poledriver
Bluelighter
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USA - Cops against pot ballot initiative
At the end of a heated campaigning season, local law enforcement officials are speaking out about their position on the medical marijuana initiative on the ballot in Montana.
If Initiative Referendum-148, the contentious medical marijuana bill, is passed, it will revert the state to the 2004 voter approved pot bill.
That law made it legal for patients in chronic pain or with a terminal illness to obtain and use marijuana for their ailment. Sixty-two percent of Montana voters approved the measure in 2004.
Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin said Thursday night that he is against the newest initiative to revert back to freer medical marijuana laws.
“The original law created an incredible burden on the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office,” Gootkin said. “The 2011 legislature recognized and acknowledged these impacts and amended the law in Senate Bill 423.
This has had a very positive effect on this Office.”
Gootkin said IR-148 is confusing some voters he’s talked to. In the simplest terms, Gootkin breaks down the measure.
“If you vote FOR Senate Bill 423, it leaves the law the way it currently is today,” he said. “If you vote AGAINST Senate Bill 423, it returns the law to its original form.”
Belgrade Chief of Police E.J. Clark said he agrees with Gootkin that the original medical marijuana law was under-regulated and hard to enforce.
A little context
For years, the 2004 law was imposed with relatively little resistance. Then dispensaries starting cropping up in business districts around the state. Large pot-leaf billboards and flyers were especially pervasive in Billings, but statewide, too.
Safe Communities, Safe Kids, a Billings group, was the main opponent of the 2004 law, claiming that legalizing medical marijuana has negative implications for Montana’s children.
Proponents of the law, like the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, argue medical marijuana has significantly fewer side effects than pharmaceutical painkillers. And since it’s a plant, it must be healthy, too, pro-pot folks argue.
There have been several pro medical marijuana ads saturating the airwaves in the countdown until Election Day. Safe Communities, Safe Kids charged former Attorney Steve Bullock with allowing confusing ballot language.
While other politicians advised Montana voters to do their homework before voting on IR-148.
In June, the Montana Democrats voted to support medical marijuana as a party platform.
The actual ballot language for IR-148 reads:
[ ] FOR Senate Bill 423, a bill which repeals I-148 and enacts a new medical marijuana program.
[ ] AGAINST Senate Bill 423, a bill which repeals I-148 and enacts a new medical marijuana program. A vote against Senate Bill 243 will restore 1-148.
http://www.belgrade-news.com/news/article_e7bf19f4-284d-11e2-b3ea-0019bb2963f4.html
At the end of a heated campaigning season, local law enforcement officials are speaking out about their position on the medical marijuana initiative on the ballot in Montana.
If Initiative Referendum-148, the contentious medical marijuana bill, is passed, it will revert the state to the 2004 voter approved pot bill.
That law made it legal for patients in chronic pain or with a terminal illness to obtain and use marijuana for their ailment. Sixty-two percent of Montana voters approved the measure in 2004.
Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin said Thursday night that he is against the newest initiative to revert back to freer medical marijuana laws.
“The original law created an incredible burden on the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office,” Gootkin said. “The 2011 legislature recognized and acknowledged these impacts and amended the law in Senate Bill 423.
This has had a very positive effect on this Office.”
Gootkin said IR-148 is confusing some voters he’s talked to. In the simplest terms, Gootkin breaks down the measure.
“If you vote FOR Senate Bill 423, it leaves the law the way it currently is today,” he said. “If you vote AGAINST Senate Bill 423, it returns the law to its original form.”
Belgrade Chief of Police E.J. Clark said he agrees with Gootkin that the original medical marijuana law was under-regulated and hard to enforce.
A little context
For years, the 2004 law was imposed with relatively little resistance. Then dispensaries starting cropping up in business districts around the state. Large pot-leaf billboards and flyers were especially pervasive in Billings, but statewide, too.
Safe Communities, Safe Kids, a Billings group, was the main opponent of the 2004 law, claiming that legalizing medical marijuana has negative implications for Montana’s children.
Proponents of the law, like the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, argue medical marijuana has significantly fewer side effects than pharmaceutical painkillers. And since it’s a plant, it must be healthy, too, pro-pot folks argue.
There have been several pro medical marijuana ads saturating the airwaves in the countdown until Election Day. Safe Communities, Safe Kids charged former Attorney Steve Bullock with allowing confusing ballot language.
While other politicians advised Montana voters to do their homework before voting on IR-148.
In June, the Montana Democrats voted to support medical marijuana as a party platform.
The actual ballot language for IR-148 reads:
[ ] FOR Senate Bill 423, a bill which repeals I-148 and enacts a new medical marijuana program.
[ ] AGAINST Senate Bill 423, a bill which repeals I-148 and enacts a new medical marijuana program. A vote against Senate Bill 243 will restore 1-148.
http://www.belgrade-news.com/news/article_e7bf19f4-284d-11e2-b3ea-0019bb2963f4.html
