News » Montana’s Stricter Medical Marijuana Regulations in Jeopardy





Ever since Montana passed legislation allowing medical marijuana in 2004 the growth of the industry within the state has boomed. While the law made cannabis legal for medical use it did not clearly define a regulatory system and some lawmakers feel this allowed Montana to become the wild west of marijuana.

A series of bills have been proposed by Republican Senators and House members ranging from outright repeal with House Bill 161 (HB161), sponsored by Speaker Mike Milburn (R-Cascade), which passed the House but failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee with a 6-6 deadlock and House Bill 175, by Rep. Keith Regier (R-Kalispell), which places a referendum on the ballot in 2012 asking voters to choose if the 2004 law stays or goes.

The latest news however is from the Senate, where Senate Bill 423, by Sen. Jeff Essmann (R-Billings), which is designed to provide a much stricter regulatory structure for medical marijuana. It was consider the most likely to pass as it did not enforce a full repeal of the current law, however the debate and vote were delayed today by the same Sen. Essmann. Due to Senate rules and imposed deadlines this means that the bill must now garner a supermajority (34 of 50 votes) to progress to the House – a vote today would have only required a simple majority of 26 votes. Republicans hold a 28-22 margin over Democrats meaning a vote today would have almost ensured its approval.

At issue is the proposed licensing fee for those growing and delivering marijuana. This detail requires that the Senate be provided with a “fiscal note” outlining the financial impact the law would have. There is a six day time period in which the fiscal note must be delivered after it was requested and although Budget Director David Ewer has promised that it will be delivered in that window. A vote on Tuesday without the fiscal note would require a supermajority.

The deadline however is Wednesday which is also the deadline for the Senate to send the House any budget bills, and vice versa. Failure to vote to send the proposal to House will kill the bill.

The Senate can still vote to approve SB423 on Wednesday however Senate rules require two votes taken on separate days to send a bill to the House. Suspending these rules to have the second vote on the same day will also require a supermajority.

Although this greatly decreases the chances that SB423 will advance out of the Senate there is still the chance that Democrats will use this a leverage to gain support on other pieces of legislation, giving Republicans the votes they need to suspend the rules and move the bill to the House.

HB175 is also yet to be voted on however it is not affected by the Wednesday deadline as it would not impact the state budget. Some Democrats such as Sen. Mary Caferro (D-Helena) doesn’t think having a repeal referendum on the ballot in 2012 is such a bad idea and that the voters will vote it down just like they voted approval for the law in 2004.

“I don’t think we should underestimate this voting bloc,” she said.

[source Billings Gazette]

Tags: David Ewer, HB161, HB175, Jeff Essmann, Keith Regier, marijuana, medical, Mike Milburn, Montana, SB423