Helena Independent Record, 13 Oct 2012 – The attorney for Christopher Williams filed a motion Friday seeking an acquittal or at least a new trial for his client, saying U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen erred when giving the jury instructions in the only medical marijuana case in Montana to go to trial. The 12-member jury convicted Williams in Helena on Sept. 27 on eight counts, including conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana; manufacture of marijuana; possession with intent to distribute marijuana; and four counts of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense. Since the firearm offenses carry a mandatory minimum of five years to life imprisonment, plus mandatory minimums of 25 years for second and subsequent convictions, Williams could be facing a minimum of 80 years in prison.
US MT: OPED: Marijuana Ballot Issues In Other States May Affect Montana
The Billings Gazette, 10 Oct 2012 – Montana voters on Nov. 6 will approve or reject five ballot items including whether to require parental notification before a minor’s abortion and whether to declare that corporations do not have constitutional rights regarding campaign spending. But along with citizen lawmakers in five other states, marijuana-related ballot initiatives will, in the long run, have a far greater impact nationally. Medical marijuana has already been approved in Montana. Voters in two states, Massachusetts and Arkansas, will decide if marijuana can be used for medical purposes with the advice of a licensed doctor. If passed, Massachusetts will join nearby states — Connecticut, Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island — where the drug is already used to ease pain caused by cancer and other serious medical conditions.
US MT: PUB LTE: Latest Medical Marijuana Initiative Should Be Rejected
Helena Independent Record, 11 Oct 2012 – Does the will of the people continue to have any meaning in Montana? Not if the politicians have anything to do with it. Never before has a voter passed initiative been overturned by the Legislature.
US MT: Initiative 124 Approval Would Trigger Strict Restrictions
The Billings Gazette, 07 Oct 2012 – Let’s start by clearing up any confusion about Initiative 124. Voter approval would cement restrictions on medical marijuana approved by the 2011 Legislature. Rejection would restore the 2004 voter-approved law that legalized the medical use of marijuana in Montana.
US MT: Ballot Language for Montana’s Medical Marijuana
Missoulian, 06 Oct 2012 – Let’s start by clearing up any confusion about Initiative 124. Voter approval would cement restrictions on medical marijuana approved by the 2011 Legislature. Rejection would restore the 2004 voter-approved law that legalized the medical use of marijuana in Montana.
US MT: OPED: The Time Has Come To End The War On Drugs
Ravalli Republic, 04 Oct 2012 – Let us assume for a moment that I have discovered, while studying dandelion plants and how they regenerate, that if one collects and crushes enough of these seeds amounting to a 16th ounce of dandelion powder and further discovers that ingesting at least this much daily, I am relieved of an excruciating pain that I experience frequently from a spinal arthritic inflammation. Now suppose that I have discontinued the use of the expensive prescription drug issued by my rheumatologist after I have discovered that there seemed to be no adverse affects from the ingestion of this dandelion powder and I have decided that though the collection and grinding of these seeds is time consuming and labor intensive that it is worth it to save a few thousand dollars via self-medication. Now, let us assume the probable. The neighbors, after watching how I deal with my infestation of dandelions (letting them go to seed, then picking the heads off and placing them in a bag), begin asking questions. "Why not just spray the damn things?" "Every time I come by, you’re on your hands and knees plucking the heads off dandelions, are you nuts?" Finally I confide in an acquaintance that I trust of what I have discovered. Of course, he laughs at the idea and eventually tells his family about my mission in life as a humorous thing about a neighbor of his. I become the "dandelion man" and the butt of jokes as word spreads throughout the neighborhood. In a good year I can accumulate about 10 to 20 pounds of dandelion dust from my three acres to satisfy my medical needs so there are at times several pounds of dandelion dust on hand.
US MT: Medical Marijuana Film Tour Comes To Manhattan
Belgrade News, 05 Oct 2012 – On the first chilly fall evening in October, a few people sat in chairs in the Manhattan Community School Library. The superintendent of Manhattan schools was there. A couple of residents from the area and members of the American Civil Liberties Union occupied a few more chairs. The librarians made bags of popcorn and pulled down the projector screen for a movie. Whether the audience that might have filled the empty chairs was home watching the presidential debate or absent in an act of opposition, few showed up Wednesday night for the screening of Code of the West.
