Pubdate: Mon, 15 Aug 2011
Source: Havre Daily News (MT)
Copyright: 2011 Havre Daily News
Contact: http://www.havredailynews.com/cms/forms/form-166042.html
Website: http://www.havredailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1247
Author: Zach White

MED MARIJUANA BACKERS SEEK SUPPORT

Today is the half-way point in the fight by proponents of medical 
marijuana to stop reforms passed during the Montana Legislature this 
spring that would strictly limit the usage of the treatment.

The reforms were going to take effect on July 1, until Helena 
District Judge James Reynolds blocked portions of the reforms. Now 
activists are gathering petitions across the state, ahead of a Sept. 
30 deadline, to place a new medical marijuana law on the ballot next 
year that would replace the existing law. They need many more to 
actually block the new reform law from taking effect until the 
election decides medical marijuana's fate.

Rose Habib is the head chemist of Cannabanalysis Laboratories in 
Missoula and is a leader among petition gathering efforts across the 
state, including in Havre and Hill County.

According to Habib, they need to gather the signatures of 24,337 
voters to have the initiative placed on the ballot. An exact number 
on the amount needed to block the current law is more difficult to 
come up with, as it would require 15 percent of 51 of the state's 100 
districts, which vary widely in size and population.

Medical marijuanna growth in Montana. Information taken from the 
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Habib said 
this morning that the drive is going really well, having gathered 
close to 20,000 signatures so far this summer while appearing at 
state and county fairs and in cities across the state. Though those 
20,000 have yet to be vetted for authenticity.

Of those, Habib said that more than 1,000 signatures have reportedly 
been gathered in Hill County.

Havre is definitely contributing more than their share to the effort 
across the state, " Habib said. "They're doing a fantastic job up there. "

Local organizers have said that those 1,000 have been difficult to 
get, claiming to be told they couldn't gather signatures at the Great 
Northern Fair and at the weekly Saturday Market.

Fair manager and Havre Mayor Tim Solomon said he remembered them 
expressing interest in reserving a booth but not hearing back from them.

They called the first day of the fair, and they asked about doing 
petitions at the fair, which we don't allow outside a booth, and we 
told them they could talk to people on the street as they come in, 
which I understand they did, " Solomon said. "We have had a policy 
forever, from political years, that's what the booth is for. Why rent 
a booth if you're going to walk around outside it? "

At Havre's Saturday Market, it is the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, 
who is leasing the property from Bear Paw Credit Union, that has the 
policy limiting petition gathering.

The policy for Town Square does not allow for the sale of raffle 
tickets or solicitation, " said Debbie Vandeberg, the Chamber's 
executive director. "That is not a city park. We manage it, and those 
are the rules that have been set up. "

Habib sees it differently. She feels that petition-gatherers are 
unfairly, and possibly illegally, being excluded.

We're finding that pretty consistently across the state people are 
trying to block these public forums, " Habib said. "It's perfectly 
legal for people to practice their First Amendment rights. Yet, due 
to someone's sense of propriety, they feel that people can't practice 
their First Amendment rights there, and that's not right.

We're not letting that stop us. "

On Saturday, the gatherers were out on the public right-of-way, on 
the sidewalk, just outside of the Saturday Market area.

James Fenlon, a local Vietnam War veteran, was out with a clipboard 
on Saturday. He said he had fought for his country in the 1970s and 
was now fighting for the rights of all beneficiaries of medical 
marijuana, including himself and his wife, who both suffer from chronic pain.

I don't like to see her cry, " Fenlon said. "That's what I'm fighting for. "

He said the response had been tepid for the most part, though that 
was the result of widespread misunderstandings.

People are afraid of it, " Fenlon said. "They put a name on it and 
lied about it. "

The misunderstanding, according to Habib, extends to the policymakers 
and state officials in Helena who are still fighting for the current 
reform, or even more restrictive reforms, including those like 
Montana Assistant Attorney General Jim Molloy who is appealing Judge 
Reynolds' overturning of the ban on selling of medical cannabis for a profit.

They say it's a dangerous precedent to allow them to sell cannabis in 
this state, " Habib said. "If it's legal to have something in the 
state then it should be legal to sell it. That's our point.

Nonetheless we'll have to raise the funds to pay for it, while the 
taxpayers have to continue to pay for this ridiculous witch hunt. 
Frankly, that just rejuvenates us in our battle to collect signatures."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart