On Thursday, February 27, Montana lawmakers will hold a hearing on an outrageous bill (SB 255) that would force adult-use cannabis consumers to register with the state at a cost of $200 per year! Those who don't pay up would lose their ability to legally purchase, possess, or use cannabis.

What: Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee Hearing on SB 255 — Revise recreational marijuana laws to require a marijuana identification card
Where: Montana Capitol, Room 422, 1301 E 6th Ave., Helena, MT 59601. Parking information.
When: Thursday, February 27, 2025 at 8:30 a.m.

If you live in Montana and plan to testify in person next Thursday, please arrive early as seating is limited. Be sure to sign the witness sheet when you arrive. If you can't attend in person, you can sign up for remote testimony or submit written comments through the Public Participation portal. Anyone wishing to testify remotely must register at least two hours before the hearing begins.

The voter-approved legalization initiative, I-190, explicitly prohibits the collection of personal information from adult-use cannabis consumers. Under I-190, the Department of Revenue is not authorized to require or record personal information beyond verifying a consumer's age. This is an intrusion in privacy that would recriminalize cannabis for most Montanans, who do not want to pay to be on a government list as cannabis consumers.

By imposing a state registration system, SB 255 subjects law-abiding cannabis consumers to surveillance and government overreach. This also puts Montanans at risk under federal law. Cannabis remains federally illegal, and gun owners who are cannabis consumers face up to 10 years in prison.

Under SB 255's provisions, only Montana residents could register. Consumers would be required to keep a state-issued card in their "immediate possession at all times." It further stipulates that "law enforcement officers have access to accurate and up-to-date information on marijuana cardholders" and that state officials may use the program "to track marijuana cardholder purchases."

If you live in Montana, make sure lawmakers hear from you! Do not be intimidated. Testify and demand they vote NO on this harmful proposal!

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HF 2589 is a mixed bag for patients.

On Wednesday, the Iowa Senate sent Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) a bill (HF 2589) that takes several major steps forward and some equally significant steps backwards for the state’s medical CBD program. The bill passed after a heated debate, during which Sen. Joe Bolkcom (D) called for passage of a superior bill, which would have ensured patients could obtain as much medical cannabis as they need. Sen. Bolkcom also lambasted HF 2589’s negative impact on workers.

Here’s a run down of the good and bad provisions.

On the bright side, HF 2589 would:

• Allow patients with “chronic pain” to qualify, rather than the far more restrictive standard “untreatable pain”
• Add PTSD as a qualifying condition
• Add autism with self-injury or aggression as a qualifying condition
• Remove the 3% limit on THC content
• Allow podiatrists, physicians' assistants, and advance practice nurses to recommend cannabis
• Remove the Department of Transportation’s role in issuing ID cards

The regressive provisions in HF 2589 include:

• Limiting patients to 4.5 grams of cannabis every 90 days (or 50 milligrams per day), unless they have a doctor’s certification that a greater quantity is needed
• Allowing employers to restrict their employees’ cannabis use, including by continuing drug-testing programs
• Disqualifying individuals for receiving unemployment compensation if they were fired due to testing positive for cannabis or another controlled substance, unless it was prescribed
• Providing that workers’ compensation, governmental medical insurance, and other health insurance does not have to cover medical cannabis
• Providing that property owners and those controlling property can prohibit the possession or use of cannabis on the property (This may allow landlords to prohibit medical cannabis use by tenants.)

Last year, Gov. Reynolds vetoed a bill that included a far more reasonable limit of 25 grams every 90 days.

You can contact the governor’s office at 515-281-5211 or via this webform if you would like to weigh in on the legislation.

Thank you for supporting compassion.

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Ask Gov. Herbert to allow home delivery.

As coronavirus has dramatically changed life across the country, MPP and our allies have been working to ensure medical cannabis patients can safely access their medicine. Unfortunately, Utah is one of the few states that hasn’t stepped up to ensure safe access to medical cannabis.

Because Gov. Herbert hasn’t issued a stay-at-home order, Utah has not issued a list of “essential businesses.” If it does so, we’ll want to ensure medical cannabis businesses are included and allowed to remain open. Meanwhile, other states have gone further: Some have begun allowing home delivery and telemedicine recommendations to avoid unnecessary interpersonal contact. Others have extended certifications’ expiration dates and eased the process for staffing up as more workers have to stay home — due to children or their health.

Please take a few minutes to let Gov. Herbert know you want him to follow suit. Urge him to deem medical cannabis businesses “essential,” to allow home delivery during the crisis, and to otherwise make temporary modifications to the medical cannabis program to ensure patients have the medicines they depend on. You can go the extra mile by spreading the word to others, calling his office at 801-538-1000, or making an appeal on Twitter.

We also have some good news to share: In March, the legislature passed, and the governor signed, HB 425. This new law allows patients to access medical cannabis with a simple letter from their physicians, rather than having to get an ID card. Recommendations will expire at the year’s end, at which time ID cards are required.

