Pubdate: Sat, 16 Feb 2013
Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT)
Copyright: 2013 The Billings Gazette
Contact: http://billingsgazette.com/app/contact/?contact=letter
Website: http://www.billingsgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/515
Author: Charles S. Johnson, Gazette State Bureau

HORSE SENSE: MEDICAL-MARIJUANA BILLS FACE TOUGH TIME AT LEGISLATURE

HELENA --- So far, the 2013 Legislature appears to be no more
receptive to medical marijuana than the 2011 session was.

The House Human Services Committee on Friday tabled --- and almost
certainly killed -- four medical-marijuana bills by Rep. Kelly
McCarthy, D-Billings. The bills all died on 12-4 votes, with 10
Republicans and two Democrats opposing the bills, while four Democrats
backed them.

McCarthy's bills were intended to fix the 2011 medical-marijuana law,
Senate Bill 423, which has been challenged in court. He tried to
remove those provisions in the law that District Judge James Reynolds
of Helena has twice blocked with preliminary injunctions, most
recently in January.

"We were hoping to make SB423, as enjoined, permanent so the legal
gymnastics could stop and all parties could get on with their lives,"
McCarthy said afterward.

By his own description, McCarthy is one of the least likely lawmakers
to sponsor these bills. Now a banker, he served in U.S. military
intelligence for 23 years and participated in some interdictions to
intercept illegal drugs being smuggled.

Members of the Montana Cannabis Information Association met with
McCarthy during his campaign and explained the challenges they face.

"I made a commitment to help them if and when I got elected," McCarthy
said.

McCarthy wasn't surprised his bills went down.

"I understand that I've burned a bit of political capital on this one,
but everyone deserves representation," he said. "When I didn't see too
many other legislators wanting to take up the challenge, I leaned into
the strike zone and took one for the team. I didn't think we'd win,
but I didn't let that stop me from giving my best shot."

His bills ran headlong into the stiff opposition of another former
drug-fighting federal employee, House Human Services Chairman David
Howard, R-Park City.

Howard, a retired FBI agent and chief of law enforcement for the
Bureau of Land Management, told the committee how he spearheaded an
effort in the 1980s to chop down thousands of illegal pot plants. It
took place near the King Range National Conservation Area in northern
California, near Garberville, which the BBC has dubbed America's
"marijuana heartland."

Howard denounced marijuana as "a poison" and "a joke" on Friday after
blasting it as "a scourge" two years ago.

If any medical marijuana-bill passes the 2013 Legislature, it likely
will have to clear Howard's committee. That isn't likely.

Over in the Senate, Sen. Dave Wanzenried, D-Missoula, has a pair of
medical-marijuana bills that will be heard this week in the Senate
Judiciary Committee.

One would prevent the state Board of Pharmacy from delaying the
rescheduling of marijuana if Congress or a federal agency changes how
it's scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act.

His other bill would add post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, to
the list of medical conditions for which a physician could recommend
medical marijuana to patients.

Wanzenried, in his final session of a long legislative career, doesn't
think lawmakers should shy away from controversial issues.

"There's an old saying that doing the popular thing isn't always the
right thing," he said. "The popular thing about medical marijuana this
session is to not do anything and let the courts decide. I think we
have a responsibility to re-examine any policy on a routine basis.
Having a good discussion on medical marijuana is a good idea."

He has another pending bill he intends to introduce this week that
will incorporate provisions of McCarthy's four measures.

"Responsible democracy for me is speaking out about it and having a
vigorous debate about things that some people would just as soon not
talk about," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D