Marijuana Proposal Cleared for Signature-Gathering

A proposed ballot initiative to ban marijuana use and possession in Montana has cleared a legal review.

But sponsor Steve Zabawa will only have three weeks to collect the 24,175 voter signatures needed to get the measure on the ballot in November.

The secretary of state's office on Thursday approved the measure for signature-gathering after the attorney general decided it was legally sufficient.

The plan calls for repealing Montana's medical marijuana law and barring any Schedule I drug listed in the federal Controlled Substances Act, which includes marijuana.

Zabawa owns a car dealership in Billings. His proposal says the intent is to eliminate the disparity between federal and state law in possessing and using marijuana.

There were 8,533 registered medical marijuana users in the state at the end of April.