CANNABIS BILL STILL WORK IN PROGRESS

The House voted 77-23 to pass a heavily amended Senate medical
marijuana bill that even its backers conceded is still a work in
progress as the Legislature winds down.

Senate Bill 423, by Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, now faces a final House
vote, probably today, before returning to the Senate and will likely
head to a conference committee to iron out differences between the
chambers. The bill, introduced late in the Senate, was completely
rewritten in House committee.

The vote for SB423 was bipartisan, with 65 Republicans and 12
Democrats supporting it, while 20 Democrats and three Republicans
voted against it.

As backers pointed out, it is the last-surviving bill at the
Legislature to impose tighter restrictions on a medical marijuana
industry that even some supporters admit has careened out of control
since its passage as an initiative in 2004.

The options are becoming scarce as the Legislature enters its final 10
days.

A bill to repeal the law, HB161, by House Speaker Mike Milburn,
R-Cascade, has passed both chambers, but a veto by Gov. Brian
Schweitzer appears likely. Schweitzer has said a number of times he
prefers to fix rather than repeal the current medical marijuana law.

On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee took away another option by
tabling HB175, by Rep. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, which sought to ask
voters next year they want to repeal or retain the current medical
marijuana law.

"If we do not pass this bill and the governor vetoes (HB) 161, we will
be going home with nothing," Rep. Tom Berry, R-Roundup, told the House.

Berry readily acknowledged that HB423 "is not a perfect bill," but he
said lawmakers would continue to be work on it at an expected
Senate-House conference committee.

The latest version of SB423 seeks to greatly limit on the number of
people licensed to use medical marijuana, now at 28,300, with backers
hoping to bring that number to well below 2,000. SB423 first would
repeal the current law and shut down medical pot growing and
dispensing operations on July 1.

The bill seeks to squeeze all profits out of the industry by
eliminating paid caretakers who grow marijuana for cardholders. SB423
would create a system that permits one person to grow medical
marijuana for patient, and not vice versa, but for no compensation.
One person could grow the herb for up to three people, provided two of
them are relatives.

Leading the opposition was Rep. Pat Noonan, R-Ramsay, who said he
thought legislators came to Helena with to pass stricter and
responsible regulations and controls on medical marijuana in Montana.

"This bill is the opposite of responsible regulation," Noonan said.
"This bill is a turn-a-blind-eye, grow-it-yourself bill, and that is
the exact opposite of regulation."

Noonan told how House Human Services Chairman David Howard, R-Park
City, who called medical marijuana "a scourge" on Montana and compared
it to "arsenic mixed with valium," said SB423 was as close to repeal
as the Legislature could make it without actually doing so.

"This bill is mass repeal," Noonan said. "This bill is repeal in
sheep's clothing."

Berry said the bill is not some "knee jerk reaction." The amendments
came from parts of other bills that have been before the session, he
said.

Rep. Ellie Hill, D-Missoula, criticized the bill for overturning the
public vote for medical marijuana.

"I think it's absolute hubris to ignore the will of voters of
Montana," she said.

Another critic was Rep. Bill Harris, R-Mosby, suggested organized
crime would profit from selling illegal marijuana in Montana on the
black market if SB423 passes.

"My guess is the (drug) cartel men, whoever they are, are sitting in
their fancy apartments in Florida watching this," he said. "They're
probably celebrating and talking about, 'Let's take a trip or two to
the bank.'"

Rep. Cary Smith, R-Billings, said the bill tries to bring Montana's
law back to what people voted on, based on the language from the 2004
ballot and voter information pamphlet said. Smith, one of sponsors of
the amendments said he never said it was the next best thing to repeal
but he called it a good compromise.

"This is not going to be the end of medical marijuana," Smith said.
"We're going to be back here next session talking about medical
marijuana. That's a fact of life, folks. I wish it would go away, but
it's not."