Pubdate: Sat, 19 Apr 2014
Source: Eastbourne Herald (UK)
Copyright: 2014 Johnston Press plc
Contact: http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/contactus.aspx
Website: http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4658

PROPOSED INITIATIVE SEEKS TO BAN ALL MARIJUANA

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A Billings car-dealership owner has proposed a
ballot measure that would completely ban the use and possession of
marijuana in Montana, even for medical uses.

The proposal by Steve Zabawa would change state law to say any
Schedule I drug in the federal Controlled Substances Act "may not be
legally possessed, received, transferred, manufactured, cultivated,
trafficked, transported or used in Montana."

The proposal submitted to the Montana Secretary of State's Office on
Thursday aims is to eliminate the disparity between federal and state
law in possessing and using marijuana, which is a Schedule I drug,
Zabawa said in an email.

Montana and several other states allow the regulated use of marijuana
for medical purposes, and about 8,300 medical marijuana users are
registered in Montana. Two other states, Washington and Colorado, have
approved recreational use of the drug, and federal authorities have
not interfered.

Zabawa told Lee Newspapers of Montana that if federal law lists
marijuana as an illegal drug, it should be illegal in Montana.

"The federal government trumps the state, so why do we want to put our
citizens in jeopardy?" he said.

He cited a 2011 federal crackdown on large medical marijuana
distributors across the state that resulted in dozens of convictions.
Federal prosecutors said the distributors were illegally trafficking
the drug and not following state law, and Montana legislators that
year passed new restrictions on who can use and provide the drug.

"Montana should not be a frontier on what's going on medically,"
Zabawa said. "We would like to clear it up and have federal
guidelines."

Zabawa was active in a group of Billings parents who backed a 2011
bill to repeal the medical-marijuana law passed by voters in 2004. The
Legislature approved the bill, but it was vetoed by Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

Chris Lindsey, a legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project,
said the prohibition on marijuana has been a colossal failure and a
better solution would be to follow Colorado's lead in taxing and
regulating the drug.

To qualify for the November ballot, backers of the initiative must get
the signatures of at least 24,175 registered voters, including 5
percent of the voters in 34 state House districts, by June 20.
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