This morning I woke up and sent the following question to over 200 Montana legislative candidates. I asked the question, “Would you support a bill that taxes and regulates marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol? Why or why not?”

I already have some encouraging responses (and potential bill sponsors), and will be posting some news about that soon.

Next week, I’m off to the national NORML convention, a 3-day, information-packed, energy-multiplying, strategy-refining summit of marijuana policy reform leaders and experts from around the nation and the world.

So, there will be no newsletter next week.

However, there’s lots for you to do in the coming weeks.

• Make sure you’re registered to vote, and write on a slip of paper what Montana House and Senate district you vote in. Tape it to the side of your monitor. Click here for help.
• If you want to take personal action to help a candidate in Billings defeat his anti-marijuana opponent on Saturday, Sept 11, reply to this email right away and say “I want to help in Billings”. Transportation might be available to and from.
• Sep 7-10, Polson, a medical marijuana “awareness day” hosted at the Jette store. Call 406-249-0801 for details.
• Sep 9-11 in Portland, Oregon, the national NORML convention.
• Sep 11, Missoula: 15th Annual Missoula Hempfest, a family-friendly hemp-focused event with fantastic music, a beer garden, hemp vendors, and fun for all. Visit our NORML table and say “high” to volunteer Cynthia.
• Sep 14, Bozeman: “Montana Cannabis Forum: Fact from Fiction”,  featuring local and international experts, starting at 7PM at the Emerson Cultural Center Theatre.
• Sep 24, statewide: last day to register as a write-in candidate (PDF form here). It would be great to have someone (anyone) run in HD60 (Park City). An anti-marijuana candidate is running there unopposed. Ready to run? I’ll help!
• Oct 10 & 11, Bozeman: MMGA event, details to be announced soon.

Oh also — anyone know of a dentist who would be willing to barter for services with a friend of NORML?

Oh, here’s the latest news:

Montana Marijuana News

• Hamilton marijuana caregiver pleads guilty to felony charges
• Convicted drug dealer gives up medical marijuana card in new fed case
• Missoula – Not so green campus
• Doc advocates ‘professional’ medical marijuana
• Gazette opinion: Panel makes progress to fix medical marijuana law
• Cracked pot law needs a fix
• Montana Medical Marijuana: Long Way to Go
• Police arrest Havre medical marijuana caregivers
• Man sues Cascade over medical marijuana dispensary moratorium
• Changes in medical marijuana rules headed to Montana Legislature

More Marijuana News

• Sign this petition to demand that Facebook stop censoring marijuana
• Prohibitionists Say The Darndest Things
• Why EVERYONE should support legalization (forward this one)
• California: Proposition 19 is the right direction
• Governor Gary Johnson on Ending Marijuana Prohibition: ‘It’s Gonna Happen’
• “The Flower” Highlights Social and Economic Costs of Marijuana Prohibition
• Colorado: State Scrambling To Enforce New Med Pot Rules

By the way, Montana NORML is an all-volunteer organization. There are no paid staff.  You can help us offset expenses by becoming a supporting member today. Thanks.

M E D I C A L    B U L L S H I T

how dare you imprison a plant of the earth

how dare you deny the truth of the effects

your instinct should tell you how powerful it is

just look at it

smell it

smoke it to place the natural chemicals into your ancient receptor sites

discover the message

how dare you bring humans down in the name of this plant

imprisoning them

ruining their lives and families

how dare you create wars in the name of this plant

salaries chopping life down with brute force killing both life and the meaning of life

drug wars

innocent prisoners of war right here under your nose in the place you call home

wasting hard-earned taxpayer money

how dare you run opinionated yellow journalism in sections that are entitled news

you must be feeling passionate

and so am i

and the best you can do is medical

waving it under the noses of the apparently underprivileged

no wonder you have problems

yes very very medicinal that is obvious you dumbshits but that is not the point

unjust laws are not to be followed

i am going to stuff this bong with carefully cured dried flowers

not because I have a card

or an ailment

because I have a right

as a human being

on this earth

• allows 3 immature and 3 flowering plants (instead of just “6″)
• eliminates “affirmative defense”
• eliminates “caregivers”, and instead creates a tiered system of providers, dispensaries and commercial growers (with hefty annual licensing and inspection fees).
• restricts providers from selling more than two ounces to any patient in a 30-day period
• requires a pain specialist in addition to another doctor — just for pain patients
• makes failure to carry your card a misdemeanor
• prohibits provider/doctor partnerships or financial arrangements

Get all the details here. Here’s a portion of my speech yesterday at the Caregiver Expo. Thanks to all who attended:

These United States of America are headed for marijuana legalization. This will happen at different times in different states and with different details, but make no mistake, it’s happening. More and more, the standard answer to the question “how should we deal with marijuana?” will become “pretty much like beer.”

