VOTERS OK MEASURES FOR TOBACCO TAX, MEDICAL MARIJUANA

HELENA -- Use of marijuana for medical reasons will be legal in
Montana and tobacco users will see a tax increase, voters decided
Tuesday in passing a pair of ballot measures.

Initiative 148 allows the cultivation, possession and use of
marijuana, in limited amounts, for medical purposes. The initiative
shields patients, their doctors and caregivers from arrest and
prosecution.

Initiative 149 will increase tobacco taxes by $45 million a year,
allocating most of the money for new or existing health-care programs.

Voters rejected a measure that would have lengthened the limits on
legislators' terms.

With 305 of 881 precincts reporting, the vote on the marijuana
initiative was 97,611 to 55,102, or 64 percent to 36 percent.

Passage was ``just common sense,'' said Paul Befumo of Missoula, a
leader in the campaign for the measure.

``I'm really thankful to Montana,'' Befumo said. ``I think we did
something good for ourselves, our neighbors and relatives who are
sick.'' Befumo said his father's suffering from fatal lung cancer two
years ago may have been eased by the use of marijuana.

With 263 of 881 precincts reporting, the vote on the tobacco tax was
94,639 to 48,727, or 66 percent to 34 percent.

Early returns found voters rejecting Constitutional Amendment 42, the
measure to change legislators' term limits. With 305 of 881 precincts
reporting, the vote was 99,409 opposed to 49,242 in favor, or 67
percent to 33 percent.

The measure would have lengthened term limits from eight years in any
16-year period to 12 years in any 24-year period.

Voters approved Constitutional Amendment 40, placing in the
constitution a $10 million trust fund for combatting noxious weeds, 75
percent to 25 percent with 309 of 881 precincts reporting. The vote
was 110,718 to 36,525. Voters also passed a constitutional amendment
protecting residents' ability to hunt and fish. With 305 of 881
precincts reporting, the vote was 116,368 to 30,310, or 79 percent to
21 percent.