Medical Marijuana: Supreme Court Hands Final Decision to Voters
Patients’ Group Says Voters Will Reject ‘Godawful Law’ by Defeating IR-124
By Bob Brigham
Late Tuesday, the Montana Supreme Court ensured that voters will have the final say on the Legislature’s 2011 medical marijuana law this November, and Patients for Reform, Not Repeal believes voters will say “no” to it.
Lori Burnam, a 64-year-old cancer patient in Hamilton, said, “The court did not say whether this is a good or bad law, but I can tell you, for patients, this is a godawful law. Our rights have been violated, our access to medicine taken away. We are asking voters to listen to the patients. As voters learn more, they will go against IR-124.”
Burnam added, “To reclaim our rights and get real regulation for marijuana, we must defeat IR-124.”
IR-124 on the Nov. 6 ballot gives voters the chance to accept or reject Senate Bill 423, the draconian “grow your own” law passed by the Legislature in the 2011 session after repeal of voter-approved I-148. On Tuesday, the Montana Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s findings regarding some provisions of SB 423, effectively restoring parts of the law that had been enjoined.
Burnam said, “The timing of this ruling will energize our campaign. We are already hearing from people all over the state. Now the situation is crystal clear. We must defeat IR-124 in November, and we will.”
Burnam suffers from advanced cancer and has used medical marijuana to relieve pain, nausea and other side effects of her cancer treatment. She was one of three co-authors of arguments for the Voter Information Pamphlet against IR-124, along with patient Sarah Baugh and Dr. Edwin Stickney, past president of the Montana Medical Association and the Montana chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
The campaign against IR-124 led by Patients for Reform, Not Repeal is online at www.patientsforreform.org.
