Montana Improves Access for Medical Marijuana Patients

Medical marijuana patients in Montana will gain improved access to their medicine under a state law that goes into effect next week. The measure, Senate Bill 265, eliminates a requirement under existing statute known as tethering that limits patients to using only one medicinal cannabis provider.

J.J. Thomas, the owner of The Higher Standard dispensaries in Helena, Missoula, Butte, and Dillon, told local media that the new law will give patients more choice when selecting their medicine.

“No one wants to eat at McDonald’s every day, over and over again, when a thousand different places make hamburgers,” he said. “It’s the same with medication or anything else: people want variety, they want to shop at different places, they want accessibility.”

SB 265 changes a requirement that patients use only one licensed provider to access their medicine. The law, which was passed by the state legislature last year, called for the requirement to be eliminated by June of this year. Last month, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services notified patients and providers that the change would go into effect on June 2.