cannabisnews.com: 2nd Major Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced
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2nd Major Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced
Posted by CN Staff on January 13, 2011 at 06:40:02 PT
By Charles S. Johnson, Gazette State Bureau
Source: Billings Gazette
Helena, MT --  A Helena lawmaker has introduced a bill to license and regulate the growing and selling of medical marijuana in Montana and to impose a 10 percent tax on the growers' sales to pay for the cost of regulation and go for other uses. Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, is the sponsor of Senate Bill 154, the second major bill intended to impose some regulations on the industry.The other measure is House Bill 68, by Rep. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, on behalf of the Legislature's Children, Families, Health and Human Services Interim Committee.
“I wanted to put something together, a licensing process, that allows us to know how much (marijuana) is grown and where it's going,” Lewis said Wednesday.He said medical marijuana would be regulated by the Revenue Department like taverns, only without a quota system. Montana has long had a quota system for all-beverage liquor licenses for bars, taverns and casinos.The use of medical marijuana was authorized under a voter-passed initiative in 2004. Since the fall of 2009, Montana has seen an explosion in the number of people who have been authorized by doctors to use medical marijuana, as well as a jump in the number of growers.Under the Lewis bill, growers would have to file quarterly reports with the state Revenue Department, which would be allowed to inspect growers' premises and records. The state agency would be allowed to determine whether the number of plants and amount of usable marijuana a grower is authorized to possess reconciles with what the grower reported to the department.Unlike the other bill, Lewis' measure would impose a 10 percent tax on the 4,700 marijuana growers in Montana. He estimates the tax will bring in $4 million annually.Under Lewis' bill, part of the tax collections would go to pay for the cost of the Revenue Department regulating the medical marijuana industry. The remainder of the tax revenue would be distributed two ways. Half would go to local governments, based on the number of licensed growers in each city, town or county. The other half would go to the state Department of Public Health and Human Services to be spent on social services listed in the bill.Sands' bill wouldn't set up a tax but instead would charge licensing fees to pay for the cost of regulation, also by the Revenue Department.Lewis' bill also sets up procedures for local governments to have public hearings before anyone is granted a license to grow medical marijuana or to move a growing location. Unlike Sands' bill, Lewis' measure doesn't set standards for physicians or patients.Tom Daubert, a lobbyist for Patients and Families United, a medical marijuana advocacy group, said he is undecided whether to support about Lewis' bill, but called it a “fair, conscientious, thoughtful proposal.”“It looks to be the most rigorous bill in development or being introduced regarding the growing and dispensing of health cannabis,” Daubert said.Daubert said some people involved in the medical marijuana businesses in Montana don't like the proposed 10 percent tax in Lewis' bill.“No other medicine is taxed in this state,” he said. “I personally am undecided how I feel about the tax issue. I share their concerns about the precedent of taxing medicine.”However, Daubert said he favors rigorous oversight of the medical marijuana industry and emphasized that the industry, not taxpayers, must pay for the regulatory oversight.Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT)Author: Charles S. Johnson, Gazette State BureauPublished:  January 12, 2011Copyright: 2011 The Billings GazetteContact: speakup billingsgazette.comWebsite: http://www.billingsgazette.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/MNnIvFWtCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #7 posted by Storm Crow on January 14, 2011 at 11:28:51 PT
Comment # 2- Vicodin
We should all be posting on those news articles how cannabis can make a smaller dose of vicodin or or almost any other pain reliever, work better. Here's a few studies on the topic-The analgesic properties of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and codeine. 
(abst - 1975)
http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/ww_en_db_study_show.php?s_id=17Cannabis reduces opioid dose in the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain.
(full - 2003)
http://www.jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(03)00142-8/fulltextSynergistic affective analgesic interaction between delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and morphine.   (abst - 2006)
http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/ww_en_db_study_show.php?s_id=178Cannabinoids called equivalent to codeine for killing pain (news - 2004)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4365/is_13_37/ai_n29110217/?tag=content;col1Those should give everyone enough "ammo"! There is a lot more like that in my "Granny Storm Crow's MMJ Reference List"- FoM has it linked around here somewhere, or just run a search for it.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by runruff on January 13, 2011 at 20:48:49 PT
I smoke 2 joints before I smoke 2 joints!
Every Major player in the Pentagon should be required by law to smoke 10 joints per day. This would go a long way toward world peace.Coffee is currently the drug of choice in the War Palace we call the Pentagon. Pen-tag-on. The pen I tag on you is Mass murderers!I know Hitler was a avid cocaine enthusiast. His love for the drug was legendary, so, shall we say that cocaine addiction is the cause of WWll? That would be far more feasible than to say pot inspired someone to violence.The official belief in the 20-30's was that Pot made the "negro" go crazy. [how could anything be more insane?]Then we delve even deeper into our national racial chauvinism prior to WWll when we now decide that pot makes "The Negro" lazy. [Believe me it is hard to even type this drivel I am so ashamed of the racial disconnect in this country.]But now we have gone full circle in this fantasy propaganda word play. We are now hearing that pot makes disgruntled young radical politicos go insane and start shooting people. If this could be even remotely true I would suspect the herb he was smoking? Maybe he was smoking some paraquat treated US/Mexico special? Most likely he was not a cannabis user at all?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by FoM on January 13, 2011 at 11:50:54 PT
dongenero
I agree.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by dongenero on January 13, 2011 at 10:26:51 PT
article in commemt #3 - Daviid Frum - Bush writer
"After horrific shootings, we hear calls for stricter regulation of guns," he wrote. "The Tucson shooting should remind us why we regulate marijuana.This statement by David Frum is absolutely ridiculous. So Loughner smoked marijuana in the past?..as have half of all Americans, including our last 3 Presidents.
As for Loughner, many people suffering mental illness attempt to self medicate.But, in fact, it looks as though Loughner had recently eschewed all drugs before his psychotic break. Other articles are posting his most recent comments from online gaming forums. He asks if any others "feel rage 24/7", to which someone suggested he try smoking weed. Loughner responds "no weed, no drugs" and makes comments that all drug users should be "weeded out".He may have smoked weed in the past. Perhaps he should have continued?David Frum's silly suggestion that the reason we regulate marijuana is to prevent such mass killings is so far off base, one has to wonder about Frum's mental health.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on January 13, 2011 at 10:09:05 PT
News Article From RawStory.com
Former Bush Speech Writer: Blame Marijuana for Shootings, Not Gun LawsURL: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/bush-speech-writer-blames-marijuana-mass-shooting-tucson/
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 13, 2011 at 10:03:30 PT
OT: FDA Orders Lowering Pain Reliever in Vicodin
January 13, 2011URL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110113/ap_on_he_me/us_painkiller_safety_fda
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by ekim on January 13, 2011 at 08:04:14 PT
When science goes to pot
http://www.drugwarrant.com/2011/01/when-science-goes-to-pot/#comments
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