MISSOULA — Montana has more than 34,400 medical marijuana cardholders, recently surpassing the peak of just over 31,500 reached in May 2011 before the Legislature made it more difficult to qualify for a card.
The Missoulian reports the information was presented to the Children, Family, Health and Human Services Interim Committee Thursday. The committee will oversee the industry as changes made by the 2019 Legislature take effect.
Soon, cardholders will be able to buy from any licensed provider and will not be limited to one provider.
Montana surpassed its previous record of 31,522 patients with 31,589 registered cardholders in February.
The state health department says more than 27,000 cardholders were approved due to severe, chronic pain while nearly 5,200 have post-traumatic stress disorder. Gallatin County has the most registered cardholders this month at 5,825.