Many patients who are in hospice or have serious illnesses aren't strong enough to grow their own marijuana, while others don't have the first clue how to do it, said Katrina Farnum, who runs Garden Mother Herbs in Missoula.

As a result, some of her patients are leaving the state, while others have said they may have to go on opioids or try to buy the drug on the black market, she said. Farnum was one of the providers who gave patients marijuana for free before closing, up to the legal limit of 28 grams.

Patients and providers alike have pinned their hopes on a ballot initiative in the November election that would reverse many of the restrictions put into place. Dispensaries, in their Facebook farewell messages, urged their patients to vote for the measure and vowed to re-open if it passes.

"The patients of the state of Montana are counting on voters to turn out," said Tayln Lang, a patient from Hamilton who is backing the ballot initiative.

But an error in the initiative could delay its implementation by more than half of a year, even if it passes. Initiative organizers did not update the section of the proposed bill's effective date in the most recent draft, leaving the bill to read that the three-patient limit would not be lifted until June 30.

Organizers called that a clerical error that can be corrected after the election, but the chief legal counsel for the Montana Legislative Services Division said it was a substantive change that would require legislative approval.

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