While Montana lawmakers grapple to control a booming medical marijuana industry, the state's seven Indian reservations are islands where the drug is still illegal in all circumstances. However, that doesn't stop the state from handing out medical marijuana cards to tribal members who get a doctor's approval. Still, tribal members who use marijuana risk getting arrested, losing their jobs and being kicked out of their homes, regardless of whether they have a card. Wesley Main Sr. is the unlikely leader trying to put legalizing medical marijuana before voters on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. A former prosecutor and public defender, Main said he isn't a medical marijuana patient himself and has no intention to become one if the tribe does legalize it. [continues 1561 words]
Earlier this year, when dangerous fugitives escaped from a prison in Arizona and were spotted near East Glacier Park, Randy Martinez, who works in the U.S. Marshal's Office in Missoula, called a friend who works for Southern Alberta's Integrated Fugitive Apprehension Unit. That phone call would not have been placed a decade ago. In fact, federal law enforcement bureaucracy required communication only through official channels. Today, Martinez is one of several Canadian liaisons who is well-versed in Canadian law. [continues 278 words]
On Easter Sunday, Havre's Townhouse Inn featured a brunch buffet of medical marijuana leaves and oils. That day more than 100 people meandered through the Hi-Line hotel's conference room -- some curious, some serious -- where a traveling medical marijuana clinic delivered a doctor to their door. These days events such as the one in Havre are the tip of the iceberg. Medical marijuana is a growing business in Montana, where patients authorized to use it can be found in all but two counties. [continues 2662 words]
Prescription drug regulations span literally thousands of pages in state and federal statutes, as well as Federal Drug Administration rules. Pharmacists must go to college for six years, spend a year in the field and pass tests proving they mastered both medicine and Montana law before they can sell prescription medication. Pharmacies also are required to keep detailed records and be audited annually. In contrast, Montana's law regulating medical marijuana covers six pages -- including the title page. Providers must be named by a licensed patient and have no drug offenses on their criminal records in order to legally grow and sell marijuana for medical purposes. [continues 523 words]
When the doors swing at the Malta city pool, swimmers see the face of methamphetamine. Using mismatched house-paint from a local hardware store, Kristen Engebretson, 18, spent 25 hours over two days to paint two halves of a girl's face -- one beautiful and happy, the other gaunt and gloomy. "I thought it'd be so much fun to work on a project where you can get a message out to someone," she said. "It was really cool to see the community putting that much effort into deterring meth." [continues 700 words]
At age 19, Steve's teeth were already chipping and falling out. By the time he landed in the Shelby prison, he had the blood pressure of a 78-year-old man. He'll take Prilosec to ease stomach pains for the rest of his life. "I was in the meth explosion," the 26-year-old said. "We didn't know what it would do to you back then." A hit of methamphetamine puts battery acid, farm fertilizer and Drano into a user's body. What the billboards show -- tooth decay and skin sores -- doesn't touch on what meth does to your insides. [continues 1314 words]
Amanda Dunnington has six teeth left. Not long ago, the 25-year-old was homeless, sleeping in basements with spiders and digging in garbage bins food. Her son and daughter were taken away from her. Bruises from plunging needles into her legs and chest covered her body. Methamphetamine does that to people. "If I would have had any idea ... I never would have dreamed of doing it," she said. "It gets to the point where you think you have to have it to stay alive. You feel like you're dying." [continues 1595 words]
Knowing there's no time to spin their wheels, the members of Cascade County Meth Free on Monday outlined the next steps in their assault on the highly addictive stimulant. Earlier this month, the group organized an educational forum that drew 500 people who wanted to learn more about methamphetamine to the Great Falls Civic Center. Terry Youngworth, fair housing specialist with the City of Great Falls, said the forum just emphasized the need to get basic information out. "A lot of people want to know what is meth? Why is the community so worried about it?" he said. [continues 478 words]
With three-quarters of northcentral Montana's meth supply flowing from southcentral Washington, their problem is our problem. The long-term solution: Cut off the pipeline at Yakima. But turning the valve on the lucrative drug trade isn't easy, especially for Montana's counterparts in Washington. "It's never going to be stopped," warned Yakima's Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Kresse Jr. "You think it's bad now, it's only a matter of time before it explodes." Montana officers lock away Washington meth traffickers for years in federal prisons. But almost before the prison doors slam shut, other dealers eagerly step in to resume the business. [continues 970 words]
Authorities' New Tactics Pay Off Area law enforcement officials issued this warning to meth traffickers: You might not be caught selling, you might not even have drugs when you're arrested, but you will be charged and you will go to federal prison. For proof, look no further than Operation Speed Trap -- northcentral Montana's largest methamphetamine ring bust. "We didn't buy any dope in Speed Trap. We didn't have any informants," said Sheriff's Sgt. Dan Kohm of the Central Montana Drug Task Force. "We built a case on people who wanted to be witnesses, instead of defendants." [continues 1125 words]
SIMMS -- A Simms school board member and an assistant football coach resigned Wednesday night, after the board voted against the administration's decision to kick two seniors off the football team. The debate in front of 30 parents and coaches grew so heated that one board member stood up and yelled at the others after the split vote, and another board member, Kathy Fleming, left the meeting, saying she quit the board. Students Mike Gurnsey and Josh Bartz were suspended from school for five days, kicked off the football team before the final game of the season Oct. 14 and had their school letters taken away after Assistant Coach Derek Wheeler said he spotted them inhaling from a pop can in mid-October. [continues 750 words]
SIMMS -- A Simms school board member and an assistant football coach resigned Wednesday night, after the board voted against the administration's decision to kick two seniors off the football team. The debate in front of 30 parents and coaches grew so heated that one board member stood up and yelled at the others after the split vote, and another board member, Kathy Fleming, left the meeting, saying she quit the board. Students Mike Gurnsey and Josh Bartz were suspended from school for five days, kicked off the football team before the final game of the season Oct. 14 and had their school letters taken away after Assistant Coach Derek Wheeler said he spotted them inhaling from a pop can in mid-October. [continues 746 words]
Duane D. Gray tried painkillers, lithium and Prozac, he watched what he ate and he soaked in mineral-filled springs. But he said nothing worked to relieve the nausea, fatigue and muscle pains he'd had since serving in the Gulf War I until he tried marijuana. To punish Gray, 28, for growing 77 marijuana plants in his attic, Butte District Court Judge James Purcell gave Gray a three-year suspended sentence Thursday, fining him $1,000 and confiscating Gray's home at 1741 Grand Ave. [continues 870 words]
DEER LODGE - Students and parents in Deer Lodge thanked school officials Friday for bringing a drug-sniffing dog into the schools. Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union said some aspects of Thursday's search violated Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Powell County High School Superintendent Mike Doyle was interrupted during Friday by community members who were pleased with the search that lead to the arrests of four high school students. "Students say 'it's about time we did something about this,' " Doyle said. "People in the community, both those with students and without, have given us nothing but positive responses." [continues 446 words]
