HAMILTON - Sen. Jim Shockley said Monday he'd support and even sponsor a bill aimed at overturning Montana's current medical marijuana laws and then help initiate a ground-up rewrite.

But the Victor Republican who opposed the 2004 legalization of medical marijuana said he's not against medical marijuana.

"I'm a convert," he said. "There is no doubt marijuana has medical benefits."

However, he added, while medical marijuana works, Montana's law authorizing its use doesn't and is too flawed to simply fix.

Shockley, speaking to the Hamilton Rotary Club Monday afternoon, said he hopes the Legislature this year will overturn the current law, grandfather current use for the time being, and then craft three separate bills aimed at oversight of specific areas of medical marijuana use - production, distribution and authorization.

"Right now there is absolutely no control and that is how it was designed," Shockley said. "It's a legal way for a lot of people to get marijuana."

Not so fast, said Dr. Chris Christensen, a Victor family practice doctor who said in four years he's issued 3,500 medical marijuana certifications.