MONTANA CURBS PRESCRIPTION POT

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said he would allow a controversial
bill restricting the state's medical-marijuana business to become law
without his signature.

The Democratic governor said Friday he still wasn't happy with some
aspects of the bill, which will close down Montana's large
marijuana-growing operations and make it more difficult for people to
get medical marijuana to treat "severe chronic pain." But he said he
preferred to have the new rules go into effect rather than continue
the existing system, which he called "the wild, wild West."

Montana has been struggling to manage its medical-marijuana industry
since voters overwhelmingly approved a law in 2004 allowing patients
and caregivers to legally possess some marijuana plants and usable
marijuana if they have a doctor's prescription.

The number of Montana users had soared to about 30,000, and
medical-marijuana dispensaries had mushroomed across the state.

Earlier this year, Mr. Schweitzer vetoed a bill that would have
repealed the 2004 law outright.

Under the new law, which will take effect July 1, patients will have
to provide stronger proof of a qualifying illness to get a medical
marijuana prescription. Those who are approved may grow their own
marijuana or get it free from a provider who may grow it for up to
three people.

The governor said Friday that he was concerned some legitimate
patients would lose access to medical marijuana because they wouldn't
be able to grow their own. He urged lawmakers to take up the issue
again the next time they convene, in 2013.

Medical marijuana is legal in 15 states and the District of Columbia,
but the U.S. Justice Department recently warned officials in states
such as Montana, Colorado, Washington and California that even
licensed marijuana operations could be targeted for federal raids.
Marijuana is illegal under federal law. In March, federal agents
raided marijuana businesses across Montana.

The recent Justice Department crackdown reversed a freewheeling
atmosphere for the medical-marijuana industry that had prevailed
since 2009, when then-Deputy Attorney General David Ogden sent a memo
to U.S. attorneys saying the federal government wouldn't try to
prosecute individuals who used medical marijuana in compliance with state law