Before Montanans voted decisively to legalize recreational marijuana use, a state lawmaker from Kalispell preemptively introduced a bill that would repeal the law.

Republican Rep. Derek Skees said many constituents contacted him with complaints about Initiative 190, which legalizes, regulates and imposes a 20% sales tax on cannabis products.

But after watching the measure pass with about 57% of the vote, Skees said he will put his legislation on hold and see how the new industry affects the state.

"This type of huge social change thing in Montana should come through the Legislature and not as an initiative," Skees said, "because when it comes through the Legislature you get pros and cons, you get everybody to come in and testify, you get to argue out its benefits. That's really the way this should have been done."

A companion measure, Constitutional Initiative 118, also passed with 58% of the vote. It amends the state constitution to set the minimum age for pot consumption at 21.

Skees said he had expected I-190 to pass by a much slimmer margin, if at all. If that were the case, he said, he would have tried to repeal it and have lawmakers weigh the merits of legal pot.

"But no, the [initiative] passed by a large margin," he said. "So it's unfortunate that my fellow Montanans disagree with me, but I work for them, and so I'm just going to put the bill on hold. … We'll see what happens."

New Approach Montana, the committee that backed I-190, says legal marijuana will generate more than $236 million in state tax revenue over the next six years, citing a study from the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research.

That money, the group says, will fund services for Montana veterans and their families, programs to improve parks and trails and increase access to public lands, state grants for substance abuse treatment and prevention, and community and home health-care services. Portions also will go to local governments that allow marijuana sales within their jurisdictions.

Echoing arguments made in a recent lawsuit that sought to invalidate I-190, Skees alleged the initiative illegally earmarks tax revenue to be used for specific purposes, which is a responsibility reserved for the Legislature.

"It should have been declared unconstitutional from the get-go," he said. "It proposes a new tax and allocates the way it's to be spent. That's a direct violation of Montana's constitution."

The Montana Supreme Court last month quickly dismissed the lawsuit from Wrong for Montana, saying the anti-marijuana group did not demonstrate the case was urgent enough to skip over the usual trial and appeal phases. The complaint hinged on what it means to "appropriate" money.

In a similar case in 2014, a district judge in Helena ruled an initiative to raise tobacco taxes could remain on the ballot, saying it would deposit money into specific state accounts but would not effectively authorize spending. The state Supreme Court declined to hear that case that September.

"Our Supreme Court sucks," Skees said.

Montana joins Washington, D.C., and 14 other states that have fully legalized recreational marijuana use by adults, including New Jersey, Arizona and South Dakota, whose voters legalized cannabis this election.

ALSO THIS week, state Rep. Matt Regier, R-Columbia Falls, celebrated the passage of Legislative Referendum 130, which strips local governments in Montana of authority to regulate firearms, including open and concealed carrying.

Voters appeared evenly split on the measure Tuesday night, but it was ahead by two percentage points Thursday evening with all but four of the state's 663 voting precincts fully reported.

The Legislature sent LR-130 to voters last year after Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock vetoed a bill with identical language that Regier sponsored. The legislation stemmed from a court battle over a Missoula ordinance that would have required background checks for all gun sales within city limits.

Backers and opponents of LR-130 dispute some of the effects the measure can have; many school officials worry it will hinder their ability to prohibit people from carrying guns outdoors on school campuses.

Regier insisted the measure has no effect on school boards' ability to regulate guns across their properties.

"I think there was some confusion on what it did," said Regier, who argues LR-130 prevents a "patchwork" of local restrictions that might ensnare unwitting gun owners who strive to follow the law.

"I think it's a win for gun owners," he said.

Reporter Chad Sokol can be reached at 758-4434 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com