Some of you may object “no, it’s a sacred and precious medicine, not beer!”

Look — the best possible thing for cardholders is full-blown legalization. It might not be the best thing for your caregiver business, but it is certainly best for everyone else — including people for whom cannabis is truly medicine.

Allowing anyone to grow their own or buy marijuana from licensed storefronts would reduce prices, increase reliability and quality, and allow the free market to determine which merchants have the best combinations of quality and price.

It’s easy to get mired in debates about details like plant counts, organic versus pesticide, tax policy, and commercialization versus nonprofit co-ops.

But the most important thing, the thing we all need to keep our eye on, is making all of that possible. Through the legalization of cannabis for all adults. I’m saying it’s important to cut to the chase, and not get bogged down in complicated, half-tongue-in-cheek pseudo-medical regulations.

I cringe when I hear caregivers say ‘we should be regulated like pharmacies!’ — I acknowledge that many of you are experts at your craft, but you are expert farmers, not pharmacists. Don’t mix the two up.

Don’t get me wrong — quality and cleanliness, safety — of cannabis matters, whether you’re talking medical or social. But we don’t need to pharmaceuticalize cannabis. Consider: microbreweries tell you the alcohol content of their varieties.

The public and the legislature already subconsciously understand that marijuana will soon be regulated like beer. Look at what’s often proposed: “away from schools and churches!” (just like bars)

Finally. As many of you doubtless know, people in California will vote on marijuana legalization in a few months. The initiative they’re voting on isn’t perfect, but deserves your support. Visit taxcannabis.org for details.

If it passes, the dominoes truly start to fall, and we need to be ready. We need to be ready to stand up without fear and say: Marijuana prohibition is an expensive and tragic failure. It’s time to regulate marijuana for all adults.

I hope you’ll join me.

And now, the news:

Montana Marijuana News:

• Medical marijuana trips up Montana
• Silver Bow County considers marijuana ban
• Deer Lodge commissioner comments on possible marijuana law changes
• Video: Legislative committee gets closer to a new medical marijuana bill
• No marijuana allowed at Bozeman hempfest
• Transfer of Marijuana Between Caregivers is now a Felony in Missoula
• Can you legally bring your medical marijuana in airports?

Bonus News:

• Rolling Stone: Just Say NOW
• Forbes: Mapping the Legal Marijuana Industry
• AP: Colorado caregiver facing federal cultivation charges will not be allowed to use state law in defense
• Alternet: The 8 Most Absurd Excuses for Trying to Defeat Marijuana Legalization (no, Phillip Morris isn’t taking over)
• Why conservatives should support marijuana legalization

We could use your help, by the way. Would you like to get involved? You can always start a subchapter or become a supporting member. I am also looking for a volunteer with Excel skills and an eye for detail to do some data auditing. Let me know. Onwards and upwards.

Here’s a copy of the letter:

Our friend vaporgirl recently received this email back from TSA:

Be careful out there.

As you might recall, last week there were a couple wacky anti-marijuana letters printed in Montana newspapers. I responded to one, and the Indy gave it a great title:  Pot lady put down

Our friend Rose also demolished Ms. Nalepka in her letter. Sweet!

Don’t forget — if you get a positive cannabis-focused letter published in the print version of any Montana newspaper, send us an email with a link to the online version, and your physical mailing address, and we’ll send you some goodies.

The legislative subcommittee met today for hours to discuss changes to Montana’s medical marijuana law. They were scheduled to discuss various regulatory models, so I emailed them and advised them to draft what they needed to, but do it in such a way that it’ll be efficient to drop the “medical” aspect and regulate cannabis for all adults soon.

They seem to be focused on expanding the 6-page law into a 26-page law to create new hurdles and penalties for applicants, remove legal protections for cardholders, and give law enforcement more control. As a friend of mine recently said though, what’s the point of working hard to punish people who are just trying to treat themselves with an herbal remedy that works for them?

