One slightly encouraging sign has emerged from the rubble of the medical marijuana debacle in Montana. Following the March 2011 federal raids of Montana dispensaries, the U.S. indicted over 60 individuals, with each facing a maximum sentence of 40 years and a minimum of five. However, the actual prison sentences of those taking plea deals have been relatively light, with everyone receiving between six and 18 months.

Even in a case involving three men in which both prosecuting and defense attorneys agreed on 24 to 30 months sentencing for each, a federal judge in Helena subsequently cut their sentences to 12 months apiece.

University of Denver law professor Sam Kamin told The Billings Gazette that the reduced prison sentencing for dispensary owners and workers represents “a significant admission” from the federal government that cultivators and caregivers operating under state medicinal cannabis laws are to be regarded as separate and distinct from those growing pot purely for black-market profit on federal land and who receive very long sentences when convicted.

Still, John Masterson of Montana NORML and defense attorney Chris Lindsey (himself facing a prison sentence for his involvement with a Helena dispensary) opined to the Gazette that the lighter sentences aren’t really good news because those convicted are still facing huge forfeiture fines and at least some incarceration because the feds give them no choice but to plead guilty or face much longer prison terms – they are not able to use the state’s 2004 medical marijuana law as a defense.

Additionally, the feds have yet to sentence some of the larger-scale dispensary operators that have plead guilty, so it remains to be seen if the relatively light sentencing of Montana medical cannabis providers continues.

More @ billingsgazette.com

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.

Since the law took effect in July 2011, the state has seen the number of medical marijuana cardholders drop by nearly half. The number of providers now is less than 10 percent of the peak.

“Senate Bill 423 certainly had an impact,” said Roy Kemp, the chief medical marijuana regulator in the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. “Federal activities certainly have had an impact. The bill made it very difficult for providers to enter the field, as it were.”

John Masterson of Missoula, executive director of Montana NORML, a group working to legalize marijuana in the state, put it more bluntly.

“The federal raids have terrified so many legitimate providers that are otherwise law-abiding providers, who are closing their doors all over the place,” Masterson said.

That, in turn, “cuts off the legal supply to patients that benefit from this herb,” he said.

In January 2012, Montana had 15,984 medical marijuana cardholders registered with the state’s medical marijuana program in the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

That’s the lowest monthly total since the 13,885 people registered in April 2010. It’s a little less than half of the peak in May 2011, when the Montana cardholders, then called patients, totaled 31,522.

By the end of January 2012, Montana had 417 legal medical marijuana providers – the people who legally grow and sell medical pot for licensed cardholders – after peaking at 4,848 in March 2011, according to the state’s statistics. Providers were called caregivers until the 2011 law took effect.

Under the 2011 law, all caregivers’ licenses cards became invalid on July 1, 2011. Those wanting to continue to legally grow and sell marijuana for medical reasons had to register with the department to get providers’ cards.

The new law prohibited anyone with any felony conviction or any misdemeanor drug conviction from being medical marijuana providers.

“It’s important to note that all providers are not created equal,” Masterson said. “There were a handful with warehouses with an agricultural crop grown indoors with a wholesale business.”

The vast majority of providers or caregivers, he said, grew marijuana in a spare bedroom for a couple of people.

And the number of physicians who can recommend the use of medical marijuana was at 274 in January, after peaking at 365 in June 2010.

Regardless of the medical marijuana statistical trends, Masterson said the people who use marijuana in Montana have not disappeared.

“No matter what, there’s going to be about 100,000 people who consume marijuana in Montana,” he said, applying statistical estimates here.

“These folks, whether they are consuming it to address a serious medical condition or to enhance their lives or to relax after a hard day’s work, generally speaking, they’re going to do so whether there’s a state-sanctioned program or not.”

As a result, many have turned to buying marijuana illegally, he said.

Under Montana law, medical marijuana cardholders must renew their cards annually.

“We’re losing about 51 percent of renewals,” Kemp said. “That seems to be the trend. If that trend continues, we’ll end up with 12,000-13,000 (cardholders) by May.”

State officials don’t know why cardholders aren’t renewing to get new cards.

“When they don’t renew, they don’t talk to us,” Kemp said. “They just fade away.”

The new law doesn’t allow people under supervision of the state Corrections Department or federal government to be medical marijuana cards. However, they can keep their cards until May at the latest when their current cards expire.

Kemp said the number of new applications for medical marijuana cards is increasing slightly. He said 181 people applied in January and 190 in December.

Last year, medical marijuana was one of the hottest issues facing the Republican-controlled Legislature. Many lawmakers were determined to crack down on the industry, if not repeal the 2004 voter-passed initiative that legalized the use of marijuana in Montana for some medicinal reasons.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, vetoed a bill that would have repealed the 2004 initiative legalizing medical marijuana here.

After the veto, the Legislature then passed SB423 to impose more restrictions on an industry that some legislators and others believed had reeled out of control in recent years. Local governments, law-enforcement officials, school administrators and parents had expressed concern over the rapidly expanding industry.

