By MIKE DENNISON of the Missoulian State Bureau
HELENA - A bill increasing the amount of medical marijuana that can be possessed by patients won a surprise endorsement from a Senate committee late Friday, sending it to the full Senate for further action.
Senate Bill 326 also expands the types of diseases that can be treated legally with marijuana in Montana and has other changes that supporters said make it easier for approved patients to get the amount of drugs they need.
“I'm overjoyed,” patient and caregiver Eric Billings of Lewistown said after the vote by the Senate Public Health Committee. “I can't thank the committee enough.”
“We really want to work with law enforcement to make this program workable,” he said. “The committee got it today. They really understood.”
The panel voted 5-2 to endorse SB326, but not before amending it to allow patients to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana rather than the 12 ounces in the original bill.
Current state law says patients and caregivers, who are people licensed to supply drugs to a registered medical marijuana patient, can possess only 1 ounce of marijuana at a time.
Supporters of the bill said the single ounce is far from adequate, forcing patients to repeatedly make new attempts to acquire what they need.
Two Republicans and three Democrats on the panel voted for the bill, including Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena.