Montana Tax for Treatment Plan Dropped

The Montana Coalition for Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention has decided not to ask voters to approve a ballot item that would have used alcohol taxes to pay for addiction treatment and prevention, the Associated Press reported June 7.

Supporters of the measure cited the state's budget crisis as the reason for withdrawing their petition to get Initiative 165 on the November ballot.

The tax had been pitched as a way to reduce drunk driving, and Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike McGrath had been a major supporter of the plan.