REPEAL OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW MAKES NO SENSE

Why is repealing medical marijuana backward and mistaken?

Because cannabis is making a huge, positive medical difference in the
lives of thousands of good Montanans. Because it makes no moral or
economic sense to redefine these genuine patients as criminals and to
force them back onto the narcotics that helped them less and caused
worse side effects. Because a patient who has had no seizures since
switching to cannabis (and used to have a dozen every day) can't
fairly be asked to go back to a "life" on the drugs that didn't work.

Because a patient who has lost more than 200 pounds in a year since
ceasing the use of narcotics and switching to cannabis can't be
expected to happily stop. Because pain patients who used to be unable
to do much of anything meaningful when needing gobs of narcotics --
and who now can function, even work and pay taxes -- shouldn't be
required to go backward. Because people who are enduring chemo, or
who have survived cancer and know of the evidence showing that
cannabis has anti-cancer effects, shouldn't be required to ignore the
scientific facts. Because people with glaucoma or multiple sclerosis
or rheumatoid arthritis, who know that research shows cannabis can
slow and even halt the progression of these diseases, shouldn't be
expected to ignore what they've learned, what they can feel in their
own bodies.

Because the law's loopholes and gray areas that have allowed
exploitation and abuse can easily be fixed and closed, with problems
stopped -- in ways that meet the needs of true patients as well as of
law enforcement and local communities. Because it makes no sense at
all, and flies in the face of democracy and the notion of individual
freedom, to repeal a voter-adopted policy of compassion without ever
first trying to make the law work as intended. Because thousands of
Montanans suffer the common but generally permanent, progressive
medical conditions specified in this law -- and many can benefit
enormously from cannabis.

Because thousands of Montanans who would otherwise currently be
unemployed today feed their families and pay their rents and
mortgages solely because they are able to work producing
medical-grade cannabis for legal patients. Because many hundreds of
long-established Main Street businesses like garden supply and
hardware stores are still operating partly because of the new
business they do serving medical cannabis producers. Because it makes
no sense for Montana to lose these jobs and the nourishment they
supply to local economies and the state's tax base.

Because elected officials who campaign for individual freedom, less
government intrusion and smarter economic development should uphold
these principles during their service in office. Because none of them
campaigned on a platform of interfering with a patient's relationship
with a licensed physician or on the theme of knowing more about
health care than doctors do.

Because honest Montanans, who can better address their medical
challenges with this God-given natural plant, shouldn't be treated as
criminals -- and the rest of us shouldn't have to pay for cops to
find and arrest them, or for prosecutors and courts to punish them --
when all that these good patients seek is a better, more comfortable
life . and to be left alone by big government. Because patients,
working with their physicians, deserve the right to life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness.