Title:
Montanans: Friday hearing on medical marijuana regulations bill
Message:
With the help of MPP, Montana voters passed I-148 into law
on Nov. 2, 2004, with an impressive 62% of the vote. In many ways this law has
worked well, but Montana is behind other states that provide for
state-regulated dispensaries. In addition, less-than-upstanding people have caused
a lot of bad press and threatened the existence of Montana’s medical marijuana
program. In response, after the November elections that swept in a much more
conservative state legislature, there have been a slew of medical
marijuana-related bills introduced. Some of these bills provide new, tight
regulations over various parts of the medical marijuana industry, while others
seek to make the law unworkable. There is even a possibility that a bill to
fully repeal the law, or one that would send the repeal question to the voters
in 2012, could end up moving this year.
The first steps toward protecting Montana's medical marijuana
program will come next Friday, when two well-written bills designed to regulate, and
not eliminate, Montana medical marijuana will be heard in the House Human
Services Committee — and we hope you’ll join us. You can also take action
from home, calling to ask your representative to support
HB 68, with some commonsense amendments.
Hearing info:
What: House Human
Services Committee hearing on HB 19 & HB 68, medical
marijuana-related bills
When: Friday,
January 21, 3 p.m.
Where: Room 152
at the Montana State Capitol at 1301
East 6th Avenue Helena, MT 59601
Though we are not calling specifically for individuals to
come and testify, if you are respectful in dress and demeanor, you are welcome
to do so. All are welcome to attend. For more information on attending the
hearing, you can e-mail our amazing ally on the ground, Tom Daubert of Patients and Families United, at doebare@aol.com. If you can only make it to
Helena once this year, you should wait for another hearing, such as the one
that includes the repeal bills.
HB 68,
sponsored by Rep. Diane Sands (D-Missoula), is a comprehensive bill that
creates a licensing and regulatory system for marijuana growers, manufacturers,
and distributors, and changes some
of the medical condition and physician requirements. HB 19 clarifies
that the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act applies to the smoking of medical
marijuana, which means that in all places where cigarette smoking is banned,
medical marijuana smoking will be as well. Sometime after the hearing, the
committee must vote on the bills, and if a bill gets a majority, it gets sent
to the floor.
There are also other bills on the horizon that may move, so
keep your eyes peeled for more news, and we will definitely let you know how to
take action!
Thank you for supporting the
Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this
on so that even more Montanans can participate in reform.
