GOP LEADERS USE STRONG WORDS TO CONDEMN MEDICAL MARIJUANA

HELENA -- Republican legislative leaders strongly condemned Montana's
medical marijuana program Thursday as they spoke to reporters at the
midsession break, while Democratic leaders denounced repeal attempts
as another GOP attempt to defy the will of voters.

At a Capitol press conference, House Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade,
talked about his bill to repeal the law -- and Senate President Jim
Peterson, R-Buffalo, spoke strongly against medical marijuana,
although he stopped short of saying it should be repealed.

"On marijuana, it's a horse of another color now," Peterson said. "You
know, we started out with a white horse and now we got a black horse.
And we got to do something about it. It's out of control. We don't
need a state run with this kind of activity."

Peterson did say that perhaps Montanans should have another chance to
vote on the issue, and that they might change their mind this time and
reject it.

In 2004, Montana voters, by a margin of 62 percent to 38 percent,
voted to legalize the use of marijuana for medical treatment purposes.

Milburn's House Bill 161 would repeal that law. The bill has cleared
the House on a mostly party-line vote and now faces action in the Senate.

Milburn said Montana now is confronted with "an out-of-control
organized drug trade" involving organized crime.

"We're talking about infiltrating into the schools, into the
neighborhoods, taking down whole neighborhoods," Milburn said. "That's
what we're talking about now. So we're talking about a totally
different issue than what the people voted in."

Democratic leaders, however, were adamant against the repeal of the
medical marijuana law.

"That's not what the people of this state told us to do," said House
Minority Leader Jon Sesso, D-Butte. "There are sick and dying people
in this state that deserve to have their drug of choice. We have to
fix the system, not repeal it."

Senate Minority Leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula, called it another
Republican attempt this session to hijack a voter-passed law.

The medical marijuana law needs to be tweaked, not repealed, she
said.

"But to go out and say we're going to repeal it is one more attempt to
thumb your nose at the voters," she said.

Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, consistent with his policy, declined
to say what he will do if a repeal bill hits his desk, but he sounds
as if he agrees with Williams and Sesso.

"I think most people in Montana agree with me that the result of the
initiative that passed is one, that we have more people with medical
marijuana cards that any of us anticipated there would have been," he
said in an interview this week. "The people ... said that there are a
certain number of people in our population that need or require the
medical marijuana as part of their treatment.

"I'm not going to say to the people of Montana that you were wrong
about that, but I certainly think that there are people that have got
marijuana cards that just want to smoke pot, not that they need
medicinal cannabis, as it's now called."

At the GOP press conference, Peterson asked if Montanans want
one-third of high school kids with medical-marijuana cards.

Official state statistics show that 51 people under age 18 have been
issued medical marijuana cards as of Feb. 1, or 0.18 percent of the
28,362 people with cards.

Milburn urged repeal of the law to give Montanans a chance to reassess
and re-evaluate it "so we can get back on track with the medical part
of it, sometime this session or in the future."

"We have to protect the public safety and welfare of the people of our
state," he said.

Williams said the Legislature should consider HB68, by Rep. Diane
Sands, D-Missoula, which was developed by an interim committee that
studied the issue. That bill, which hasn't been acted on, imposes
stricter licensing and regulatory standards to stop some of current
abuses and charges fees to pay for it.

She cited current and past Republican legislative efforts to change
voter-passed initiatives.

[sidebar]

MAJOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILLS

HELENA -- Here's a list of some major medical marijuana bills
introduced so far at the 2011 Legislature and their status:

House Bill 19, by Rep. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, to clarify that the
Clean Indoor Air Act applies to smoking of medical marijuana. Passed
the House and a Senate committee and awaits Senate floor action.

HB43, by Rep. Gary MacLaren, R-Victor, clarifying the employer's
rights related to employees' use of medical marijuana. Passed House
and awaits Senate committee hearing.

HB68, by Sands, to revise the voter-passed law and create a licensing
and regulatory structure for the industry. Heard in House committee
but not yet acted on. As a revenue measure, it faces a later
transmittal deadline.

HB82, by Sands, to require reporting of complaints on physicians'
practices related to medical marijuana, passed House and awaits Senate
committee hearing.

HB161, by Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade, to repeal the state's
medical marijuana law. Passed the House and awaits Senate committee
hearing.

HB175, by Rep. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, to submit a repeal of the
Medical Marijuana Act to Montana voters in 2012. Not yet heard in
House committee, but has a later transmittal deadline as a referendum
bill.

HB185, by Rep. Tom Berry, R-Roundup, to ban synthetic marijuana.
Passed House and awaits Senate hearing.

HB389, by Rep. Pat Noonan, D-Ramsay, to require a warning label on
marijuana sold for medical use. Approved by House committee, but not
yet acted on by full House. Still alive because it has a financial
impact.

HB429, by Berry, to revise medical marijuana procedures to greatly
limit who is eligible for a card by requiring a doctor's and then a
judge's approval to get a card. Approved by House committee, but not
yet acted on by House. Still alive because it has a budget impact.

HB488, by Rep. Jerry O'Neil, R-Columbia Falls, to limit medical
marijuana smoking to a person's home, but not allowing it to be done
in the presence of children. Tabled in House committee and missed
transmittal deadline.

SB154, by Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, to regulate the medical marijuana
supply system and tax it. Heard by a Senate committee, where Lewis
said he wants to amend out the tax and otherwise revise it, but not
yet acted on. Still alive because it is a revenue measure.

SB170, by Sen. Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, to require a three-physician
panel to endorse a doctor's recommendation that a patient get a
medical marijuana card for chronic pain. Heard by Senate committee but
not acted on by Senate. Status uncertain.

SB193, by Sen. Gene Vuckovich, D-Anaconda, to revise medical marijuana
laws. Heard in Senate committee, but not yet acted on by Senate. Still
alive because it has a revenue impact.

SB334, by Sen. Jim Shockley, R-Victor, to repeal the legality of
medical marijuana. Tabled at sponsor's request and failed to meet
transmittal deadline.

SB336, by Sen. Dave Wanzenried, D-Missoula, to authorize the use of
medical marijuana for treatment of post-traumatic stress disease.
Voted out of Senate committee but re-referred to the committee. Status
uncertain.

Several other proposed bills are awaiting to be drafted.