MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEASURE ENJOYING GRASSROOTS SUPPORT

HELENA -- Montana voters are big on traditional marriage, medical
marijuana and taxing tobacco, a new Lee Newspaper poll shows.

By a 61 to 32 percent margin, voters said they would support changing
the Montana Constitution to define marriage as valid only if it
involves one man and one woman and ban gay marriages. Seven percent
were undecided on this measure, which will be on the November ballot
as Constitutional Initiative 96.

Men were more bullish on the idea that women. Sixty-six percent of men
said they would vote for the amendment, compared with 56 percent of
women. Thirty-eight percent of women voters said they would oppose
CI-96, while 26 percent of male voters would vote against it.

The poll, a telephone survey of 625 likely Montana voters, was
conducted Sept. 20-22 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., for Lee
Newspapers of Montana. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4
percentage points.

A lopsided majority said they would vote for Initiative 148 to
legalize marijuana for people with debilitating medical conditions.
The poll found

58 percent said they would vote for the measure, while 29 percent were
against it and 13 percent were undecided.

Women warmed up to medical marijuana more than men, with 63 percent of
women supporting

I-148 compared with 53 percent of men. Thirty-five percent of male
voters opposed I-148, while

23 percent of women would. I-148 would protect patients using
marijuana for medical purposes, their doctors and their caregivers
from arrest and prosecution.

Finally, 59 percent of likely voters said they would approve
Initiative 149 to raise tobacco taxes and use the money on certain
health care programs and other programs, while 30 percent rejected the
idea and 11 percent were undecided.

I-149 would increase tobacco taxes by 140 percent. The tax on a pack
of cigarettes would rise from 70 cents to $1.70. The tax on snuff
would increase from 35 cents to 85 cents an ounce and taxes on other
tobacco products would increase from 25 percent to 50 percent of
wholesale price.

The overall price of tobacco would jump 25 percent.

The proposed tax hike, if passed by a simple majority in November's
general election, will raise $38.4 million for new health insurance
and Medicaid initiatives, an additional $400,000 for state buildings
and $6 million for the state's general budget.

Women rallied around the tax hike more than men, with 63 percent
support it, compared with 55 percent of men. Thirty-three percent of
men opposed the ballot measure, compared with 27 percent of women.