STATE SHOULD FOLLOW LAW OK'D BY VOTERS

I testified at a recent public hearing in opposition to a proposal
by the Department of Corrections to ban medical marijuana for
patients who are on probation. After reading the opinion essay by
Pam Bunke in the Jan. 17 Gazette, I reread the department's
proposed rule. I can find not a shred of truth in Bunke's
essay. Contrary to all her claims, the department's rule is
a blanket ban that offers no routes for appeal and makes no
exceptions in respect to a doctor's professional opinion.

The department has already been imposing this rule even though it
hasn't adopted it. Patients on probation have been denied access to
the medical marijuana their doctors recommend. This has happened in
spite of protests by the doctors, and never has the department
advised any of the patients that there might be any possibility of
an exception. At best, patients have been told that their only
recourse is to first dare to violate the department's ban and then
take their chances in court.

I find it unconscionable that the Department of Corrections is so
blatantly violating Montana's medical-marijuana law. This is an
absurd waste of taxpayer dollars. Right now, people with serious
medical conditions are suffering because of this. Keep in mind that
our law's approved "qualifying conditions" for medical marijuana -
like multiple sclerosis, cancer, glaucoma and chronic pain resulting
from varied awful circumstances - occur in the lives of all
kinds of people, including Democrats, Republicans and, yes, even
people on probation or parole.

Angela Goodhope,

field director

Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy

Missoula