REPEAL IS GOING BACKWARDS

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 backwards. 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, which 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.