State lawmakers say medical marijuana abuse is ‘out of control’

**Nate** · #1 07-14-2010, 02:59 PM

State lawmakers say medical marijuana abuse is ‘out of control’

"This is what Sen. Trudi Schmidt, D-Great Falls, doesn’t like about medical marijuana: Would-be “caregivers” laughed at a gravely ill woman Schmidt knows because the woman had never been stoned before.

When the woman finally found what she thought was a reputable caregiver, she was distressed to discover the person seemed “half-baked all the time,” Schmidt said.

“There is such abuse going on and it’s our responsibility to bring this back under control,” she said.

Schmidt and other members of an interim legislative subcommittee examining ways to revise the state’s medical marijuana laws shared their frustrations with the current system at a meeting here this week.

Schmidt and other lawmakers pointed to statistics they say underlie public skepticism that the more than 20,000 Montanans now licensed to use medical marijuana actually have a debilitating illness that requires it. Several lawmakers suggested medical marijuana for some is just a scam to get stoned legally.

“I guess everybody who gets sick moves to Missoula,” said Rep. Penny Morgan, R-Billings, referring to the breakdown of where Montana’s medical marijuana patients live.

Missoula and Bozeman, home of the state’s biggest four-year universities, have the highest number of medical marijuana patients as a percentage of county population, state figures show.

Schmidt said the growth has been “explosive,” with the number of new, registered medical marijuana patients doubling in most age categories between March and June.

“This is out of control,” she said.

The panel began meeting last month and has one more meeting scheduled in August. Members are hoping to recommend bill drafts for the 2011 Legislature to consider, to close perceived loopholes in the existing, voter-passed medical marijuana law..."

Click on the link for the full article:
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/montana-mmj/123921-state-lawmakers-say-medical-marijuana-abuse-out-control.html

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode