Montana pot boom fueled by ‘cannabis caravans’ that sign up thousands, assembly-line style

Cannabis caravans fuel medical pot boom in Montana

HELENA, Mont. — In Montana, a patient can pay $150, see a doctor and come out minutes later out with a prescription for medical marijuana.

These mobile assembly-line operations have signed up thousands of new patients in Montana over the past year.

Now the Montana Caregivers Network will take its so-called “cannabis caravan” out of Montana for the first time. Clinics are scheduled this month in three Michigan cities: Detroit, Kalamazoo and Lansing.

Montana’s medical board is trying to curtail the clinics. The board recently fined a physician who participated in one. It’s the first disciplinary action taken against a doctor in a Montana medical marijuana case.

Organizers say the clinics help patients who otherwise might not have access to a doctor who will prescribe medical marijuana.