Belgrade News _MT_ 1/1/1997 - 31/12/2024
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1 US MT: Column: Government's WarFri, 21 Jun 2013
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Stossel, John Area:Montana Lines:102 Added:06/24/2013

As Americans obsess over NSA spying, abuse by the IRS and other assaults on our freedom, I can't get my mind off the thousand other ways politicians abuse us.

In their arrogance, they assume that only they solve social problems. They will solve them by banning this and that, subsidizing groups they deem worthy and setting up massive bureaucracies with a mandate to cure, treat and rescue wayward souls.

Their programs fail, and so they pass new laws to address the failures. It's one reason that 22 million people now work for government.

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2 US MT: Medical Marijuana Film Tour Comes To ManhattanFri, 05 Oct 2012
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Stiff, Hannah Area:Montana Lines:99 Added:10/06/2012

On the first chilly fall evening in October, a few people sat in chairs in the Manhattan Community School Library. The superintendent of Manhattan schools was there. A couple of residents from the area and members of the American Civil Liberties Union occupied a few more chairs.

The librarians made bags of popcorn and pulled down the projector screen for a movie. Whether the audience that might have filled the empty chairs was home watching the presidential debate or absent in an act of opposition, few showed up Wednesday night for the screening of Code of the West.

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3 US MT: Effort To Reform Marijuana Law Burns OutFri, 01 Apr 2011
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Bloomsburg, Cody Area:Montana Lines:65 Added:04/03/2011

Senate Relights Repeal Idea

HELENA -- A move by Democrats to stall what appears to be the Legislature's last chance for medical marijuana reform on Wednesday could set up a repeal-or-nothing choice for lawmakers this session.

Talk of deal-making underscored the debate and heightened tension as Republican leaders refused to trade votes on other measures or support amendments to loosen the reform bill.

The bill received a solid 37-13 endorsement on its first vote Wednesday and need just six Democratic votes for rules to be suspended so a final and confirming vote could be made to send the over to the House by the end of business Wednesday.

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4 US MT: New Bill Would Limit Patients, Storefronts, AdsTue, 29 Mar 2011
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Bloomsburg, Cody Area:Montana Lines:102 Added:03/30/2011

HELENA -- When it comes to medical marijuana, the choice for legislators so far has been between repealing or reforming the law that allows its use.

But a new Senate bill, which is scheduled to be heard Friday morning, offers a mix of both to dramatically cut the number of patients and outlaw storefronts and advertising for the drug.

Senate Bill 423 relies on the 2004 voter initiative first being repealed. It would then put a much stricter law in its place.

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5 US MT: Column: Are Things Really As Dire As All That?Sat, 19 Mar 2011
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Malby, Andy Area:Montana Lines:207 Added:03/19/2011

Not that anyone's counting, or paying attention at all, but this could be the thousandth column I've written about medical marijuana. It feels like it, anyway.

This week marked what could be a historic turning point in the med-pot discussion in Montana, in more ways than one.

In the first place, the feds raided a dozen or so medical marijuana purveyors, including three in Gallatin County, in spite of an Obama Administration "promise" not to harass, annoy or molest people in the trade who are complying with state law. Sort of.

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6 US MT: Feds: Pot Crackdown Focused On 'Criminal Enterprises'Wed, 16 Mar 2011
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Malby, Andy Area:Montana Lines:94 Added:03/17/2011

The United States Justice Department said Tuesday it executed 26 search warrants involving Montana's largely unregulated medical marijuana industry in 13 cities Monday.

The government also issued civil seizure warrants at banks in Bozeman, Helena and Kalispell, freezing up to $4 million in assets of Montana medical-marijuana growers.

The raids came as part of an 18-month investigation by multiple agencies "into the drug trafficking activities of criminal enterprises operating throughout the state of Montana," U.S. Attorney for Montana Michael W. Cotter said in a news release.

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7 US MT: Marijuana Repeal Stalls In SenateTue, 15 Mar 2011
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Malby, Andy Area:Montana Lines:30 Added:03/17/2011

A controversial bill that would repeal Montana's 2004 voter initiative permitting medical marijuana stalled Monday in a Senate committee.

The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked 6-6 on a motion to pass House Bill 161, sponsored by House Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade. Until Monday, the bill had seen relatively clear sailing, passing the House last month.

Five Republicans senators voted in favor of the bill, and were joined by Sen. Larry Jent, a Democrat of Bozeman. Four Democrats and two Republican -- Sens. Chas Vincent of Libby and Terry Murphy of Cardwell - -- opposed the bill.

After the vote, Murphy, the chairman of the committee, appointed a three-member subcommittee to work on a bill to regulate the state's burgeoning medical marijuana industry. Other bills remain in the hopper that also would accomplish that end.

[end]

8 US MT: Feds Raid Marijuana BusinessesTue, 15 Mar 2011
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Malby, Andy Area:Montana Lines:125 Added:03/16/2011

A chilly wind blew Monday afternoon as Randy Leibenguth watched federal agents haul away his life's work.

"It's just retarded; it's not even crazy," he said. "I think they're just trying to strong-arm us."

Leibenguth's medical marijuana grow operation and dispensary east of Belgrade was one of at least ten such operations raided by federal agents Monday in a move the feds wouldn't talk about to the press.

Armed agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI and other agencies stormed Leibenguth's MCM, Inc., facility at 11 a.m., handcuffed the lone employee and proceeded to pack up everything in the building, Leibenguth said.

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9 US MT: Editorial: Pot Repeal Not The Way To GoWed, 16 Feb 2011
Source:Belgrade News (MT)          Area:Montana Lines:62 Added:02/17/2011

The state House of Representatives voted last week to repeal Montana's medical marijuana act, a first step in making the drug illegal once again.

House Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade, sponsored the repeal bill, which he said is necessary because medical marijuana has become "an uncontrollable epidemic." Others have argued that marijuana use and cultivation have grown beyond what citizens imagined when they passed the medical marijuana act, Initiative 148, in 2004.

That argument has been widely used by lawmakers in this session of the Legislature, though none has quantified it with any tangible evidence or statistics -- providing only anecdotal evidence based on the number of current med-pot patients and caregivers.

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10 US MT: Med-Pot Repeal Draws CrowdSat, 05 Feb 2011
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Bloomsburg, Cody Area:Montana Lines:82 Added:02/06/2011

HELENA -- Montana's medical marijuana law is flawed but repeal is not the answer, according to most of those who testified Wednesday on the Legislature's first bill to scrap the voter-approved act.

Supporters of repeal told members a House committee that voters today want to scrap the law, but Ken Lindeman, a medical marijuana patient and caregiver, cited the numbers of anti-repealers as his proof.

"If the voters didn't want (medical marijuana), then how come every committee meeting we come in and outnumber them 3-to-1?" he asked.

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11 US MT: City To Act On Plan To Ban Public Use Of MarijuanaTue, 07 Sep 2010
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Tucker, Michael Area:Montana Lines:82 Added:09/09/2010

Council also to consider budget, other business

Belgrade city officials will hold a public hearing Tuesday a proposal to ban public use of medical marijuana in the city limits, according to city officials.

The ordinance came at the request of Belgrade Chief of Police E.J. Clark. It unanimously passed a first reading in August.

The ordinance was patterned after an open container law already on the books, Clark and others have said.

The ordinance derives its authority from the federal Controlled Substance Act. City officials said it is needed, "because the inadvertent direct and indirect exposure to marijuana has the potential to significantly affect the health, legal and financial interests of the citizens of Belgrade."

