High court upholds medical marijuana law
HELENA — Montana courts cannot bar medical marijuana patients from using the drug as a condition of their probation or parole, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
The decision overturned a lower court’s ruling that prohibited a Conrad man from using marijuana while serving a three-year deferred sentence.
“This is a very big and important victory, both for patients and Montana voters,” said Tom Daubert, founder and director of Patients and Families United, a support group for patients who use medical marijuana.
Montana voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot initiative in 2004 legalizing the use of medical marijuana in the state.
In Tuesday’s 6-1 decision, the Supreme Court found that District Judge Laurie McKinnon overstepped her authority when she barred Timothy Nelson of Conrad from using medical marijuana as a condition of his sentence.
Nelson pleaded no contest to a charge of criminal possession or manufacture of dangerous drugs in 2007, after Pondera County authorities found evidence of a marijuana growing operation in his home.
After being charged, Nelson registered with the state medical marijuana program. He suffers from a degenerative disc disorder and has had four surgeries on his back, according to court records.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081030/NEWS01/810300310
