Judge: Pot transactions between caregivers illegal

Flathead County District Judge Stewart Stadler has ruled that the Montana Medical Marijuana Act does not allow for transactions of marijuana between caregivers.

Thursday’s ruling in the civil lawsuit brought against Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan has implications for the criminal cases against two men who were charged with felonies after a February traffic stop that yielded three pounds of marijuana.

Stadler granted Corrigan’s motion for summary judgment, saying that the Montana Medical Marijuana Act clearly states that caregivers may provide marijuana only to “qualifying patients.”

Stadler found that the plaintiffs — identified in court documents as the Medical Marijuana Growers Association, two anonymous couriers and three anonymous caregivers — had a “serious impediment” in their main arguments.

“All of plaintiffs arguments are predicated on the assumption that the Act is ambiguous with respect to whom caregivers may and may not supply with marijuana ... no such ambiguity exists; rather, the clear and unambiguous language of the Act permits caregivers ‘to provide marijuana only to qualifying patients who have named the applicant as caregiver,’” Stadler wrote.

He added that further interpretation of the law “would necessarily entail turning a blind eye to one of its explicit provisions.”

During a July 6 hearing for the case, Stadler noted that Missoula District Judge John Larson also ruled that caregiver-to-caregiver transactions are not legal. That case is being appealed to the state Supreme Court.

The two anonymous couriers in the case have been identified as Lief Erickson and Robin Ruiz, who were charged  with possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute after the Feb. 3 traffic stop on U.S. 2 near Lake Five Road. The Flathead County Attorney’s Office contends the men were transporting three pounds of marijuana to Great Falls at the time.

According to court documents, a search of their vehicle also turned up 300 capsules containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and five vials of suspected THC honey. Ruiz was a registered caregiver and Erickson a patient.

The county attorney’s office asserts that the amount of marijuana involved is also a factor in the criminal cases against the two men, because the state’s medical marijuana law has limitations on how much can be possessed.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.