GOP FUELS CARTELS, BIG GOVERNMENT

The Republicans have not learned from history and they are doomed to
repeat it. I will not join the Republican Party in Montana, nor will I
send them money. As a conservative, Tea Party enthusiast, I don't
believe the Republican Party understands that we are conservatives
because we believe in the Constitution and the limits that document
puts on our government.

The amount of money we've spent since the 1970s putting people in jail
for marijuana is astounding. Just when I think we may finally have
figured out what a farce it is, my own party (since 1982) claims that
they were "elected to solve the medical marijuana issue." No, you
weren't. You were elected to force the government to live within its
means, keep out of our lives as much as the Constitution says is
proper, and support efforts to create an environment in which small
businesses and large can thrive. We want to work, sell our products
and live in safety. I am not convinced that the money we spend to put
marijuana users and distributors in jail, supposedly to keep us safe,
is worth the paper it's printed on.

Four thousand new jobs, a market that can be regulated easily, and
your solution is to give the state the right to search people's
homes? Wow. Socialism is alive and well in the hands of those who
think they know better, and somehow, someone has convinced our
less-government-is-better legislators that more government is needed
here. Put the cartels out of business once and for all in Montana:
pass regulation that makes sense (i.e., Department of Public Health
and Human Services approval for a card, increase the fee to collect
taxes for enforcement, and clear, intelligent instructions to the
businesses who choose to enter this market).

L.B. Nelson

Missoula