Montana Medical Marijuana News

"Cannabis at the Capitol" Comes to Bozeman

September 18, 2009

Bozeman, MT - Cannabis at the Capitol, a day of educating and rallying
for medical marijuana rights, comes to Bozeman today. Physicians,
nurses, and criminal defense experts will gather to talk about the
state's medical marijuana program, cannabis as a chronic pain treatment,
how much marijuana offenses cost taxpayers, and the latest updates on
the nation's "war on drugs." The event, sponsored by the
medical-marijuana advocacy group Patients & Families United, is billed
as a rally for cannabis policy reform and mirrors a controversial event
held in the state Capitol building in February.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, is one
of the speakers. He claims public support is growing for legalizing
possession of small amounts of pot, and public support is even stronger
for funding treatment for people with addictions rather than spending
money locking them up.

"The real emphasis is on reducing the role of the criminal justice
system as much as possible in ways that are consistent with health and
public order."

In this era of state budget woes, Nadelmann says, it is necessary to
examine legalization and shifting to more treatment instead of
incarceration.

"Clearly, continuing to incarcerate people for simple drug possession,
keeping them in long periods of time, just makes no sense in terms of
economic resources."

The idea of taxing, controlling and regulating marijuana has been
introduced recently in California, with an estimate that legalization
would bring the state more than $1 billion a year in tax revenue and cut
prison costs by hundreds of millions of dollars. Opponents argue that
legalization would likely lead to more addiction and health problems. A
live, flowering - and reportedly legal - cannabis plant will be on
display at the events.

The Cannabis at the Capitol Comes to Bozeman events will take place at
the Bozeman Holiday Inn throughout the day.

Deb Courson, Public News Service - MT

http://www.publicne wsservice. org/index. php?/content/ article/10583- 1