Montana voters passed Initiative 182, which reversed heavy restrictions on the state’s medical marijuana market that went into effect earlier this year, crippling the state’s program. It passed 56-43.
The initiative, supported by Montana Citizens for I-182, repealed the 2011 Senate Bill 423 that limited dispensaries to three registered patients and required review of any physician who prescribed marijuana to more than 25 patients per year. The new restrictions went into effect Aug. 31 this year.
“This win happened because Montanans have seen medical marijuana in action for years, and they know it works,” says Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority. “Hopefully the politicians who foolishly tried to eliminate the medical cannabis providers that serve so many patients will hear the message voters just sent. Marijuana law reform is sweeping the country, no matter how hard our opponents have tried to roll back our gains."
Montana voters legalized medical marijuana in 2004, with 64 percent voting in favor, according to Montana Citizens for I-182. In 2013, medical marijuana supporters attempted to repeal Senate Bill 423, but lost in a vote of 57-42, according to Ballotpedia.
Supporters, including the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, have since been fighting the revisions through the courts, despite a February ruling by the Montana State Supreme Court upholding most of the changes. The ruling allowed medical marijuana businesses to charge for their products, but left in place the restriction to three customers per dispensary, according to a KPAX article. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the chance to hear an appeal in June.
Advocates then fought to delay the restrictions to the next legislative session with a petition hearing, which would move the effective date to April 2017. This would give patients more time to adjust to the modified rules, according to Bob Devine, president of the MCIA, in the KPAX article. “There truly needs to be a safe, responsible transition period. The program itself has kind of grown into what it is today. And to reverse that, you can’t do in a couple weeks. A lot of people will really suffer undue harm here,” he says.
Almost 90 percent of cannabis cardholders are without access to legal providers, according to a Daily Inter Lake article. More than 13,000 patients are registered with the program, and the 457 current registered providers can legally only serve a potential total of 1,371 patients under the new restrictions.
Supporters gathered more than 24,000 signatures to place I-182 on this year’s ballot, according to a Montana Kaimin article.
The initiative repeals the restriction that dispensaries can only work with three registered patients, and requires providers to obtain licenses, subject to annual, state-run, unannounced inspections. It requires lab testing by certified labs and allows prescriptions for post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain conditions.
I-182 has faced opposition from Safe Montana, a group that originally sought to place Initiative 176 on this year’s ballot, which would’ve made marijuana entirely illegal across the state. That initiative was dropped after the Montana Secretary of State rejected an estimated 8,009 signatures from the group’s petitions, according to the Billings Gazette.
The initiative, supported by Montana Citizens for I-182, repealed the 2011 Senate Bill 423 that limited dispensaries to three registered patients and required review of any physician who prescribed marijuana to more than 25 patients per year. The new restrictions went into effect Aug. 31 this year.
“This win happened because Montanans have seen medical marijuana in action for years, and they know it works,” says Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority. “Hopefully the politicians who foolishly tried to eliminate the medical cannabis providers that serve so many patients will hear the message voters just sent. Marijuana law reform is sweeping the country, no matter how hard our opponents have tried to roll back our gains."
Montana voters legalized medical marijuana in 2004, with 64 percent voting in favor, according to Montana Citizens for I-182. In 2013, medical marijuana supporters attempted to repeal Senate Bill 423, but lost in a vote of 57-42, according to Ballotpedia.
Supporters, including the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, have since been fighting the revisions through the courts, despite a February ruling by the Montana State Supreme Court upholding most of the changes. The ruling allowed medical marijuana businesses to charge for their products, but left in place the restriction to three customers per dispensary, according to a KPAX article. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the chance to hear an appeal in June.
Advocates then fought to delay the restrictions to the next legislative session with a petition hearing, which would move the effective date to April 2017. This would give patients more time to adjust to the modified rules, according to Bob Devine, president of the MCIA, in the KPAX article. “There truly needs to be a safe, responsible transition period. The program itself has kind of grown into what it is today. And to reverse that, you can’t do in a couple weeks. A lot of people will really suffer undue harm here,” he says.
Almost 90 percent of cannabis cardholders are without access to legal providers, according to a Daily Inter Lake article. More than 13,000 patients are registered with the program, and the 457 current registered providers can legally only serve a potential total of 1,371 patients under the new restrictions.
Supporters gathered more than 24,000 signatures to place I-182 on this year’s ballot, according to a Montana Kaimin article.
The initiative repeals the restriction that dispensaries can only work with three registered patients, and requires providers to obtain licenses, subject to annual, state-run, unannounced inspections. It requires lab testing by certified labs and allows prescriptions for post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain conditions.
I-182 has faced opposition from Safe Montana, a group that originally sought to place Initiative 176 on this year’s ballot, which would’ve made marijuana entirely illegal across the state. That initiative was dropped after the Montana Secretary of State rejected an estimated 8,009 signatures from the group’s petitions, according to the Billings Gazette.
