Pubdate: Sun, 07 Oct 2012
Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT)
Copyright: 2012 The Billings Gazette
Contact: http://billingsgazette.com/app/contact/?contact=letter
Website: http://www.billingsgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/515
Author: Gwen Florio

INITIATIVE 124 APPROVAL WOULD TRIGGER STRICT RESTRICTIONS ON MEDICAL 
MARIJANA

Let's start by clearing up any confusion about Initiative
124.

Voter approval would cement restrictions on medical marijuana approved
by the 2011 Legislature.

Rejection would restore the 2004 voter-approved law that legalized the
medical use of marijuana in Montana.

So - "for 124" is for extensive restrictions. "Against" ditches them
in favor of the less severe 2004 law.

"Trying to explain what will happen under (the initiative) is a little
bit ridiculous," said Bob Brigham, campaign manager for Patients for
Reform, Not Repeal. "It's tough to convince people that it will
actually be that bad."

That's because the medical marijuana users who would most be affected
won't see the results of last year's restrictions until after the election.

A court challenge delayed several of the 2011 law's key provisions,
including a ban on paying providers of medical marijuana, and on a
three-plant limit per cardholder for providers.

Brigham's group sees those as both onerous and impractical. Although
the 2011 law allows patients to grow their own cannabis, not everybody
has a green thumb, he said.

"And there's the timeline. You get an awful diagnosis, you don't want
to think, 'Well, I'll start growing some marijuana now and come
harvest time, then I can start chemo,' " he said.

Last month, the Montana Supreme Court reversed the lower court's
temporary injunction on the 2011 law.

James Goetz of Bozeman, the attorney representing the Montana Cannabis
Industry Association, vowed to take the case back to District Court
but said then he didn't think the court would consider it before the
election.

Playing devil's advocate to his own concerns, Brigham said that the
back-and-forth of court action  The restrictions are in place! They're
not! They're back in place!  is frustrating, "and when people get
frustrated, they throw their hands up in the air and vote no."

The ballot language is indeed confusing, notes an email blast from the
pro-Initiative 124 group Safe Community Safe Kids and redistributed by
the Montana Cannabis Industry Association as a way to rally its own
supporters to vote against I-124.

The Billings-based Safe Community Safe Kids' email reminds readers
that the initiative keeps in place the 2011 legislation that
restricted medical marijuana production, distribution and use and
says, "Vote for SB423 or Montana will revert back to having the
uncontrolled, lawless, rapidly growing marijuana industry we
experienced prior to the passing of SB423."

Missoula City Councilman Dick Haines has looked at the issue from both
sides.

As a Republican legislator about a decade ago, he said, he backed a
plan to allow medical marijuana to be sold through pharmacies. "I
thought that made sense ... but it didn't fly," he said. "It was one
of the few things that Ron Erickson and I saw eye-to-eye on." Erickson
is a liberal Democrat.

But Haines was no fan of how the 2004 medical marijuana initiative
played out.

"I thought it got away from us," he said. ".... When the (2011)
Legislature calmed it down and put restrictions on it, I thought,
'That's fine.' "

The number of medical marijuana dispensaries exploded around Montana
after a 2009 U.S. Justice Department memo that some saw as
discouraging federal prosecutions. Although 17 states have legalized
the medical use of marijuana, it's still illegal under federal law.

The "calming"  medical marijuana proponents call it "chilling"  effect
actually was provided by widespread federal raids in 2011 that shut
down about two dozen of the larger medical marijuana businesses around
Montana.

Whatever the cause, Haines  whose only interest now is as a citizen 
welcomed the effect. And while he said the 2011 law might not be
perfect, he doesn't see a new initiative as the best way to fix it.

"The trouble (with an initiative) is that it really doesn't get
vetted, really hammered, to see if everything works," he said. "People
say, 'The Legislature takes so long.' But when you go that route, a
lot of people have looked at it and a lot of people have talked about
it."
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