The fate of the medical marijuana industry in Montana is still up in the air, but a recent decision from the U.S. Supreme Court has limited the industry’s options for staying up and running.
On June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would not hear an appeal from medical marijuana advocates seeking to upend the 2011 Montana Marijuana Act, which limits the amount of patients a provider can have to three.
The 2011 law unraveled much of the 2004 voter-approved initiative that legalized medical marijuana in the state, after an appeal was made in the state Legislature about the abuses of the original law. It sought to ban clients from paying for marijuana-provider services, as well as setting a limit on how many patients a provider can have.
In February of this year, the state Supreme Court ruled on the 2011 law, saying that providers can be paid for their services, but upholding the provider and doctor limits.
Those limits will essentially shutdown the industry, medical marijuana advocates have argued, and the Montana Cannabis Industry Association took the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to stall the 2011 law from going into effect.
But the court’s decision that it will not review the law puts local medical marijuana providers in an awkward position. The 2011 rules are set to go into effect at the end of August unless a judge puts a stay on the ruling.
This means many patients will go without a legal way to obtain the drug until the state votes on ballot Initiative 182, which was proposed by the MCIA and seeks to lift the patient limits, as well as expand Montanans’ access to medical marijuana.
Changes to the system will have particular importance in Flathead County, which has the second-most medical marijuana cardholders of all the counties in the state. According to the Department of Public Health and Human Services, of the 13,288 patients enrolled in the program in May, Flathead County had 1,531. The state counts 71 registered providers in the county.
Gallatin County had the most, with 2,777 cardholders and 124 registered providers.
The gap between the August deadline and the November vote is concerning, according to Nate, who spoke with the Beacon on the condition that his last name is not used.
As the owner of FiveLeaf Organics, a medical marijuana dispensary service in Kalispell, Nate said he struggled just trying to start his business 18 months ago.
“It was very difficult to build an actual business with state regulations,” he said. “You’re trying to acquire new patients with a limited amount of product.”
He was always behind on having enough product, Nate said, because he couldn’t start growing new plants for new patients until they were signed up with him. After that, he would have to wait months for the plants to flower and produce the buds.
“It’s like trying to sell cars but only having one at a time and you can’t get another for two or three months out,” Nate said.
Though FiveLeaf is a “relatively small operation” when compared to the main players in the state, Nate said he had enough clients to work as a provider full time and still support his family.
But the decision not to take up the case at the Supreme Court level has him rethinking his business plans.
“If this goes through, which it’s looking like now it’s a for-sure thing, I can’t run a business. I can’t operate anything with three patients,” he said.
His patients use medical marijuana because the other medications available didn’t work for whatever reason, Nate said, and they likely won’t go back.
“They’re not going to stop using cannabis,” Nate said. “(The court decision) is turning a lot of really good people into criminals.”
Others in the local industry who would not go on record with their names said their clients will lose access and their businesses will likely flounder if the 2011 law is allowed to go into effect.
Along with the November decision on I-182, voters will also make a decision about ballot Initiative 176 from SafeMontana, which seeks to ban all Schedule-1 drugs in Montana, including all forms of pot.
The upcoming 2017 Legislature might also have a say about the marijuana industry in Montana, with at least six bills aimed at reforming it already in the works. Proposed by state Sen. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, the bills seek to revise the medical marijuana law, but also remove marijuana as a Schedule-1 dangerous drug in Montana.
Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington have already legalized recreational marijuana, and 24 states have approved of medical marijuana.