“Cannabis caravans” had crisscrossed the state and issued cards by the hundreds, if not thousands, to patients. Some people got their cards after brief consultations with physicians, sometimes in person and sometimes via the Internet. Storefronts popped up to sell medical pot to licensed patients.

Those in the industry said they believed they were following the law until a reversal in federal policy by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder triggered federal raids of medical marijuana businesses in Montana and elsewhere.

SB423 became law without the governor’s signature.

Its sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, said the law made two major changes that sought to reduce the number of certified medical marijuana cardholders.

First, he said, the law imposed stricter requirements for people to obtain a doctor’s recommendation for “severe or chronic pain,” which had become by far the most common reason cited by people to obtain medical marijuana cards.

“They had to have objective proof or a second doctor’s recommendation,” Essmann said.

Objective proof means medical evidence of the person’s chronic or severe pain through an X-ray or MRI or other diagnosis.

The number of people obtaining medical marijuana cards for “severe or chronic pain” has shrunk from 23,015 in May 2011 to 10,255 in January 2012.

The law also tightened medical standards for those physicians who recommended medical marijuana to many patients.

“We started to take some steps which the district court has put into abeyance,” Essmann said. “It’s following proper standards of review by the doctor that’s the key to the proper addressing of the problem.”

His bill called for the Department of Public Health and Human Services to report to the state Board of Medical Examiners the names of any physicians recommending medical marijuana for more than 25 patients over a 12-month period. The law empowered the board to review the practices of these physicians.

This was one of several provisions in the law that District Judge James Reynolds of Helena temporarily blocked on June 30, 2011 – the day before the law went into effect. Other parts of the law took effect.

Both the state attorney general’s office, which is defending the law, and the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, which wants it struck down, have appealed parts of his ruling to the Montana Supreme Court. The court has not yet heard the appeals.

Meanwhile, last year, opponents of SB423 mounted an effort and quickly gathered more than 36,000 signatures for a referendum on the law in November. Montanans will decide then whether to retain or reject the law.

At the same time, marijuana backers are gathering signatures for a separate ballot measure asserting that it’s the constitutional right of adults to legally consume marijuana in Montana, regardless of their medical condition.

“We’re going to have a vote in the fall,” Essmann said. “People will make a decision whether they want to go back to the Wild West, whether they want to bring storefronts back, and whether they want to have an industry again.

“If not, they should to leave (SB)423 in law,” he said.

Masterson said there may be a Supreme Court decision on SB423 by then, plus the possibility of two ballot issues addressing marijuana.

“There are a lot of moving parts,” he said. “It’s anybody’s guess how it’s going to play out.”

- Article originally from: The Missoulian.

The calendar may say February, but 2012 has already been shaping up to become one of the most exciting years in marijuana law reform since Prohibition began in 1937. As days, weeks and months pass by, bringing us closer and closer to the November elections, it is clear that marijuana will become a highly debated, and heavily voted, issue.

Last week, we took a look at work that is being done by state legislators to reform marijuana laws at the state house, with several states deliberating medical marijuana, decriminalization or legalization bills, and others looking to expand on their existing medical or decriminalization laws.

In several states, voters are not waiting for their elected officials to end marijuana prohibition, and have taken to the streets to collect signatures to place marijuana legalization initiatives on their November ballots for voters to decide.

Many of these efforts are still gathering signatures, others are awaiting their signatures to be certified. In some states, like California, voters may have two separate questions to consider. Here are the states, and initiatives, that will likely come before voters in November:

California

One year following the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana in California, voters in the state that pioneered the medical marijuana industry 16 years ago could be voting on not one, but two proposals to legalize marijuana

Regulate Marijuana Like Wine

The “Regulate Marijuana Like Wine” initiative intends to repeal prohibition of marijuana for adults, strictly regulate marijuana, just like the wine industry, allow for hemp agriculture and products while not changing laws regarding medical marijuana, impairment, work place drug laws, or laws regarding vehicle operation. This initiative would also provide specific personal possession exemptions, require dismissal of pending court cases for marijuana possession, and ban the advertising of non-medical marijuana.

A recent poll shows that “Regulate Marijuana Like Wine” has 62% support among California voters.

Repeal Cannabis Prohibition Act 2012

The Repeal Cannabis Prohibition Act of 2012 aims to repeal current state criminal laws prohibiting the personal possession, use, transportation, and cultivation of cannabis by adults 19 years of age and older.

During the first 180-days following the passage of the Act, the Legislature would be authorized to create the California Cannabis Commission to develop appropriate regulations for the commercial production and sales of cannabis, including licensing and taxation.

Individuals are allowed to possess up to three pounds and grow a 100 sq. ft. canopy without being subject to regulations. It maintains penalties for possession by persons under 19, distribution to persons under 19, and driving while impaired.

Colorado

Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act

The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012 makes the adult use of marijuana legal, establishes a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol, and allows for the cultivation of industrial hemp.

The initiative would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and six pot plants for people 21 and over. It would also create a regulated legal framework for commercial marijuana operations, including retail sales.

