expense of putting the new law into effect."There is no intention of pricing people out of this," he said.The cost of the registry will be divided among patients and caregivers, and the fee has the potential to go down in the future if more people register. So far, his office has received 72 applications.People who successfully register with the state will get a card they must carry to avoid being arrested for marijuana possession.The registration process is cut and dried; it's afterwards that things aren't so clear.The law doesn't provide a legal way for patients or caregivers to actually buy marijuana or the seeds they need to grow plants. It doesn't specify where they're allowed to smoke marijuana (only where they're not), and it doesn't address issues surrounding use, such as drug screening for job applicants.Sgt. Scott Brodie of the Missoula Police Department's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force said officers will still arrest people they catch buying marijuana - whether or not they have a card.He's worried people will take advantage of the new law, and that fake registration cards will proliferate like fake driver's licenses have, especially since the cards won't have photo identification on them.Though officers can call the state and check whether the person is really registered, Brodie said this will be a waste of time if every person arrested for marijuana claims to be a patient.Brodie said officers are unsure whether they should arrest people for possession and allow them to use registration cards as a defense in court, or verify the cards on-site and not issue a citation in the first place.He also said officers are unsure whether to arrest criminals who steal patients' marijuana plants or supplies.It will probably take a couple of years for lawmakers and law enforcement to work out all the kinks that will come with the new law, Brodie said."(Proponents) didn't take into account these myriad questions," he said. "I think patients will have to be patient and let all the pebbles fall through the screen."Questions like these surrounding the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes aren't unique to Montana, though. Other states that have legalized the use of medical marijuana face similar questions.Oregon residents voted down the idea of state-run marijuana dispensaries in November, despite the fact that thousands of patients in that state use medical marijuana. And the legality of dispensaries in California under federal law still isn't determined.Krissy Oechslin, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, said she thinks states will take a closer look at the supply issue after the Supreme Court makes its decision.The Marijuana Policy Project financed Montana's Medical Marijuana Act campaign, and tries to help states develop policies to make medical marijuana safer to use and more socially acceptable.Oechslin said the lack of legal medical marijuana supplies has always been a problem for patients in states that allow its use, and is hurtful to patients who can't grow their own because of the crippling effects of disease."As a healthy person, I can't keep houseplants alive, let alone a marijuana plant, which I hear is much more finicky," she said.She said technicalities like this are moot, though, until the Supreme Court makes its decision."Everyone is sitting on their hands and waiting to see what happens," she said.Source: Missoulian (MT) Author: Chelsea Deweese for the MissoulianPublished: Saturday, January 01, 2005Copyright: 2005 Missoulian Contact: newsdesk missoulian.com Website http://www.missoulian.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Medical Marijuana Registry Fee Angers Patientshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20059.shtmlPatients Can Now Register for MMJ Treatmenthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20056.shtmlPutting Pot in Its Proper Placehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20039.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 01, 2005 at 17:50:57 PT
Editorial: The War on Drugs
The War on Drugs: One of America’s Greatest Failures Now’s the time to admit we were wrong.By Corey Owens http://www.OpEdNews.com/  
It is relatively easy to make claims that the United States government is waging war on its own people. It was claimed during Prohibition, the Vietnam War, and now the War on Terror. However, it is in most all instances a significantly more difficult endeavor to “prove” that we are the victims. But as with most rules the exception begs one to reconsider the rule itself. The War on Drugs – forgotten by most during this time of wars against Iraq, Afghanistan, terror, and poverty – is wasting more time, energy, and money today than it ever has before. With the founding of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in 1968 began what may prove to be the most protracted and expensive war upon which this country has ever embarked. While the medical marijuana initiatives passed by several states might give one faith in the democratic process they are a far cry from what is needed and sufficiently justified at this juncture: an end to the War on Drugs. 
 Complete Article: http://www.opednews.com/2005_1_3/owensCorey010205_war_ono_drugs.htm
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Comment #1 posted by Dave in Florida on January 01, 2005 at 06:11:01 PT
stupidity strikes again.
"Brodie said officers are unsure whether they should arrest people for possession and allow them to use registration cards as a defense in court, or verify the cards on-site and not issue a citation in the first place. He also said officers are unsure whether to arrest criminals who steal patients' marijuana plants or supplies."Duh! What a moron. He doesn't know whether to arrest a legitimate patient or a thief. 
Let's see, It would seem to me that the thives should be arrested. 
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