Politics The latest in cannabis legalization including laws and policies legislators views election coverage and more. Politics Will Voters Re-Open Montanas Closed Dispensaries? Lynsey G FLOWER HAS BEEN FORCED TO CLOSE reads the sign on the door of the medical cannabis providersbrand-new storefront in downtown Missoula. Flower just moved here in early August. The dispensarys owner says the new storefront is costing three times therent he paid at the old location. The new place is larger and handicapped accessible and it sits on Higgins Avenue a main thoroughfare. It should be a great locationif its allowed to reopen. Like every other cannabis dispensary in Montana Flower was forced to shut its doors four weeks ago. The shuttering of the states dispensaries had been looming for months. Back in February the Montana Supreme Court ruled that the provisions of a law passed by the legislature in 2011Senate Bill 423were legal and binding. Those provisions limit providers of medical marijuana to only three card-holding patients each. They also incur a medical board of review for anydoctor recommending cannabis to more than 25 patients per yearand the doctor must pay for allboard of review expenses. More than 13600 card-holding Montana patients have lost access to their medicine. The ruling finally did what Senate Bill 423 was crafted to do: effectively shut down the states medical cannabis system. Enactment of the ruling was delayed until August 31 at which point it shuttered every dispensary in Montana. Almost all of thestates 13600 card-holding patients have lost access to their medicine. In November Montana voters will have the chance to revive the dispensaries and reboot the states medical cannabis program. Or they may allow it to die altogether. Initiative 182 measure crafted by the Montana Cannabis Industry Associationwould legalize and better regulate the same medical marijuana dispensaries that were just shut down. How did we get here? Jerry Bennett R-Libby listens to debate on the states medical marijuana law on Feb. 10 2011 in Helena Mont. The Republican-led House backed full repeal of the states medical marijuana law arguing that it wastime to undo the 2004 ballot initiative. (AP Photo/The Independent Record Dylan Brown) Back in 2004 62% of Montana voters agreed to legalize medical cannabis. The legislature never got around to regulating the system though and by 2011 more than 30000 card-holding patients were crowding into storefronts that some say were popping up on every corner. When then-Gov. Brian Schweitzer refused to repeal voter initiative at the request of the state legislature lawmakers cobbled together Senate Bill 423 in an effort to regulate the system out of existence. That bill became law (minus its most punishing provisions which were delayed by a court challenge) and the reduced number of patients to just over 13500 statewide as of January 2016. Those who now qualify for a cannabis card are required to prove a history of chronic pain intractable nausea or a short list of other symptoms or conditions. RELATED STORY Judge: Private Prison Not Negligent in Montana Medical Marijuana Providers Death Katie Wetch of Billings Montana told Leafly Without cannabis I dont think Id still be here. Wetch lives with Arnold Chiari Malformation and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which causes her brain stem to herniate into her brain stem. She underwent her first brain surgery at 14 and she has been under the knife many times since then. Two metal rods inserted into her back lift her skull off of her brain stem but the hardware combined with the symptoms of her conditions themselves left her in overwhelming pain. Pain that was initially treated with opiates. By the time I was sixteen she says I was addicted to opiates. They ran my life. All I could think about was when the next dose was coming and when it wore off I would go into detox. She obtained her medical marijuana card a few years later and found that she was able to drastically reduce her opiate intake. She has now been dosing herself regularly with cannabis for over a decade. A dispensary becomesa campaign center Every Friday the now-closed Missoula dispensary Flower hosts an open house where patients and advocates discuss medical cannabis and Initiative 182. (Photo courtesy of Flower.) Patients arent the only ones impacted by SB-423s draconian provisions. Providers of medical cannabis too are suffering. The medical marijuana industry in Montana employs an estimated 2000 people many of whom have had to seriously tighten their belts of have been laid off with the industry shutdown. Local businesses with whom they work are also feeling the impact of SB-423. The owner and the staff at Flower have decided to make the shutdown an opportunity to educate. They hold monthly photography exhibits and an open house at their new storefront every Friday inviting passers-by in to talk about medical cannabis and Initiative 182. (Tonights open house runs from 4pm to 8pm.) If passed the initiative would reinstate the states medical marijuana program re-open the dispensaries and provide improvements in licensing inspections and product testing as well as access for PTSD sufferers. The initiative which promises a more accountable and responsible legal cannabis law seems like a no-brainer in a state that voted overwhelmingly for medical marijuana program 12 years ago. But support for I-182 is by no means universal. Steve Zabawa the man behind the anti-drug advocacy group SAFE Montanaand a three-times-failed ballot initiative aiming to prohibit all marijuana in Montana is a vocal opponent of I-182. The automotive salesman from Billings travels the state speaking out against the medical marijuana industry at civic forums to local community groups and on the radio. SAFE Montana funds advertising campaigns that include large billboards sporting giant pot leaves emblazoned with NO POT SHOPSan interesting tactic given that one of the provisions of SB-423 is that dispensaries are prohibited from advertising at all. Nevertheless many in this traditionally red state are hopeful about I-182. TheYes on 182 campaign spearheaded by the MTCIA is seeking donations and volunteers to help spread the word in the runup to the November election. Cannabis patient Marine veteran PTSD sufferer and I-182 proponent Tayln Lang hopes that Montanans will get involved to ensure that the initiative passes. If SB-423 remains in effect he warned were going to be the only state in the Union to move backward on this issue. cannabis legalizationmedical marijuanaMontanapolitics Lynsey G Lynsey is a Montana-based journalist poet artist model and critic. Her work has appeared in Bitch Nerve.com and McSweeney's Internet Tendency. Related Articles Data Dive: Does Legalization Hurt Beer Sales? 9 States to Vote on Expanding Legal Access to Cannabis Dr. Bronners to Give $660000 to Cannabis Legalization Efforts in Five States Politics Do Cannabis Grow Blazes Affect Firefighters? Politics In Photos: An Italian Photographers Powerful Images Help Patients Share Their Stories Politics Are Tourists Allowed in Dutch Coffeeshops? The Strange Tale of the Weed Pass Politics Can Ohio Lawyers Use Medical Marijuana? Nobody Knows The post Will Voters Re-Open Montanas Closed Dispensaries? appeared first on Leafly. by Lynsey G at Leafly