Woke up with this in my inbox this morning........I have to admit that Montana has an ill-designed regulatory framework, but how the hell are we all of a sudden talking about repeal?!? Well, nothing is for certain at this point, we'll see what happens in the near future. Might be movin to Colorado! today the house committee voted along party lines to pass the repeal bill, HB161, along to the senate. that means it's half way to being approved. that means next summer, 30,000 montanans will be criminals; unless we all do something about it now. lawmakers still think that, even though 62% of voters asked for medical cannabis in 2004, no one really wants this program. i guess because the ones speaking the loudest right now are the few squeaky wheels that want to see cannabis go back into the alley. right now they look like the majority, because so many of us haven't made our voices heard. if you haven't come to a hearing, or written a letter, why not? what are you waiting for? every patient, caregiver, and loved ones of both need to be calling, writing, emailing, and showing up in person. come to the capitol for the hearings. even if you don't testify, your presence is noted and it counts. if being there is impossible, your letters and phone calls are vital. what do you think would happen if 30,000 letters supporting medical cannabis showed up in the capitol mail box? do you think they could ignore us if 5,000 supporters were standing on the capitol lawn for a hearing of a cannabis bill? legislative web site Montana Legislature
Holy Crap... they are using the D.C. case of pearson which says that it is like a prescription drug and therefore federally illegal.. I knew this was coming since Obama said it is upto the individual states to make thrie own laws about cannabis and watching the cases going through court. We must stop this from occurring... What to do . Here is the Pearson case which was decided after conant v. walters.. the states are trying to reverse conant v. walters by using the pearson rational.. 139 F.Supp.2d 113 (2001) Durk PEARSON, Sandy Shaw, Julian Whitaker, Jeffrey Singer, Richard Fisher, American Preventive Medical Association, Life Extension Foundation, Plaintiffs, v. Barry McCAFFREY, as Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy; Donna Shalala, as Secretary, United States Department of Health and Human Services; Thomas Constantine, as Administrator, United States Drug Enforcement Administration; and Janet Reno, as Attorney General of United States, Defendants. No. C.A. 97-0462(WBB). United States District Court, District of Columbia. April 19, 2001. I. Background Currently, in several states, physician prescription or recommendation of marijuana to terminally ill patients and terminally ill patients' use of marijuana is lawful.[1] On October 28, 1996, shortly before the passage of the medical marijuana propositions in California and Arizona, Defendant Barry McCaffrey ("Defendant McCaffrey") publicly stated that any physician recommending or prescribing marijuana would be prosecuted under federal law. On December 30, 1996, in a nationally broadcast press conference, Defendants McCaffrey, Donna Shalala, and Janet Reno announced the federal policy and described several ways that the federal government could take adverse action against physicians who prescribe marijuana and against patients who rely on prescriptions in states where such prescription is legal. On February 11, 1997, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) published the federal policy in the Federal Register. Under the federal policy, the federal government may: 1) prosecute any physician who prescribes or recommends marijuana to patients; 2) prosecute any patient who uses prescribed marijuana; 3) revoke the DEA registration numbers of any physician who prescribes or recommends marijuana to patients; 4) exclude any physician who prescribes or recommends marijuana to patients from the Medicaid and Medicare programs; and 5) enforce all federal sanctions against physicians and patients.[2]