HOUSE COMMITTEE KILLS MEDICAL-MARIJUANA BILL

A bill to give medical-marijuana patients better access to the drug
stalled in a House committee Friday and is likely dead, deadlocking
on a party-line vote.

All eight Republicans on the House Human Services Committee voted
against Senate Bill 326 and all eight Democrats voted for it.

SB326, sponsored by Sen. Ron Erickson, D-Missoula, would increase the
amount of marijuana that a state-licensed patient or "caregiver" can
possess, from one to three ounces. It also increased the number of
plants a licensed grower can have and listed additional diseases that
can be legally treated with marijuana.

Supporters of the bill, which sought to change Montana's
medical-marijuana program enacted by voters in 2004, said patients
often can't get enough of the drug they need under the law's current limits.

"There are problems with access for people who have a legal right to
have the drug," said Rep. Arlene Becker, D-Billings, who chairs the committee.

But Republican committee members said people on the program already
are "pushing the envelope" on marijuana use and possession, and that
the expansions in SB326 would continue that trend.

"I just don't see the need to expand something that doesn't really
have the sideboards on it," said Rep. Pat Ingraham, R-Thompson Falls.
"We can't even keep tabs on it now."

Rep. Ron Stoker, R-Darby, said a mature plant under the care of an
experienced grower could produce seven ounces to a pound of
marijuana, which is more than enough for medicinal use. Most patients
need one ounce per week, he said.

He also said he wants to prevent the licensed grower from
"back-dooring" extra amounts of the drug for sale to recreational
users: "That's where I think all of this is headed."

After the vote, Tom Daubert of Patients and Families United, the main
group pushing the bill, said Stoker's last comment is a "gross
insult" to patients who are chronically ill and dying. None of them
is seeking to make more marijuana available for recreational use, he said.

Daubert also said many patients need more than an ounce a week,
especially if they ingest it, and that the best Montana growers can't
get much more than an ounce of marijuana from a single plant.

"It's very frustrating to hear a legislator who has never been a
supporter (of the program) purport to be a growing expert, and he's
completely wrong on everything," Daubert said of Stoker.

Unless a Republican on the panel decides to change his or her vote,
the bill remains locked up in committee. Any attempt to remove the
bill from committee would need 60 votes from the full House.