SALISH MADE RIGHT MOVE

Kudos to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes council and their
direction on marijuana use on their sovereign Indian nation as
reported in the May 13 IR. I suspect that other Indian nations will
seek a similar path.

The elders' statement that "The result was a consensus from the elders
that marijuana has no cultural significance and that we, as a people,
have other indigenous means to deal with pain" is clearly something
that the state of Montana should use to re-evaluate the citizens
initiative passed in 2004.

We are obviously wandering down the wrong road with this issue, as
evidenced by the sudden surge in people seeking marijuana since the
Obama administration indicated it would not pursue the federal
restriction on its use. Certainly not that many people were waiting
with their health issues. The abuse of the system in California speaks
for itself.

Perhaps we should seek our U.S. representatives and senators from our
tribal councils to help clean up some of the federal mess.

Robert Wynia

Helena