A legislative committee in Helena is deciding on what recommendations it will pass on the full legislature when it comes to restrictions for medical marijuana.

The panel did little tinkering Monday with a slate of proposals that has taken months to develop with the help of the medical marijuana industry, law enforcement and local officials. The Children, Families, Health and Human Services interim committee is expected to approve the overhaul Tuesday.

The legislative proposals, in general, would make it much harder to get a medical marijuana card, would clarify the list of eligible diseases, and would make it easier for authorities to track and regulate the industry.

Medical marijuana business owners and advocates say the measure goes too far by requiring two doctors to issue a prescription for the most common ailment - chronic pain - held by those getting a card, and banning traveling doctors from writing mass prescriptions.

Rick Rosio runs a marijuana dispensary in Missoula and believes it has positive effects. But he thinks it gets bad rap compared to other prescription drugs.

Rosio says "It's crazy! In one case they're saying this is medical marijuana, but we want no doctors involved with any operations of the dispensaries or such. Well what better way to do it, than to make sure that every strict standard of care is being maintained."

Missoula Democrat, and Committee Chair, Diane Sands disagrees. She says that it has to be treated differently because it's still illegal on the federal level. Sands says "The fact is, this is a very cumbersome, gray area between a tiny carved out section of legal use and a larger context where it is still federally illegal. Whether this administration prosecutes it or not, it is still federally illegal. That's why the issues around law enforcement become very critical."

The committee's proposal would make medical marijuana illegal for anyone on parole or probation. Patients would need two doctors to sign off on getting a card for chronic pain. It also would force cities to make it legal in city limits, but it would give them control of where it can be sold or grown. Republican Senator Roy Brown doesn't think the proposed law goes far enough to give cities control. He thinks cities should be able to ban it outright.

Brown says "If their constituents are saying they don't want it in their communities, they're elected officials, they should be able to ban that, and I do think they should be allowed to do that."

Sands says the committee is just trying to give voters what they thought they were getting back in 2004.

The committee still has to vote on the bill. If it passes in committee it will then head to the legislature where it could be approved, changed or shot down completely.

Click here to read all the materials and go over previous meetings and public comment given to the committee.