LET THE VOTERS DECIDE ISSUE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

As we are faced with the pending implementation of Senate Bill 423
and the de facto repeal of the medical cannabis program in Montana,
the Missoulian editorial board has asked our good citizens to not
support the petition drive to suspend SB423.

We are told in the June 2 editorial that SB423 is "a marked
improvement" on the medical marijuana law previously in place. How
so? Under SB423, the sickest of Montanans will no longer have
reasonable access to medical cannabis. Those undergoing chemotherapy
will not have usable medicine for 120 days, the time it takes for the
plant matter to be ready to use. How is that an improvement for
patients? Who is to provide medical cannabis to the quadriplegic
patient, the elderly patient or the patient in hospice?

Moreover, a list of cannabis patients is to be given to law
enforcement. When did we give up the right to privacy in our homes
and the U.S. Bill of Rights guarantee against unwarranted searches of
private homes? When did legal marijuana users become a second class
of citizen no longer protected by the Constitution? Furthermore,
SB423 is no improvement for the caregivers, that much-maligned, even
demonized group.

Why is it all right to destroy thousands of jobs in this declining
economy? The position taken is that there should be no "business
aspect" to the Medical Marijuana Act, without any consideration for
the thousands of Montana citizens who invested in this state-approved
program in order to provide cannabis to state-approved patients.
These individuals provided jobs, tax revenue and commercial revenue
for their communities in a time of economic uncertainty, in many
cases also providing charitable services to the most serious cases.

Producing medical strains of cannabis required a large capital
investment as well as technical support, and hundreds of Montana
citizens found living-wage jobs in this program. Yet these legitimate
businesspeople and health care providers have repeatedly been
vilified as "profiteers." Tell that to Exxon!

We are also told in the editorial that the previous medical marijuana
law has been "widely misused." Are you saying that every one of the
30,000 Montana adults who chose to enroll in this alternative pain
management program, which was sanctioned by the State of Montana, was
wrong to do so?

It is called into question that one in 33 Montana citizens has a
debilitating illness. It has been insinuated that virtually all
patients diagnosed with "chronic pain" are somehow frauds. Chronic
pain can include the following: fibromyalgia, osteoporosis,
arthritis, scoliosis, migraine headaches, ruptured discs from sports,
auto accidents, work injuries and many other health problems. And
yes, even young people get sick and injured.

We ask Montanans to recognize that marijuana is a less toxic
alternative to heavy doses of pain pills over long periods of time.
The board is calling for even stricter rules to be put into place.
Yes, there should be rules, but those rules must be workable for all
persons involved with the medical cannabis program as well as the
community at large.

All patients must have access to a medical provider who is not
threatened by sanctions from a state agency or administrators for
acknowledging that their patient can benefit from the use of cannabis
in treating their medical conditions. This decision should be between
the patient and his or her doctor and not up for public scrutiny.
This debate should involve not just legislators, but also medical
researchers, physicians, health care providers, social workers, law
enforcement personnel and the business community, as well as the
cannabis patients who are to be served by this law.

Let the good citizens of Montana once again allow the democratic
process to work in 2012. But in the meantime, let us continue to show
compassion and a sense of fairness to our suffering fellow Montanans.
I ask them to support the suspension of SB423 by signing the
petition. Let the voters, not the political agendas of 36 senators
and 77 representatives in Helena, determine the outcome of this issue.

Rick Rosio of Missoula is a medical cannabis advocate and caregiver.