MOM FEARED FOR HER FAMILY

HELENA - In the last few months of his short life, Travis Michalski of
Helena had lost a third of his body weight.

His skinny frame was wracked with so much pain, he couldn't bear his
families' hugs. And the powerful medications his oncologist gave him
to combat the torment of terminal cancer wouldn't stay down.

Chemotherapy, which Michalski started immediately after he was
diagnosed with the rare blood cancer called Hodgkin's disease, found
him vomiting the very day he began treatment.

He couldn't even stomach his anti-nausea medication.

So Michalski did some Internet research, and soon took to smoking
marijuana to calm his digestive tract. The drug also took the edge off
the anxiety he dealt with every day, knowing he would die and leave
his 8-year old son behind.

Michalski told his parents about his choice, and they didn't
object.

"It wasn't a hard decision," said his mother, Teresa Michalski of
Helena. "But it was a scary decision."

Teresa Michalski was worried the police would find out, and would
force her 29-year old son to spend the last few months of his life in
jail. She was afraid the family would lose their house. She feared
their daughter would lose her federal student loans for college.

But she couldn't say no when she saw how the illicit drug eased his
suffering. And she said she can't believe some Montanans are opposing
a ballot initiative seeking to legalize the medical use of marijuana
here.

Ballot Initiative-148, which Montanans will be able to vote on in the
general election Nov. 2, would protect patients, their doctors and
their caregivers from arrest and prosecution for the medical use of
marijuana.

"What in their head gives them the right to tell a patient they can't
use it?" Teresa Michalski asked. "If the doctors weren't so afraid
of the repercussions, they would be endorsing this."

Passage of the measure would make Montana the 10th state to allow
medicinal use of marijuana. Medical marijuana was approved by voters
in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
In Hawaii, a law was passed by the Legislature and signed by the
governor in 2000. In Vermont, a law was passed by the Legislature and
allowed to become law without the governor's signature in May 2004,
the Marijuana Policy Project reports.

The measure is being financially backed by the national Marijuana
Policy Project out of Washington, D.C. Paul Befumo of Missoula,
treasurer of the Marijuana Policy Project of Montana, is traveling the
state this fall to stump for the initiative.

Proponents of medical marijuana say smoking the plant relieves nausea,
increases appetite, reduces muscle spasms, relieves chronic pain and
reduces pressure in the eyes. It can be used to treat the symptoms of
AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma, among other diseases,
they say.

While a recent Lee Newspapers poll shows that 58 percent of likely
Montana voters approve of the measure, marijuana supporters face tough
opposition.

Among their staunchest opponents are the White House and federal
law.

Just last week, the White House sent U.S. Deputy Drug Czar Scott Burns
on a multi-city tour of Montana, where he spent the majority of his
time talking against the ballot measure. He said the legalization of
medical marijuana sends the "wrong message" to children.

And he went on to say that federal law, which still prohibits the use
and possession of marijuana, trumps any of the permissive laws states
pass.

"There is no safe harbor," Burns cautioned. "If this initiative
passes, the (Drug Enforcement Agency) is not going away. It is still
illegal in the U.S. to possess marijuana."

Opponents of the measure also say the medical argument for marijuana
is bogus.

Burns said the marijuana lobbyists in Washington, D.C., are
"conning" people into believing there are benefits to the drug. He
said no credible medical authority, such as the American Medical
Association, has ever endorsed the drug.

"There are better and more effective treatments than marijuana,"
Burns said, brushing aside the argument that pot makes terminal
patients "feel good."

Burns said heroin also makes people "feel good," but doctors don't
prescribe it.

Roger Curtiss, director of alcohol and drug services for Anaconda and
Deer Lodge County, said he's seen the negative effects of pot
firsthand on the state's youth.

"With all the data available to me, with all the lives that have been
ruined by drugs, I certainly have a perspective on why medical
marijuana is not the ideal medical alternative for individuals in
Montana," Curtiss said.

For starters, Curtiss pointed to new data recently released by the
National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University that shows children and teens are three times likelier to
be in treatment for marijuana use than for alcohol use.

And they are six times likelier to be in treatment for marijuana use
than for all other illegal drugs combined, he cited. Burns said the
number of children using marijuana would likely increase in the wake
of the legalization of medical marijuana.

Finally, opponents argue that the legalization of medical marijuana
would precipitate a law enforcement nightmare.

"There's no way to regulate dosage and it would be really difficult
to regulate the lawful growing of it," said Rep. Jim Shockley,
R-Victor. Curtiss and Shockley are formally opposing the ballot initiative.

Curtiss said the ballot measure is really an attempt to do away with
U.S. drug laws.

"What they're really trying to do is do away with drug laws,"
Curtiss said. "And they're trying to get their foot in the door."

Whether or not the federal government has the right to prosecute
medical marijuana patients in states where the practice is permitted
is a decision that will soon be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the right of two
California women to possess and grow marijuana for their medicinal
needs. The U.S. Justice Department appealed the case, which the U.S.
Supreme Court will hear in coming months.

"That would mean the federal government can't prosecute people in
medical marijuana states for possession within the bounds of the
state's statutes," said Befumo, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy
Project of Montana.

Befumo said the U.S. Supreme Court would not be tossing federal drug
law out the window, but would be defining federal jurisdiction.

"That would be excellent," Befumo said.