By ZACH BENOIT
Of The Gazette Staff
Tom Daubert, founder of Patients and Families Unite, said Thursday that imperfections in state medical marijuana laws need to be addressed in upcoming legislative sessions.
Daubert spoke at a public meeting Thursday.
In November 2004, 63 percent of Montana voters approved the Montana Medical Marijuana Act, of which Daubert is co-author. The law allows some patients - with a written recommendation from a medical doctor - to use marijuana as medicine to relieve suffering from diseases such as cancer, HIV and glaucoma or from conditions such as chronic pain and severe nausea.
At the meeting at the Yellowstone County Council on Aging, Daubert told about 30 people in attendance that gray areas in current laws need to be clarified. Patients or their caregivers are allowed to possess up to six marijuana plants or an ounce of marijuana, but Daubert said that is a small amount for many patients - about one week's worth - and pointed to other prescription medicines where patients often have a supply for one month or more.
"The 1-ounce limit is just too low," he said.
He also pointed to the other 11 states, specifically Oregon and Washington, that have legalized medical marijuana. In those two states, Daubert said, the limit is up to 24 ounces, or about a two-month supply, although he doesn't think he'll push for amounts that large in Montana.
The definition of the six plants allowed is too vague, he said. The law does not specify whether it means live marijuana plants, includes harvested plants or is just six total.
About 1,080 people in Montana are registered with the state health department to use medical marijuana. The process gives patients and caregivers a card they can carry as proof of their registration with the state and helps clear up legal issues if they are caught in possession of marijuana.
"But there are a lot of registered patients in rural areas who don't deal with doctors, they deal with physician's assistants and medical practitioners," he said. "They sometimes have to drive hundreds of miles to see a doctor."
Some of those practitioners should also be allowed to sign off on prescriptions, he said.
He used the example of a woman in rural Eastern Montana suffering from multiple sclerosis. Daubert said the woman has to travel about 100 miles to meet with her caregiver to obtain medical marijuana.
Recently, she has been unable to make the trip because of her condition and has her mother make the trip for her. But her mother is not registered with the state as a patient or caregiver and is breaking the law to help her daughter.
"I would propose another class of registration to transport it," he said.
One of the main goals of Patients and Families Unite, a statewide support group for medical marijuana patients, is to educate doctors on state laws on and usage of medical marijuana.
"There's truly a voluminous amount of research and documentation of the medical benefits of marijuana," Daubert said.
Published on Friday, August 22, 2008.
Last modified on 8/22/2008 at 12:54 am
http://billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/08/22/news/local/42-medicinalpot.txt
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