MOST WOULD STILL VOTE FOR MARIJUANA LAW

Montanans passed the initiative establishing the state's
medical-marijuana law in 2004 with a healthy 62 percent of the vote.

The law was largely uncontroversial until the federal government
announced several months ago that it would defer to state
medical-marijuana laws in determining the legal use of the drug. The
medical-marijuana industry boomed in Montana, and some are now saying
that the law is so vague it has allowed the sale of marijuana in
circumstances that voters didn't have in mind when they passed the
initiative.

Today's Independent Record includes the second in a three-day series
by Lee newspapers in Montana exploring the issues surrounding that
controversy.

We asked readers to weigh in with our Question of the Week: "If medical
marijuana were put back to the public vote now, would you vote for it given
the lack of regulatory framework?"

Of the 247 responses we received to the unscientific survey, 138, or
56 percent, were "yes." The other 44 percent of the responses, 109 of
them, were "no."

Here are some of the comments we received:

- - I voted against the measure before, and there is no way I would vote
for it now. Anyone with a half of ounce of common sense knew back when
the law was passed that it was wide open to abuse, and experience has
proven that true. Anyone who believes marijuana is harmless and can be
used responsibly is only lying to themselves in the face of numerous
valid and reliable studies to the contrary. The only thing amazing
about the whole fiasco is that some are surprised by it.

- - The time and energy spent on this debate is beyond all comprehension
and reason. Don't we have enough to worry about - like the war, the
economy and the oil spill, to name a few? Legalize marijuana and tax
it and help solve our debt problem big time. Is it as bad as the
damage done with legal substances such as alcohol and cigarettes?

- - Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. Obviously, the
state's regulation of the growth, distribution and approval for use of
medical marijuana has been inadequate, and the medical profession has
not adequately monitored unethical MDs who have become a traveling,
use-approval sideshow. The problems can, and should, be remedied
without denying marijuana to legitimate medical users.

- - If medical marijuana provides relief for even one patient who is
suffering the pain of cancer or the nausea associated with
chemotherapy, then it is worth my vote.

- - Not only did I not vote for it, I was baffled that so many otherwise
intelligent, well-meaning people could not foresee the havoc that
would inevitably ensue.

- - Montana is leading the country in DUIs, alcohol addiction and
drug-abuse problems per capita, and the state is nationally known for
its serious mental-health issues. Marijuana adds fuel to the addiction
fire, and, when mixed with alcohol and other prescription drugs, it is
dangerous and is a proven gateway to increased hard-drug usage. The
medical-marijuana outlets are out of control compared to the retail
liquor stores in Montana, and if they are left unchecked and
unregulated, the state will be overtaken by illegal marijuana usage
that will end up creating another social crisis on top of what we
already have to deal with.

- - I voted for medical marijuana and would again. It is the legislators
who messed up. Marijuana should be legalized, put under ATF and then
taxed.