WEST

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Montana Needs to See ID Before You Get Medicinal Marijuana

After health officials found several out-of-state patients on the patient registry for medical marijuana, applicants now will have to prove they are Montana residents with a valid driver’s license before being added to the registry for medical pot, according to the Billings Gazette.

The state’s health officials decided to tighten the policy after finding an undisclosed number of nonresidents on the registry for medical marijuana cards, the newspaper reports.

Health officials decided to change their policy after discovering that several people whose permanent residences were outside Montana, such as college students and snowbirds, had applied for medical marijuana cards. It is unclear just how many such applications were received.

“It was enough that it was a concern,” Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services spokesman Chuck Council told the Billings Gazette.

“When the law was created, it was meant that Montana citizens were the ones who were (supposed to be) getting medical marijuana cards,” Council said.

By the end of July, approximately 23,500 medical marijuana patients were listed on the state’s registry, the newspaper reports, representing an increase of nearly 4,000 people in just one month.

The West

SCHOLARSHIPS

Arizona is rethinking its scholarships for students who do well on the state’s AIMS test, the Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards. Because of budget cuts and an increase in the number of students receiving the scholarship that pays tuition and fees at any state university, the Arizona Board of Regents is thinking of “changing how much money is awarded and the requirements to take the scholarship,” said Jennifer Grentz, assistant vice president of public affairs for the board of regents.

GAY MARRIAGE

A federal judge in San Francisco overturned California’s same-sex marriage ban, Proposition 8, Aug. 5, according to The Associated Press. Protect Marriage, a coalition of religious and conservative groups that sponsored Proposition 8, filed an appeal to the ruling the next day, the AP reports. The fight will likely go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to analysis in The New York Times.

FOSTER KIDS

Hawaii is helping Alaska reduce the number of native Alaskan children in foster care by developing a computer system similar to one it uses to determine necessary actions when investigating child abuse reports, according to the Anchorage Daily News. Before Hawaii used the system in 2005, Native Hawaiians were more than twice as likely to be removed from their families—a disparity the system has since eliminated, the newspaper reports.

TUITION HIKES

The University of California is increasing tuition 32 percent and at the same time cutting freshman enrollment by 2,300 slots, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Similarly, the California State University system is cutting enrollment by 40,000 students, the center reports.

FINANCIAL AID

New Mexico cut more than 80 percent of its support for the College Affordability Endowment Fund, which is used to fund needs-based scholarships for 2,366 students who don’t qualify for any other state grants or scholarships, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

63RD ANNUAL MEETING

Don’t forget about the 63rd annual meeting of The Council of State Governments–WEST set for Sept. 11–14 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Visit www.csgwest.org to learn more about the meeting.

To learn more about these and other developments in the Western Region, visit: capitolideas.csg.org and www.csgwest.org.