The campaign fell about 2500 signatures short of the necessary amount to appear on the ballotwhen the signatures were first certified by state election officials, but there is still time to collect the necessary signatures to make it onto the November ballot.

Michigan

The 2012 Michigan Ballot Initiative to End Marijuana Prohibition

The initiative proposes a state constitutional amend that states: “For persons who are at least 21 years of age who are not incarcerated, marihuana acquisition, cultivation, manufacture, sale, delivery, transfer, transportation, possession, ingestion, presence in or on the body, religious, medical, industrial, agricultural, commercial or personal use, or possession or use of paraphernalia shall not be prohibited, abridged or penalized in any manner, nor subject to civil forfeiture; provided that no person shall be permitted to operate an aircraft, motor vehicle, motorboat, ORV, snowmobile, train, or other heavy or dangerous equipment or machinery while impaired by marihuana.”

A Detroit Free Press/WXYZ-TV poll found that 45% of voters support legalization in Michigan.

Also in Michigan, voters in the city of Detroit may vote on a city ordinance that would legalize possession of less than an ounce of marijuana by adults on private property.

Missouri

Show-Me Cannabis Regulation

If passed, a the initiative would create a constitutional amendment which would regulate cannabis like alcohol, provide access to medicine for cannabis patients, and open a market for farming industrial hemp in Missouri.

The initiative calls for marijuana legalization for persons 21 and over, a process for licensing marijuana production and sales establishments, and allows the legislature to enact a tax of $100 a pound on retail sales. It also includes a provision lifting criminal justice system sanctions against people imprisoned or under state supervision for nonviolent marijuana offenses that would no longer be illegal and the expunging of all criminal records for such offenses. The initiative would also allow for the use of marijuana for medical reasons by minors with parental consent.

Montana

Montana First: Ending Criminal Penalties for Marijuana

Constitutional Initiative No.110 (CI-110) is short and sweet. It would add two sentences to the state constitution: “Adults have the right to responsibly purchase, consume, produce, and possess marijuana, subject to reasonable limitations, regulations, and taxation.  Except for actions that endanger minors, children, or public safety, no criminal offense or penalty of this state shall apply to such activities.”

Provoked by heavy-handed federal raids and prosecutions aimed at medical marijuana providers and prodded on by the Republican-dominated state legislature’s virtual repeal-disguised-as-reform of the state’s voter-approved medical marijuana law, this is largely the same group of activists and supporters who last summer and fall organized the successful signature-gathering campaign to put the IR-24 initiative on the November 2012 ballot. That initiative seeks to undo the legislature’s destruction of the state medical marijuana distribution network.

Nebraska

The Nebraska Cannabis Initiative

Add Proposition 19 to the Nebraska Constitution whose object is to regulate and tax all commercial uses of cannabis, also known as marijuana, and to remove all laws regulating the private, noncommercial use of cannabis.

Oregon

Activists in Oregon are serious about legalizing marijuana. There are currently three different marijuana legalization initiative campaigns aimed at the November 2012 ballot underway there and, this year, there are signs the state’s fractious marijuana community is going to try to overcome sectarian differences and unify so that the overarching goal — freeing the weed — can be attained.

Of the three campaigns, these two seem likely to make the ballot.

Oregon Cannabis Tax Act of 2012

The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2012 is a citizen’s initiative campaign to regulate marijuana and restore hemp. Just as ending alcohol prohibition and regulating that market has protected society, regulating marijuana will help wipe out crime.

Restoring hemp, made from the seeds and stems of the marijuana plant for fuel, fiber and food, will put Oregon on the cutting edge of exciting new sustainable green industries and create untold multitudes of new jobs.

Citizens for Sensible Law Enforcement: Initiative IP-24 

Currently known as IP-24, the measure would allow adults over 21 to use marijuana for personal use without fear of criminal sanctions. The bill has substantial safeguards to protect children and public safety.

With hundreds of signature gatherers on the streets every day, CSLE is confident the measure will appear on the November 2012 ballot.

Washington

Initiative 502

Washington’s I-502 has already been certified to appear on the November ballot, and it is perhaps the most controversial legalization bill among the cannabis community.

Washington State Initiative Measure No. 502 (I-502) would license and regulate marijuana production, distribution, and possession for persons over twenty-one; remove state-law criminal and civil penalties for activities that it authorizes; tax marijuana sales; and earmark marijuana-related revenues.

The initiative campaign is being run by New Approach Washington, which has brought together an impressive roster of endorsers and supporters, including TV personality and travel writer Rick Steves, former US Attorney for Western Washington, and a number of current and former state elected officials.

While most of the opposition to the initiative so far is coming from the usual suspects—law enforcement, drug treatment providers—some of it is coming from a segment of the state’s medical marijuana community, which worries that the measure’s setting a limit on THC levels to determine impairment in drivers could result in non-impaired patients being prosecuted.

But Dr. Kim Thorburn, Spokane County’s former top public-health official, who spoke in support of the initiative, said those concerns were overblown.”In order to be stopped for impaired driving you have to show impairment,” she said. “This is not a concern for medical-marijuana users and has been kind of a red herring that has been raised.”