Thank you for your compassion! We wish you and your loved ones well during these difficult times.

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Today, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced the opening of a pre-registration process for the therapeutic use of cannabis program. The announcement, which appears on the department’s website, explains that patients and their designated caregivers may now submit their applications and that dispensaries are expected to open in the first quarter of 2016. The application forms are now available online.

Unfortunately, the department still says it will not begin issuing ID cards until the first dispensary is ready to open. This means patients could continue to be without legal protections for several more months. However, at least it is now possible for patients to submit applications rather than simply waiting for the program to become operational.

We encourage patients to pre-register, as this will reduce the chances the department will experience a backlog when it begins issuing ID cards.

Please share this news with your friends and family, and especially with any patients you know who have been waiting to benefit from this program.

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The rollout of Massachusetts’ medical marijuana program has been proceeding more slowly than anticipated, but a major milestone was reached last week with the approval of 11 dispensary applications. The Department of Public Health granted eleven provisional certificates on Friday, and it’s possible that some of the approved dispensaries will be ready to serve patients before the end of this year.

The department had previously given preliminary approval to 20 applicants, but, after further review of the applications, nine were rejected. Massachusetts’ law authorizes up to 35 dispensaries, so these rejected applicants and others will be allowed to reapply in 2015.

Additionally, it’s disappointing that the state has not yet made it possible for patients to apply for ID cards. However, with dispensaries planning to open in only a matter of months, it seems likely that the ID card issue will soon be resolved.

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Yesterday morning, after meeting with Gov. Hassan’s policy advisors, a special committee of seven representatives and senators agreed on the final language of HB 573 that will move medical marijuana forward to Gov. Hassan’s desk.

Then, Gov. Hassan issued a formal statement indicating that she intends to sign the bill after it is approved one last time by the House and Senate. She said the compromise “addresses the concerns that I have heard and expressed throughout this session, and provides the level of regulation needed for the use of medical marijuana…. I encourage the full legislature to pass this compromise so I can sign this legislation into law."

Sadly, Gov. Hassan was not willing to agree to any significant changes, so only minor improvements were made by the committee. Home cultivation will remain a felony under all circumstances, and patients will have no legal protections until ID cards are issued (which could take up to 19 months).

Despite these imperfections, we are very pleased that New Hampshire will finally be moving forward with implementation of a medical marijuana law.

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Medical marijuana patients living in California’s capital will finally be able to realize the full benefit of the state’s medical marijuana law.

This week, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution making the state-mandated medical marijuana ID card program available to county residents. The cards keep patients who are already allowed to possess marijuana under the state’s 12-year-old Compassionate Use Act from being wrongfully arrested by state and local law enforcement.

You might think that implementing a state mandate in the capital county of that state wouldn't be controversial. However, it wasn’t so simple. The issue was brought to the board back in March but supervisors voted 3-2 against issuing the cards, based mainly on the untruthful testimony of Sheriff John McGinness, who seems to get all of his information about marijuana from Reefer Madness-era propaganda.

After the state Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law requiring counties to issue the cards and the item was back on the board's agenda, Sacramento County’s top attorney warned the board that if they refuse to implement the ID card program, the county could not win any lawsuit stemming from that decision. Even Sheriff McGinness eventually conceded that the county should follow state law.

So, the debate’s finally over and we can all go home ... right? Not quite. 

Sacramento supervisor and reactionary ideologue Roberta MacGlashan, who responded to testimony from the elderly and ill with a scowl, voted against implementation and said she would never support the program until a court forced her to. So while legislators in the state capitol were dealing with what may well be the worst budget crisis in the California history just a few blocks away, a local politician advocated using public funds in an unwinable lawsuit so that police could continue arresting law-abiding citizens for just a little bit longer. This would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that people's health and safety is on the line.

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California's medical marijuana state ID cards protect qualified patients and caregivers from arrest, and each of the state's 58 counties is required to make them available to their residents. However, in a crusade against the voter-approved medical marijuana law, some counties have refused to implement the program.

Fortunately, most counties are respecting the rule of law – even in traditionally conservative, rural and agricultural communities. Just yesterday, the Board of Supervisors in Kings County unanimously voted to implement the ID card program and the cards will be available to local patients very soon. The decision comes only two weeks after another San Joaquin Valley county, Fresno, also moved to implement the program. These developments are significant because San Joaquin Valley voters rejected Proposition 215 twelve years ago and the region has been painfully slow in implementing the state law ever since.

Have these agricultural, Republican-dominated communities been suddenly overrun by drug legalizers? Hardly. Instead, local policymakers across California – in red and blue counties alike – are acknowledging that the state's medical marijuana law is here to stay. It's unfortunate that counties like San Diego and San Bernardino are continuing to ignore state law, but these scofflaws are increasingly looking less credible and more like isolated, rogue elements every day.

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