• 15
  • July
    2010

The following post is a continuation of Monday's discussion about medical marijuana use/regulation in the state of Montana.

(Please see "Montana's Traveling Medical Marijuana Clinics to Close - I" for more information.)

Post continued ...

A state legislative committee is also in the process of creating a bill to more clearly define the availability and acceptable uses of medical marijuana. Specifically, the creators of the bill hope to honor the intent of voters by ensuring that medical marijuana use is confined to those who are terminally ill or suffer from truly debilitating illnesses.

"What did the voters think they were voting for and can we get back to those basic issues of providing limited, controlled access for people who the public thought really needed this as compassionate care?" said Diane Sands, D-Missoula.

The Montana Caregivers Network has responded to this two-pronged criticism by officially stopping the daylong medical marijuana clinics in hotel conference centers across the state.

Instead, they plan to provide regular physician hours for patients at medical marijuana caregiver centers in Billings, Bozeman, and Helena (Montana's largest cities). These regular physician hours will also be provided in Missoula, at the Montana Caregivers Network base of operations.

The organization's one full-time doctor will travel to all of these locations, recommending medical marijuana for new patients and helping existing patients renew their eligibility. No limit will be placed on the number of patients seen at any location and the applicable fee will remain at $150.

In addition, when there are no patients to see, the physician will hold patient consultations throughout the state via "teleclinics" or Skype technology. The justification for these types of patient consultations being that terminally ill patients simply cannot travel to meet with the physician.

It is worth noting that the Montana Board of Medical Examiners has also spoken out against this type of remote patient treatment:

"A written certification provided after a patient evaluation conducted exclusively through currently available electronic methods or the Internet may be inadequate to evaluate the complex medical conditions for which marijuana is an approved therapy. The practice of telemedicine in Montana requires a Montana license and adherence to the same standard of care as required of all Montana-licensed physicians."
Stay tuned for further news ...

 Related Resources: 
 
• Mont. Advocacy Group Shuts Down Cannabis Caravans (MSNBC)
• Medical Marijuana: Physician's Written Certification for Medical Marijuana and the Bona Fide Physician-Patient Relationship (Montana Board of Medical Examiners)