cannabisnews.com: Voters Pass Medical Marijuana Ballot





Voters Pass Medical Marijuana Ballot
Posted by CN Staff on November 02, 2004 at 21:11:14 PT
By Susan Gallagher, Associated Press
Source: Associated Press 
Helena -- Use of marijuana for medical reasons will be legal in Montana and tobacco users will see a tax increase, voters decided Tuesday in passing a pair of ballot measures Tuesday. Initiative 148 allows the cultivation, possession and use of marijuana, in limited amounts, for medical purposes. The initiative shields patients, their doctors and caregivers from arrest and prosecution.
Initiative 149 will increase tobacco taxes by $45 million a year, allocating most of the money for new or existing health care programs. Voters rejected a measure that would have lengthened the limits on legislators' terms. With 91 of 881 precincts reporting, the vote on the marijuana initiative was 53,202 to 28,438, or 65 percent to 35 percent. Passage was "just common sense," said Paul Befumo of Missoula, a leader in the campaign for the measure. "I'm really thankful to Montana," Befumo said. "I think we did something good for ourselves, our neighbors and relatives who are sick." Fegumo said his father's suffering from fatal lung cancer two years ago may have been eased by the use of marijuana. With 91 of 881 precincts reporting, the vote on the tobacco tax was 54,448 to 27,086, or 67 percent to 33 percent. Early returns found voters rejecting Constitutional Amendment 42, the measure to change legislators' term limits. With 91 of 881 precincts reporting, the vote was 52,646 opposed to 27,018 in favor, or 66 percent to 34 percent. The measure would have lengthened term limits from eight years in any 16-year period to 12 years in any 24-year period. Voters approved Constitutional Amendment 40, placing in the constitution a $10 million trust fund for combatting noxious weeds. Voters also passed a constitutional amendment protecting residents' ability to hunt and fish. The declared outcomes of the elections were based on a statistical analysis of the vote from voter interviews conducted for The Associated Press by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.Source: Associated Press (Wire)Author: Susan Gallagher, Associated PressPublished: November 2, 2004 Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press Related Articles & Web Site:Montana Careshttp://montanacares.org/I-148 Offers Compassionate Exemption http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19735.shtmlMarijuana Should Be in The Toolboxhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19664.shtmlTheir Lips are Movinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19643.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by Sam Adams on November 03, 2004 at 07:11:01 PT
Attention drug policy reform groups!
We need MORE of these victories! It couldn't be more clear after 2004: individual medical MJ is the only state ballot question that wins! Please do not dump more money in losing legalization referendums! Medical MJ is cheap (needs no advertising whatsoever) and slaps the federal drug warriors in the face!We'll need it more than ever in 2006. I predict within 30 days, John Ashcroft will be let out of his pre-election cage and turned loose on the innocent population of America. 
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Comment #4 posted by goneposthole on November 03, 2004 at 05:55:20 PT
not strange to me
I have a friend who will vote Republican every election and also buys cannabis by the quarter pound. A lot of Republican voters love cannabis. Some things are hard to explain.
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on November 03, 2004 at 03:58:16 PT:
Way to go, Montana!
Ten, now. Ten States that have chosen sanity over DrugWar hysteria...and by a wide margin. Step by step by step, we gain. As the antis are always (with a barely concealed sneer) saying, "If you don't like the laws, change 'em!". Montanans took them at their word, and just did. I imagine we'll hear some sour grapes about 'duped voters' very shortly, but given that American Westerners don't take too kindly to such insults, I'd be leery of making them...
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Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on November 02, 2004 at 23:11:02 PT
It strikes me as strange I guess
When Bush wins Montana but medical marijuana beats him.
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Comment #1 posted by Dankhank on November 02, 2004 at 21:39:25 PT
Hooray
more sanity in CrazyworldThanks to the voters that disregarded the liars, and there were a bunch of them.Peace to all who approved compassion once again. You are a beacon of hope for the rest of us.
Hemp N Stuff
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