People attending the latest medical marijuana clinic in Billings on Sunday were uneasy talking to the press, citing a desire for privacy nearly one week after two of the city's cannabis providers were attacked by arsonists.
The event organized by the Montana Caregivers Network drew about 300 people to the Holiday Inn on Midland Road, where they could meet with a doctor who might be willing to vouch that they qualify for a medical marijuana card.
The wait time was shorter and the process more orderly than at the first clinic held in Billings in January.
"We're getting it down to a science," said Jason Christ, director of the Missoula-based Montana Caregivers Network. "We have about 20 people who are full-time now."
Since that first Billings clinic in January, the roster of people with a state-issued medical marijuana card has nearly doubled from 7,206 to 13,885 as of May 1, according to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
The number of registered cannabis providers has also ballooned, prompting the Billings City Council — along with other municipalities —to pass a six-month moratorium on new providers setting up shop. An interim legislative committee also is examining how to improve the state's law, which passed by ballot measure in 2004.
At Sunday's clinic, about 20 providers sat at booths with sealed jars holding different strains of pot. That way as patients waited to see a doctor, they also could shop for a business, or "caregiver," to sell them marijuana.
Under Montana's law, people suffering from chronic pain or conditions such as multiple sclerosis who qualify for a marijuana card are called patients and providers are called caregivers. Applications for the cards surged after the Obama administration announced in the fall that federal agents would not target people using pot in accordance with state laws.
Many of the providers at Sunday's clinic said they were shocked when two marijuana storefronts were firebombed and vandalized with the spray-painted message "NOT IN OUR TOWN" in Billings on May 10. They also said they were angered that The Billings Gazette published a map of local providers' addresses just a few days after the attacks.
"It's something very personal, and it was kind of like a slap in the face," said Meredith Daniel, a Billings-based caregiver who would not disclose the location of her business.
More than 80 percent of the caregivers registered with the state have less than four patients. Many of them do not operate out of storefronts, though they often have business licenses, and they argue they need to shield their locations to protect patient privacy and themselves.
"That's one of the things that's so important right now is just that confidentiality," Daniel said.
The fire bombings in Billings, which resulted in limited damage due to a quick response from the Fire Department, follow several violent incidents in other parts of the state.
In late April, a Kalispell man with a medical marijuana card was beaten to death after allegedly being targeted for his drugs and money. Meanwhile, three caregivers have been accused of kidnapping and beating a man in Ravalli County on May 4 who they thought stole medical marijuana from one of them.
Christ, who has been criticized by some people for openly smoking legal medical marijuana in public, said violent backlashes often accompany serious social change. Education, and "desensitizing" people to the use of marijuana as a medicine, will take time, he said.
"The same things happened in the '50s with gay people coming out of the closet and the integration of the schools," he said.
The Montana Caregivers Network made its first sweep of eastern Montana this weekend, holding clinics in both Miles City and Sidney, which has a population of less than 5,000. Through the traveling clinics, and new efforts to put potential patients in contact with doctors by telephone, the organization claims credit for registering most of the last year's new patients and caregivers.
"We are the last resort for many of them because they've tried everything else," Christ said. "I do honestly feel like this has become a civil rights issue."
News Hawk: Warbux 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Billings Gazette
Author: Kahrin Deines
Contact: The Billings Gazette - Montana & Wyoming News
Copyright: 2010 The Billings Gazette
Website: Privacy concerns voiced at marijuana clinic
The event organized by the Montana Caregivers Network drew about 300 people to the Holiday Inn on Midland Road, where they could meet with a doctor who might be willing to vouch that they qualify for a medical marijuana card.
The wait time was shorter and the process more orderly than at the first clinic held in Billings in January.
"We're getting it down to a science," said Jason Christ, director of the Missoula-based Montana Caregivers Network. "We have about 20 people who are full-time now."
Since that first Billings clinic in January, the roster of people with a state-issued medical marijuana card has nearly doubled from 7,206 to 13,885 as of May 1, according to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
The number of registered cannabis providers has also ballooned, prompting the Billings City Council — along with other municipalities —to pass a six-month moratorium on new providers setting up shop. An interim legislative committee also is examining how to improve the state's law, which passed by ballot measure in 2004.
At Sunday's clinic, about 20 providers sat at booths with sealed jars holding different strains of pot. That way as patients waited to see a doctor, they also could shop for a business, or "caregiver," to sell them marijuana.
Under Montana's law, people suffering from chronic pain or conditions such as multiple sclerosis who qualify for a marijuana card are called patients and providers are called caregivers. Applications for the cards surged after the Obama administration announced in the fall that federal agents would not target people using pot in accordance with state laws.
Many of the providers at Sunday's clinic said they were shocked when two marijuana storefronts were firebombed and vandalized with the spray-painted message "NOT IN OUR TOWN" in Billings on May 10. They also said they were angered that The Billings Gazette published a map of local providers' addresses just a few days after the attacks.
"It's something very personal, and it was kind of like a slap in the face," said Meredith Daniel, a Billings-based caregiver who would not disclose the location of her business.
More than 80 percent of the caregivers registered with the state have less than four patients. Many of them do not operate out of storefronts, though they often have business licenses, and they argue they need to shield their locations to protect patient privacy and themselves.
"That's one of the things that's so important right now is just that confidentiality," Daniel said.
The fire bombings in Billings, which resulted in limited damage due to a quick response from the Fire Department, follow several violent incidents in other parts of the state.
In late April, a Kalispell man with a medical marijuana card was beaten to death after allegedly being targeted for his drugs and money. Meanwhile, three caregivers have been accused of kidnapping and beating a man in Ravalli County on May 4 who they thought stole medical marijuana from one of them.
Christ, who has been criticized by some people for openly smoking legal medical marijuana in public, said violent backlashes often accompany serious social change. Education, and "desensitizing" people to the use of marijuana as a medicine, will take time, he said.
"The same things happened in the '50s with gay people coming out of the closet and the integration of the schools," he said.
The Montana Caregivers Network made its first sweep of eastern Montana this weekend, holding clinics in both Miles City and Sidney, which has a population of less than 5,000. Through the traveling clinics, and new efforts to put potential patients in contact with doctors by telephone, the organization claims credit for registering most of the last year's new patients and caregivers.
"We are the last resort for many of them because they've tried everything else," Christ said. "I do honestly feel like this has become a civil rights issue."
News Hawk: Warbux 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Billings Gazette
Author: Kahrin Deines
Contact: The Billings Gazette - Montana & Wyoming News
Copyright: 2010 The Billings Gazette
Website: Privacy concerns voiced at marijuana clinic
