Bringing convenience and simplicity to obtaining medical marijuana card

SEELEY LAKE – After offering in-home care in Seeley Lake for the past two years, owner of Seeley Home Health Dawn Butler has taken the business in a new direction. She now offers assistance for people in the area to be able to obtain a medical marijuana card and complete the required state registration to become a legal cardholder.

Butler has been offering home health services since she was 16 years old. When elderly or disabled people needed help, she assisted them as needed.

"In this area, families come for the summer and leave in the winter. Their retired parents are left here by themselves," said Butler.

The 2019 Legislature passed Senate Bill 265 creating more detailed program regulations for the Montana Medical Marijuana Act. One of the new provisions in the law included making it illegal for providers to arrange or pay for a physician visit. This included but is not limited to visits arranged through dispensaries, websites or social media sites.

Butler saw a need to make obtaining a medical marijuana card accessible to people in the Seeley Lake area. Seeley Home Health offers appointments via a telemedicine portal with a physician and hosts clinics in Seeley Lake to meet with the physician.

"People who are on hospice, they don't feel like or aren't able to travel to Missoula or Kalispell," said Butler. "This is a lot more convenient for people in the area."

For those who already have a physician's recommendation, Butler can answer questions and offers Complia assistance. Complia is the cannabis-specific licensing and registration platform used in Montana.

"There are a lot of people that would obtain recommendations and not know how to put it into Complia," said Butler. "That can be a little complicated. They are very picky about how the data goes in and will decline you really easily."

Seeley Home Health is located in the Heritage Building. It is open by appointment only. Fees are charged by service provided. Seeley Home Health is also hosting medical marijuana card consultations Nov. 4 and Dec. 8 in the Heritage Building from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. To make an appointment or for more information call Butler at 706-325-6934.