HOUSE BILL 161 OVERTURNS THE WILL OF THE VOTERS

This week there is a Senate hearing on House Bill 161, the repeal of
the Medical Marijuana Bill, though the people of Montana voted in
favor of medical marijuana back in 2004 with 62 percent of the voters
approving. As this was put into effect we found there was a problem in
the law and are now faced with repealing the law. Is this the
direction we want to go, overturning the will of the voters?

One of things that I liked about the great state of Montana when I
moved here was that Montana was not driven by "big brother." Montana
is not a state to fall in line and follow the lead of other states.
Montana is a place that is different and self-driven. When there is a
problem and something is not working, we don't throw it out and say
this was a mistake. We look at the challenge and say, how can we fix
this?

Never before has Montana overturned what the voters have approved. Now
is not the time for Montana legislators to go against their
constituents while the rest of the nation is watching. Now is the time
to stand up and show the nation that we know we made a mistake, and
now is time to fix it.

Mark Padwick

Bozeman