MARIJUANA LEGISLATION NEEDS WORK

It's hard to generalize about that amorphous thing we call the
electorate. But it's pretty safe to say that when Montana voters went
to the polls in 2004, they collectively wanted to legalize use of
marijuana as a medicine for those few people who would legitimately
benefit from it.

It's probably also safe to say that those same voters did not
collectively want to totally decriminalize the drug. And yet that is
rapidly becoming the effect of the medical marijuana vote in 2004.

As a Chronicle series published last week revealed, so-called "green
cards" that indicate eligibility for the use of medical marijuana
have proliferated among a class of people -- 20-to-30 year-olds --
who were not necessarily those intended to benefit from the 2004 initiative.

The Chronicle report uncovered a number of intriguing facts related
to this issue. But among the most important were these:

* There are people who legitimately need and benefit from the use of
medical marijuana. The series included compelling stories of people
who have been unable to control pain or other debilitating conditions
with anything but marijuana.

* Scientists and health professionals aren't really sure why
marijuana relieves symptoms for some people. But some -- including
two right here in Bozeman -- are conducting research to find out. And
it's becoming apparent that many patients benefit from components in
the plant other than those that produce the "high" associated with the drug.

* And the budding medical marijuana industry -- and that is indeed
what it seems to be becoming -- is a melee of activity that needs
stricter and more elaborate regulation.

State lawmakers have met in three regular sessions since voters
legalized medical marijuana, and yet they have done virtually nothing
to address this new reality. That has left city and county officials
scrambling to cope with rapidly growing numbers of medical marijuana
distributors.

Some lawmakers are crafting legislation for next January's regular
session that will attempt to restrict medical marijuana use to those
who legitimately need it and establish other regulations for its
production, distribution and use. Two Republican lawmakers,
meanwhile, plan to introduce measures to repeal the 2004 initiative
altogether, though given the overwhelming support voters gave the
measure at the polls, finding enough votes to repeal it might be impossible.

Medical marijuana is likely to be here for a while, on that much we
should all agree. Now we need to learn to live with it in a safe and humane way.