Two election footnotes from your local Health Dept.

1) As a result of Tuesday's vote, Montana is now the 10th state to legalize medical marijuana. Sixty-two percent backed the measure.

Paul Befumo, who headed the ballot initiative effort, says in an interview that voters and lawmakers in the mostly-Republican state responded to his group's decriminalization push.

"They kind of heard the message that it's not a good idea to put sick people in jail for using medical marijuana when doctors recommend it," says the investment advisor from Missoula, Mont. ...

In reaction to the Montana vote, [Jennifer] DeValance [of the White House Office of National Drug Policy] warned that federal officials could choose to crack down on marijuana users that violate federal law. Drug officials have prosecuted marijuana growers in California and Oregon who were operating legally under state laws.

Jerks.

Medical marijuana initiatives also passed in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Columbia, Missouri.

2) California voters approved a measure requiring the state to fund $3 billion in stem cell research. The provision, which takes California beyond federal limits on the research, passed with the support of 59% of voters.