State reconsiders turbulent medical marijuana biz

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: AP

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Some Montanans have had enough of medical marijuana, saying their state's image as a rugged cowboy frontier is being replaced by a fast-growing pot culture.

They point to the spread of medical pot in normally healthy college students, an abundance of pot shops and concerns among police that excess of medical-grade marijuana is being exported illegally out of the state.

Now, some lawmakers are pushing to make Montana the first state to repeal a medical marijuana law.

"It's not good, this situation we are in," said House Speaker Mike Milburn, a former Air Force pilot and rancher. "We're getting known for the wrong reasons."



Read more: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/54828a5e8d9d48b7ba8b94ba38a9ef22/Article_2011-02-18-Montana%20Marijuana/id-09d9b1934d0e4dc9af54efb6406c4669

[villager]

1. "Some Montanans" = Republicans

for whom this is a culture war issue...

[Merlot]

2. "They point to the spread of medical pot in normally healthy college students"

because if they couldn't get medical MJ they certainly wouldn't be smoking it!

Actually, I'm glad they have a legal way to smoke.

[sofa king]

4. College students are smoking pot?

[WhiteTara]

9. Amazing! It's hard to believe!

:rofl:

[blackspade]

3. More republican distraction

The AP just creating anti-progressive stories out of whole cloth.
How about some statistics to back up their bullshit.

[Webster Green]

5. Plenty of rugged cowboys smoke pot.

:wtf:

[krabigirl]

6. These Republicans don't care about the will of the voters, who still back the measure overwhelmingly

[Warren Stupidity]

7. How can they arrest pot smoking hippie college students if it ain't illegal?

I get the complaint.

By the way isn't Montana an agricultural state in need of a profitable cash crop?

[vonarrow]

8. Montana budget faces mid-2011 deficit, forecaster says

Cowboys are supposed to have common sense: Montana doesn't......read it and weep, Montana! Colorado is much smarter than Montana! Yes, Montana doesn't want to be known for medical marijuana - no, Montana prefers to be known for budget crisis mismanagement!

Montana budget faces mid-2011 deficit, forecaster says

By CHARLES S. JOHNSON Missoulian State Bureau missoulian.com | Posted: Monday, February 8, 2010 10:30 pm |

HELENA - The state's general fund budget will be in the red by mid-2011, a new revenue forecast predicted Monday.

The Montana Legislature's chief revenue forecaster, Terry Johnson, estimated the state would face a $62.5 million general fund budget deficit by June 30, 2011, as tax collections continue to fall.

It marks the first time that a forecast from either the legislative or executive branches has predicted that the state would face a budget deficit by the end of this two-year budget period.

Johnson's latest monthly forecast traced the continuing deterioration in the state's actual and projected tax collections and how the expected general fund surplus will melt away by June 30, 2011.

When legislators adjourned in April 2009, they estimated the state would have a healthy $282.4 million ending-fund balance, or surplus.

But that number has steadily shrunk as actual and projected tax collections have declined in recent months. Johnson's forecast in early December showed a $44.4 million surplus, but in early January he had lowered it to $16.9 million and now to a negative $62.5 million.
http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_6700645c-151e-11df-8e2b-001cc4c002e0.html