Medical marijuana has been debated in Montana for more than a decade.

After voters in 2004 approved a vague medical marijuana law, the issue languished for several years.

Seven years later, the number of medical marijuana card-holders soared to 30,000 people.

In 2011, the Montana Legislature passed a severely restrictive law that included a provision that a medical marijuana provider could only serve three patients. The three-patient limit finally took effect Aug. 31.

“I think it was just de facto prohibition,” said retired CPA and former Bozeman Mayor Jeff Krauss, a proponent of Initiative 182, which would change Montana’s medical marijuana law yet again. Last month, medical marijuana card-holders in Montana numbered 13,034.

The three-person limit “cut a whole lot of people out” of receiving medical marijuana, Krauss said. And he said it’s not practical to expect an elderly person suffering from cancer to grow his or her own medical marijuana.

I-182 would reverse the three-patient limit.

“That’s what we’re trying to get back to, to a place where suffering people ease their suffering,” Krauss said in a telephone interview.

Krauss was mayor of Bozeman when it tackled the medical marijuana issue. Bozeman restricted medical marijuana shops to industrial areas away from schools. He said if I-182 passes, cities can still enact necessary marijuana shop restrictions through zoning laws.

The initiative is opposed by Steve Zabawa, a Billings car dealer who heads Safe Montana, an anti-drug group. Zabawa warned in a phone interview I-182 would return Montana to wide-open marijuana sales and would essentially legalize marijuana for any use, including recreation.

We agree with Zabawa that a better way to dispense pain-killing cannabis components or derivatives would be through physicians, pharmacists and a prescription drug system. But so far only a handful of marijuana-related drugs are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or are in advanced trials.

Meanwhile, medical research concludes marijuana can help: Decrease the damaging pressure in the eyeball caused by glaucoma; control epileptic seizures; decrease anxiety perhaps; ease the pain associated with multiple sclerosis; treat inflammatory bowel diseases and more. The uses are broad. For some people, the hassle and expense of obtaining medical marijuana is worth the relief from symptoms it provides that FDA-approved medication, which is covered by health insurance, does not.

Krauss said I-182 would provide for unannounced annual inspections of marijuana provider premises, and allow laboratories to do marijuana product testing. The new initiative provides more oversight than the original 2004 version did, Krauss said.

Zabawa said his group supports medical use of marijuana, but he calls I-182 “a terrible piece of legislation,” and predicted it will lead to access to marijuana for recreational use. The intent of the initiative is to “legalize marijuana in the state of Montana,” Zabawa said.

“Anybody can go get a green card,” Zabawa added. He said legislators in 2011 tried to “squeeze” out recreational marijuana users with the restrictive Senate Bill 423 that became law.

We think SB 423 went too far, which is why I-182 or something like it became necessary.

We support medical marijuana, but we don’t support legalizing pot for recreational use. We also would hate to see Montana’s marijuana laws continue to lurch back and forth between permissiveness and prohibition.

I-182 removes the difficult-to-justify three-patient limit that has created hardships for some medical marijuana patients across the state.

We recommend voters cast a “yes” vote for the medical marijuana initiative, I-182.

— Tribune editorial board

Montana ballot issues

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of four endorsement editorials regarding issues on the Nov. 8 general election ballot in Montana, reflecting the views of the Tribune editorial board. As in the recent past, the Tribune will not be endorsing individual candidates for any offices.