Meanwhile, I’m circulating a non-medical cannabis regulation proposal to a few trusted advisors (some of whom are current legislators). It would (in a nutshell):

• allow adults to grow a personal cannabis garden
• license and regulate commercial wholesale producers
• license and regulate commercial retailers
• tax commercial sales

Plenty of details to work out, but if Montanans had a chance to vote on such a proposal, I’m confident it’d pass. Whether legislators will have the policitcal will to support it is another question.

Legislators, take note: Nobody wants kids on drugs. But everyone knows that cannabis prohibition is a destructive and expensive failure. And, raising $24 million for the state would be a nice way to fund (anti-drug) education, responsible law enforcement, fix some roads, build a park, upgrade the sewer, reduce fees, provide a tax rebate to families, or whatever you like.

Speaking of the government, Missoula County’s Initiative #2 Oversight Committee needs two volunteers to join the committee. I chair the committee currently and would welcome your help. It’s probably a 4-hour/year commitment minimum, just showing up at meetings to discuss the fact that someone still gets busted for cannabis in Missoula County roughly every day. If you want to take some responsibilities for gathering and analyzing data, and helping to write the reports, that’d be additional.  Call me at 406-542-8696 with any questions.

Finally, there are a series of “Caregiver Expos” next week put on by the (in)famous Montana Caregivers Network, and I’m participating in the expo on Thursday the 19th in Missoula. Drop by and say “high” if you like. I’m speaking to the group at 5PM.

And now, the news….

Montana Marijuana News

• Poor packing job earns Missoula man a marijuana bust.
• Marijuana legal in airports? (don’t rely on this!)
• For the time being, non-residents can participate in Montana’s medical marijuana program.
• Draft marijuana law would require pain specialist, background checks, licensing fees, physical exams, residency, eliminate parolees, more…
• Marijuana Business Bans Hurt More Than Just Business Owners (a compassionate story, for once)
• Billings council attempts to ban, ends up restricting medical marijuana biz to industrial areas, preparing to be sued
• Missoula County commissioners seek 2 for marijuana oversight committee
• Medical marijuana ban likely at Belgrade schools
• Marijuana plant on display in Missoula storefront (gasp!)
• Billings medical marijuana zoning: move your store to industrial zone
• Medical marijuana law in for major changes, Victor representative says
• Some legislators say cities cannot prohibit medical marijuana
• Wyoming patrol seizes 450lb of marijuana en route from Missoula to Chicago

News from Beyond

• NORML, Slightly Stoopid and Cypress Hill: Bring Attention to California’s Initiative to Regulate and Tax Marijuana for November Ballot
• Risk of stoned drivers minimal with legalization
• In other news, no Mexicans killed over Corona Beer
• Prohibition Is a Deadly Disease
• Can you be (legally) fired for using (legally) prescribed marijuana?
• Why marijuana decriminalization should be a Christian issue
• Will California legalize pot?
• NORML Convention in Portland, Sep 9-11: Just Say NOW!

Want to get more involved? How about starting a Montana NORML subchapter, or becoming a supporting member? At an event last year, I asked attendees to contribute 1/1000 of their annual wages. Sounds easy, right?  Can you help?

Let me know what’s on your mind… and be careful out there.

A few things on my mind tonight.  First and foremost are two wacky letters to the editor that appeared in Montana papers today.

The first is from an out-of-state lifelong prohibitionist who believes that anyone who smokes a joint is supporting the “Afghanistani” terrorists who caused 9/11.  (Yes, I know most of that sentence is absurd).

The second is from a surgeon in Lewistown who believes our medical marijuana law is a “threat to civil society” and needs to be updated in various ways, such as 5-doctor panels, $1000 6-month re-certification fees, 30-year age requirements on caregivers, and malpractice insurance requirements.

You can read both and weep, or laugh, or scream, or post outraged comments on the newspaper website or Facebook. But you will not be helping.

The way to respond to ludicrous letters in the paper is to respond with a letter of your own. It needs to be well reasoned and brief. It should be sent in the next few days, and reference the original.

And obviously, we think it should propose taxing and regulating cannabis for all adults, as the solution to the medical marijuana conundrum.

Here’s a reason to write the letter: politicians (known for listening carefully to which way the wind is blowing) pay “clipping services” to gauge the opinion of society, and what appears in the opinion section of the paper is a major part of that. They figure that for everyone who writes a letter, there are at least a hundred people who didn’t bother. Which will you be?

If you need help, let me know.

Next, I had the opportunity to speak with an employee of the Missoula Police Department today. We talked about the craziness of the medical marijuana scene, and he told stories about 23-yr-old dudes walking in grinning, cards in hand, asking for their “weed” back. He went on to talk about how the medical marijuana law needs to be severely restricted to people on the verge of death for whom nothing else works, etc etc.

I said, “Or, we could treat it more like beer.”

He immediately nodded and said, “Sure, but for now it’s medical and….”
That was enlightening to me. He agreed that the beer model works for cannabis. I think most people do. If we could just get past medical.

You should know by now that the legislative committee working on medical marijuana for the state of Montana has been hard at work this summer.

If you are closely following the progress of the revisions to Montana’s medical marijuana bill, these reports will be of interest. Included on the list are law enforcement recommendations,  a review of Colorado’s recent medical marijuana changes, ambiguities in the definition of a “patient”, etc. Click here and spend an hour reviewing what the state’s been discussing.

Then, email them your polite thoughts on the matter.

Finally, I’ve come to understand that the organizers of the Bozeman Hempfest are not happy with NORML, and in fact intend to pass out fliers at the event urging visitors to “boycott” Montana NORML.  If you decide to pay the entry fee and attend the event, I encourage you to request a conversation with the event organizers to hear their argument.  I’ve tried, but don’t understand it.

Enough. Here’s the latest news:

• Poplar police chief’s home searched for suspected marijuana growing
• WSJ: How to deal with medical cannabis in the workplace?
• Marijuana cookies possible defense in double shooting of wife, nanny
• Poplar police chief not a patient, arrested for growing marijuana
• Colorado rakes in $7 million in marijuana licensing fees – Montana next?
• Missoula man pleads guilty to selling black-market marijuana to caregivers
• Montana: Medical marijuana users must be state residents
• Letter to editor in Missoula Indy demands a response. Will you join me?
• Viewpoint: Let’s clear up the very flawed Medical Marijuana Act
• Cannabusiness medical marijuana documentary playing Saturday on Montana PBS
• In other news, no Mexicans killed over Corona beer

If you find these updates useful, please consider becoming a supporting member of Montana NORML.

Keep on keepin’ on.

Does that mean tobacco-company weed harvested and ground up by the acre by giant robots? Maybe.  Don’t worry, there will always be room for high-end marijuana, just like we have plenty of options in the high-end beer and wine categories. But there’s no getting away from the fact that with full legalization comes a potentially dramatic price reduction.

Legalization might cut into growers’ profits, yes. I’m sorry about that, but reduced profits are no reason to keep arresting people for something that should not be a crime.  And, you’ll have lots more legal customers!  For more on this phenomenon in California, check out this NORML blog post.

Moving on — most of you already know that a committee of legislators is meeting throughout the summer to discuss changes to Montana’s medical marijuana law.  The idea is that bringing interested parties (law enforcement, schools, growers, patient advocates) together in the same room enough times will identify areas of concern and generate thoughtful discussion, and eventually a proposal that is tolerable to all sides will result. And, the thinking goes, this proposal will therefore sail through the legislature and be implemented in the spring.

We should expect significant changes to the law next year. If you’re a patient or caregiver, pay close attention, because, who knows, your legal status may flip to criminal with the stroke of a pen.  If you want to know more, don’t forget these meetings are public. Anyone can attend, or watch over the internet. Check the committee website for details.

If you show up, you’ll optionally have 30 seconds to state your case to the committee. Of course we recommend you tell them politely to have the courage to get past medical.

Speaking of getting involved, our friends at Montanans for Responsible Legislation (the group suing the city of Great Falls over their marijuana business ban) are throwing a huge fundraiser at the Rock Creek Lodge this weekend. Three days of music, food, and camping, with drum circles, fire dancers, vendors, caregivers and general fun to be sure. Check their website for details.

RUMOR ALERT: We’ve heard some fascinating rumors and conspiracy theories about Montana NORML in the last few weeks. I’d like to respond to all of them at once, so please, if you have heard anything, let me know.

