Medical marijuana business opens in Livingston

Montana law allows doctors to recommend marijuana for a specific set of ailments, all of them serious. They include cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS or other conditions that cause severe and chronic pain, wasting, severe nausea, seizures and severe or persistent muscle spasms, including those caused by multiple sclerosis or Crohn's disease. The law doesn't allow use of marijuana for problems like stress, depression or attention deficit disorder.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services has issued what users call “green cards” to 468 people whose doctors have decided that cannabis can help them. It also has issued “caregiver” cards to 167 people who can grow up to six plants for each patient.