Medical marijuana group defies ban on video exams

HELENA — An advocacy group is defying the state medical board's ban on using video teleconferences to examine people seeking medical marijuana cards, saying the medium is necessary for people who don't have access to a doctor.

The Missoula-based Montana Caregivers Network connects doctors with would-be patients by using the Internet video service Skype in what the advocacy group calls TeleClinics.

The state Board of Medical Examiners ruled in November that those examinations alone do not meet standards of care for certifying medical marijuana patients.

But the Montana Caregivers Network, which...