Pubdate: Fri, 15 Oct 2004
Source: Helena Independent Record (MT)
Copyright: 2004 Helena Independent Record
Contact:  http://helenair.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1187
Author: Robin C. Prosser
Cited: Initiative 148 http://www.montanacares.org
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1457/a05.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Initiative+148
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

OK MEDICAL POT

Thank you for your touching article about Teresa Michalski, the Helena
woman who courageously allowed her dying son to use medical marijuana.
I know the Michalskis' fear of arrest all too well. In May, I was
charged with possessing medical marijuana.

It's time to stop the cruel prosecution of the seriously ill by
passing I-148. Voters should reject the deliberate distortions of the
nation's drug czar. Last week, he used taxpayer dollars to campaign
against Montana's ballot issue and spread misinformation, including
the claim that no credible medical authority considers marijuana an
effective medicine.

But the New England Journal of Medicine, the American Academy of
Family Physicians, the American Public Health Association, and the
American Nurses Association all support medical marijuana.

Sadly, Burns also threatened federal prosecution of the seriously ill.
But the federal government is responsible for only one in every 100
marijuana arrests; the other 99 percent are made by state and local
authorities -- meaning 99 percent of medical marijuana arrests in
Montana would be prevented by I-148's passage.

Please vote for I-148, so that the seriously ill can use an effective
medicine in the privacy of their homes without risking their freedom
and property.

Robin C. Prosser

Missoula 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake