Still Hacking Away At It.

greenbuddha · April 12, 2011

House OKs Heavily Amended Medical Pot RulePosted by CN Staff on April 12, 2011 at 05:46:25 PT

By Charles S. Johnson, Gazette State Bureau

Helena, MT -- 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 Tuesday, 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 the number of people licensed to use medical marijuana, now at 28,300, with backers hoping to bring that number fewer than 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 a patient, and not vice versa, but for no compensation. One person could grow marijuana 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 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 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."

Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT)

Author: Charles S. Johnson, Gazette State Bureau

Published: April 11, 2011

Contact: speakup@billingsgazette.com

Website: http://www.billingsgazette.com/

URL: http://drugsense.org/url/GHpHrZm0

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