MED MARIJUANA BACKERS SEEK SUPPORT

Today is the half-way point in the fight by proponents of medical
marijuana to stop reforms passed during the Montana Legislature this
spring that would strictly limit the usage of the treatment.

The reforms were going to take effect on July 1, until Helena
District Judge James Reynolds blocked portions of the reforms. Now
activists are gathering petitions across the state, ahead of a Sept.
30 deadline, to place a new medical marijuana law on the ballot next
year that would replace the existing law. They need many more to
actually block the new reform law from taking effect until the
election decides medical marijuana's fate.

Rose Habib is the head chemist of Cannabanalysis Laboratories in
Missoula and is a leader among petition gathering efforts across the
state, including in Havre and Hill County.

According to Habib, they need to gather the signatures of 24,337
voters to have the initiative placed on the ballot. An exact number
on the amount needed to block the current law is more difficult to
come up with, as it would require 15 percent of 51 of the state's 100
districts, which vary widely in size and population.

Medical marijuanna growth in Montana. Information taken from the
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Habib said
this morning that the drive is going really well, having gathered
close to 20,000 signatures so far this summer while appearing at
state and county fairs and in cities across the state. Though those
20,000 have yet to be vetted for authenticity.

Of those, Habib said that more than 1,000 signatures have reportedly
been gathered in Hill County.

Havre is definitely contributing more than their share to the effort
across the state, " Habib said. "They're doing a fantastic job up there. "

Local organizers have said that those 1,000 have been difficult to
get, claiming to be told they couldn't gather signatures at the Great
Northern Fair and at the weekly Saturday Market.

Fair manager and Havre Mayor Tim Solomon said he remembered them
expressing interest in reserving a booth but not hearing back from them.

They called the first day of the fair, and they asked about doing
petitions at the fair, which we don't allow outside a booth, and we
told them they could talk to people on the street as they come in,
which I understand they did, " Solomon said. "We have had a policy
forever, from political years, that's what the booth is for. Why rent
a booth if you're going to walk around outside it? "

At Havre's Saturday Market, it is the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce,
who is leasing the property from Bear Paw Credit Union, that has the
policy limiting petition gathering.

The policy for Town Square does not allow for the sale of raffle
tickets or solicitation, " said Debbie Vandeberg, the Chamber's
executive director. "That is not a city park. We manage it, and those
are the rules that have been set up. "

Habib sees it differently. She feels that petition-gatherers are
unfairly, and possibly illegally, being excluded.

We're finding that pretty consistently across the state people are
trying to block these public forums, " Habib said. "It's perfectly
legal for people to practice their First Amendment rights. Yet, due
to someone's sense of propriety, they feel that people can't practice
their First Amendment rights there, and that's not right.

We're not letting that stop us. "

On Saturday, the gatherers were out on the public right-of-way, on
the sidewalk, just outside of the Saturday Market area.

James Fenlon, a local Vietnam War veteran, was out with a clipboard
on Saturday. He said he had fought for his country in the 1970s and
was now fighting for the rights of all beneficiaries of medical
marijuana, including himself and his wife, who both suffer from chronic pain.

I don't like to see her cry, " Fenlon said. "That's what I'm fighting for. "

He said the response had been tepid for the most part, though that
was the result of widespread misunderstandings.

People are afraid of it, " Fenlon said. "They put a name on it and
lied about it. "

The misunderstanding, according to Habib, extends to the policymakers
and state officials in Helena who are still fighting for the current
reform, or even more restrictive reforms, including those like
Montana Assistant Attorney General Jim Molloy who is appealing Judge
Reynolds' overturning of the ban on selling of medical cannabis for a profit.

They say it's a dangerous precedent to allow them to sell cannabis in
this state, " Habib said. "If it's legal to have something in the
state then it should be legal to sell it. That's our point.

Nonetheless we'll have to raise the funds to pay for it, while the
taxpayers have to continue to pay for this ridiculous witch hunt.
Frankly, that just rejuvenates us in our battle to collect signatures."