LEGISLATURE TAKING AWAY RIGHTS

I am truly disappointed in your coverage of Senate Bill 423. I want to
know why you are not telling the citizens of Montana the true
ramifications of this law. You parrot what the Legislature says. You
print all the scary words, like "scourge," "cartel" and "wild west";
and you keep the focus on how many patients have medical marijuana
cards.

It is not all about medical marijuana, or how many medical marijuana
patients there are. It's about taking away the rights of the Montana
citizens. The Montana Legislature and the governor are reforming a law
passed by the majority of its voters. This has never been done before.
Why? Because the voters mattered. They are saying it's OK for our
state government to shut down any legally owned and operated business
in Montana. It's OK for the state government to tell Montana business
owners that they must not make a profit in what they sell; even
better, they must operate at a loss. They are also saying that our
state government can dictate how many patients a physician can see,
what medications the physician can prescribe, and how many
prescriptions he can write.

The economy and unemployment in our country and the state of Montana
are at the lowest point ever. Our Montana Legislature has increased
unemployment (20,000 more unemployed Montanans) and put our economy in
a bigger hole (loss of close to a billion dollars of state revenue).
Why? Because we have too many sick people using medical marijuana.

This is the excuse they used to violate our rights, this time. What
excuse will they use next time, now that we have opened the door for
them? How about, "There are too many deaths caused by alcohol." We
need to make Montana a dry state. We will close down all liquor stores
and bars. Never say never. When is enough, enough?

Patrick Mills

Kalispell