HELENA — By a 3-to-1 margin, opponents outnumbered supporters of a bill Wednesday that would repeal Montana's 2004 voter-passed law legalizing the use of medical marijuana in the state.

At issue before the House Human Services Committee was House Bill 161, by House Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade. The preliminary count of people signed up to speak showed 86 opponents and 28 supporters of the bill. The committee took no immediate on the vote.

Milburn talked about the huge increase in people obtaining medical marijuana cards — more than 28,000 people now have them — and what it has done to Montana and its schools, cities and towns with the increased use of marijuana by teens.

“So it's no longer an issue of medical marijuana,” he said. “It's an issue of marijuana. We've opened the floodgate. It's like Hurricane Katrina. We're not talking about the dikes holding back the water anymore. We're talking about how do you rebuild the city.”

He said Montana is fast developing the reputation nationally as being the place nationally where people can come and buy their marijuana.

He said there are no scientific studies that prove marijuana has any medicinal value, a claim disputed by opponents.