MARIJUANA LEGISLATION ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE

Federal agents descending with full regalia, bales of marijuana
seized, million-dollar bank accounts frozen -- when did this turn into
a Mexican border town?

That was the scene earlier this week as federal law enforcement
officers executed 26 search warrants in 13 Montana cities and towns --
including Four Corners -- in a first-ever crackdown on the state's
budding medical marijuana industry.

But, as of yet anyway, no one has been arrested. It seems as though
there are just a bunch of people -- medical marijuana growers and
public officials alike -- standing around scratching their heads. Just
what exactly happened here?

It will probably be a while before it all shakes out, but this much we
do know: Montana lawmakers need to get busy -- now.

Subsequent revelations seem to indicate the feds were cracking down on
what they allege to be marijuana trafficking between the growers who
provide the medical marijuana to patients. Montana's voter-approved
medical marijuana initiative prohibits this. Or does it? An attorney
for the growers says it's a gray area that lawmakers need to sort out.

This much seems clear: The more than 4,000 providers of medical
marijuana to nearly 30,000 patients in Montana have pushed the limits
of the new law. And if they were surprised by Monday's raids, they
shouldn't have been. Growing acres of pot was bound to get a reaction
from law enforcement officers who are looking for any way to gain
control over the situation.

What's ironic about this week's raids is that all of the marijuana
involved would have eventually ended up in the hands of legitimate
users -- at least according to the initiative Montana voters approved
some six and a half years ago. But law enforcement officers just
couldn't stand by and watch, given the sheer volume of the drug being
processed and traded.

That's where the Legislature needs to step in. So far, the lawmakers
have spent the bulk of their breath on an effort to repeal the
voter-approved initiative. That is now stalled in committee and
unlikely to reemerge as a viable option.

Now lawmakers have to do the hard work: establish a regulatory system
that reflects the will of the voters.

This doesn't have to be rocket science. Just visit the legislation
governing the same activity in other states and take what you like.
There may even be possibilities for taxing the marijuana sales and
providing a little tax relief to other state tax payers.

Just make the rules and then let's enforce them. And let's this week's
federal raids the last that we see around here.