Regulation of Montana's booming medical marijuana industry teetered on the brink of collapse amid intense bargaining Wednesday by lawmakers seeking a bipartisan compromise.
Senators scrambled for the two-thirds majority now needed to pass the measure after lengthy last-minute rewrites forced lawmakers to miss procedural deadlines.
This latest hurdle is one of many that could cause the regulation in Senate Bill 423 to go up in smoke. Even if the measure clears the Senate, House Republican leaders have said they don't support the Senate's overhaul attempt and remain ardent supporters of banning the medical marijuana altogether.
Medical marijuana was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2004 and remained a mostly small homegrown operation until two years ago, when an explosion of high-profile businesses and cardholders prompted worries in communities across the state. Lawmakers from both parties entered the session promising to do something about industry, which has been targeted in recent federal raids.
But the House's measure to repeal the medical marijuana law has stalled in the Senate. And the House, where Republicans leaders were focused on repeal from the start, never advanced a regulation bill that was two years in the making and initially had the blessing of both law enforcement and the medical marijuana industry.
Lawmakers are now facing the prospect of deadlock and inaction -- raising the specter that the medical marijuana industry could continue to grow with few regulations even though leaders from both parties have said the status quo is unacceptable.
Adding to the uncertainty is a series of raids on medical marijuana businesses earlier this month as part of an 18-month federal investigation into drug trafficking and tax evasion. No charges have been filed, but federal and state authorities executed 26 search warrants and four civil seizure warrants across the state.
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