Don't be fooled by ballot language

Editor,

In just a few short weeks we will all be going to cast our ballot in the 2016 election. One of the ballot initiatives we will be voting on concerns the Montana medical marijuana program.

In 2011, the legislature, after attempting a repeal of our medical marijuana law, put in place a law with the intent of getting as close as they could get to repeal of a law that passed by 62 percent of Montana voters.  One of the provisions of this law was that law enforcement could, if they desired, conduct unannounced inspections of providers of medical cannabis.  Since 2011 when the law went into effect, a very small number, if any, of these inspections have been done.  I-182 seeks to change this and make sure inspections get done annually by putting the responsibility of the inspection process in the hands of a regulatory agency, in this case, the Department of Health and Human Services. This represents a vast improvement over our current law and better assures the safety of medical marijuana patients.

The ballot language doesn’t accurately reflect this fact.  It only refers to taking the responsibility of unannounced inspections from law enforcement’s hands.  Some read the language and think that this would hinder law enforcement’s ability to conduct normal business in regards to these businesses. It does not. Quite the opposite, in fact.  Section 18 reads as follows: “Nothing in this chapter may be construed to limit a law enforcement agency’s ability to investigate unlawful activity in relation to a person or individual with a license or registry identification card.”

Be aware of this misleading language. Cast your vote for I-182. Any which way you slice it, I-182 is a vast improvement over our current law and provides for a more regulated, transparent medical marijuana program for Montana.

Tayln Lang

Hamilton