Medical Marijuana

Montana pot advocates look to Colorado, Washington

By MATT VOLZ
Associated Press
   HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Medical marijuana advocates rebuffed by Montana
voters think they found a silver lining in Colorado and Washington.
   Voters in those states passed initiatives that remove criminal penalties for
adults over 21 with small amounts of the drug.
   Montana advocates were rejected at the ballot box in their attempt to
overturn a state law that restricts the use and distribution of medical marijuana.
But they say they are looking to those two states as possible templates for passing
a broader initiative in 2014.
   Bob Brigham says Montana's libertarian-minded citizens give such a ballot
proposal a good chance of passage.
   But the legislator who backed the medical marijuana restrictions thinks not.
Republican Sen. Jeff Essmann says he believes Montanans aren't ready for the
legalization of recreational marijuana.
   AP-WF-11-11-12 1404GMT