Finally, here’s the news of the week:

Montana Marijuana News:

• Montana nursing board sidesteps medical marijuana issue
• MCN founder arrested for disorderly conduct
• Missoula: 1000′ school zones must be pot free
• Missoula: Nevermind about the 1000′ school zone (but staying out anyway is probably a good idea).
• Bozeman caps marijuana providers at a max of 32
• Bozeman immediately hits marijuana grower cap in one day
• Montana Lawmakers: Medical marijuana is “out of control”
• Committee considering banning people with criminal records from becoming marijuana growers, registering garden locations
• Montana lawmakers focus on ‘gray areas’ in medical marijuana law
• Montana Caregivers Network shuts down cannabis caravans

Thanks all, and remember:  we have Truth, Justice, and Liberty on our side.

You can get the free weekly NORML newsletter delivered to your inbox by signing up here.

That’s about in-line with my expectations. I have heard from some growers that it’s incredibly difficult to make a profit at $250/oz, but I’m not buying it. If you have persistent business or agricultural inefficiencies, sure, but not if you really have your act together.

It can’t be harder to grow than saffron. It’s just a plant, after all.

In other news, the Missoulian published my article on the “medical marijuana crime issue”.  Weigh in with comments, or let me know what you think.

From The Blog:

• Truth, Justice, and Liberty: There is simply nothing wrong with adults consuming cannabis responsibly, and policies to the contrary are a misapplication of the criminal sanction.
• What will happen if California legalizes marijuana? The pretax retail price of marijuana will substantially decline, likely by more than 80 percent.
• Cash-Strapped Police Chase Pot Growers for Funding: If the Sheriff steps up his pursuit of marijuana growers, his department is eligible for roughly half a million dollars a year in federal anti-drug funding, helping save some jobs.

Montana Marijuana News

• Whitefish Tables Vote on Medical Marijuana
• Missoula restricts Cannabusinesses
• Hill County (Havre) proposes medical marijuana law
• Belgrade Montana Bans Sale of Marijuana
• Billings Cops Making Marijuana Deliveries

Lots more on our Twitter feed, if you’re into that sort of thing.

If our messages are valued, you can help offset our costs here. Thanks in advance.

And get the free weekly Montana NORML Newsletter delivered to your inbox here.

And, three words that provide a foundation from which cannabis activists can draw confidence and vigor. Our opponents are on the other side of the fence from these three words.

Truth

The truth about cannabis? It is a plant that has been used by humans for thousands of years in thousands of ways. It’s a useful fiber, a nutritious seed, a natural and effective medicine, an enhancer of experience, and an element of social ritual.  It is remarkably non-toxic; no one has died from overdose.  It has been studied and studied and studied, and found to be relatively benign, with some therapeutic benefits and a very low potential for addiction.  Driving under the influence is not advisable, but nowhere near as dangerous as alcohol.  It is incredibly expensive to enforce marijuana prohibition, which leaves control of and profits derived from marijuana in the hands of criminals. And, prohibition does virtually nothing to reduce use. Prohibition is an expensive and tragic failure.

Justice

In Montana, you can go to jail for 20 years for selling a joint to a friend.  Same as beating someone with a crowbar.  Growing 31 plants in Montana can earn you life in prison. Same as rape of a child. For growing a plant in a garden? Are these just laws? Do they uphold justice, really? Is this how we want our precious and important criminal justice resources used?

Besides the police resources,  legal fees, and imprisonment, a criminal conviction under marijuana laws can lead to loss of employment, loss of financial aid, loss of child custody, and even loss of housing. Even when there’s no evidence of any other “criminal” behavior.

Bad laws, laws that hurt far more than they help, should be eliminated.

Liberty

Definitions of liberty include “immunity from arbitrary exercise of authority” and “personal freedom from servitude or confinement or oppression.” Read that again.

These are fundamental ideals of freedom enshrined in American history and culture. Marijuana prohibition is a horrible mistake, a backwards attempt to control behavior which does nothing valuable. Instead, it creates criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens and is slap in the face to the Founding Fathers.

There is simply nothing wrong with adults consuming cannabis responsibly, and policies to the contrary are a misapplication of the criminal sanction.

Our nation, and Montana in particular, has always held up truth, justice, and liberty as important ideals, a firmament upon which the infrastructure of civil society is built.

What are we waiting for? Why is responsible adult use of marijuana still a criminal act?

The answer, in a future blog post.