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12 US MT: Editorial: Pot Legislation NecessarySat, 28 Aug 2010
Source:Belgrade News (MT)          Area:Montana Lines:59 Added:08/28/2010

It took a few headlines around the state about how local communities were coping with the explosion in the use and sale of medical marijuana, but some Montana lawmakers are finally getting serious about regulating this burgeoning industry at the state level.

On Tuesday, a legislative committee in Helena voted to OK proposed medical marijuana regulations that will be sent to the Legislature in January.

The committee has done its work well.

Among other things, the new regulations will list the diseases eligible for medical marijuana treatment, require two doctors to sign off on marijuana prescriptions for pain relief, make driving under the influence of marijuana illegal, create stricter regulations for those who grow or sell marijuana and extend the state's indoor smoking ban to marijuana.

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13 US MT: Medical Pot Ban Likely At Belgrade SchoolsTue, 10 Aug 2010
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Tucker, Michael Area:Montana Lines:68 Added:08/11/2010

In light of heightened medical marijuana usage, the Belgrade School Board is working on a policy that likely will ban the drug from school property, trustees said Monday.

The district already has a strict "zero tolerance" policy for prescription drugs that students to check in all prescriptions with the school secretaries, Trustee Peggy Lucas said. The policy applies even to over-the-counter medication and restricts students from having prescription drugs in their cars.

The board has not decided the issue, but trustees are leaning toward banning medical marijuana entirely, board member Peter Morgan said.

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14 US MT: No Pot In PublicTue, 03 Aug 2010
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Tucker, Michael Area:Montana Lines:48 Added:08/04/2010

Belgrade OKs First Reading Of Ordinance; Sets Public Hearing For Sept. 7

With no fanfare Monday, the Belgrade City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that would ban public use of medical marijuana.

The ordinance was written at the request of the Belgrade Police Department, City Manager Joe Menicucci said. Chief of Police E.J. Clark did not attend Monday's meeting, but has said the goal of the ordinance is to keep use of marijuana out of public areas and in private homes.

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15 US MT: Editorial: Public Pot Use Should Be BannedTue, 27 Jul 2010
Source:Belgrade News (MT)          Area:Montana Lines:52 Added:08/01/2010

Recently, the city of Belgrade imposed a ban on commercial medical-marijuana businesses, meaning only those that had applied for licenses before a March moratorium could operate here.

The ban means that commercial growers and dispensaries can't set up shop in Belgrade, save for the four or five that were already licensed to do so. The ban does not extend to registered medical-marijuana users, who can grow up to six plants in their own homes for their own use.

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16 US MT: Legislators To Talk Pot As Number Of Users Continues To RiseFri, 09 Jul 2010
Source:Belgrade News (MT)          Area:Montana Lines:64 Added:07/10/2010

A bipartisan panel of legislators will meet Monday in Helena to continue exploring ways to improve the state medical marijuana law.

The subcommittee of the Children, Families, Health, and Human Services Interim Committee will meet at 10 a.m. in Room 137 of the State Capitol. The public is welcome to attend and will have a chance to comment on the work of the subcommittee.

The subcommittee plans to focus its efforts Monday on three specific issue areas surrounding medical marijuana:

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17 US MT: Bozeman Issues Proposed Medical Marijuana RulesWed, 30 Jun 2010
Source:Belgrade News (MT) Author:Tucker, Michael Area:Montana Lines:193 Added:07/01/2010

Restrictions Include City Inspections, Ban on Public Use of Marijuana

The draft of a Bozeman city ordinance released Thursday regulating medical marijuana calls for continuing a 1,000-foot buffer between schools and cannabis shops, city inspections of shops and a ban on public use of the drug, among other things.

The ordinance was crafted by city officials over the past three and a half months with input from medical marijuana providers, police, school officials and other stakeholders.

Under the proposal, it would be a misdemeanor for patients to smoke medical marijuana in "an open or visible manner," City Attorney Greg Sullivan said during a press conference Thursday afternoon. The offense could result in a $500 fine and up to 6 months in jail.

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