Marijuana in the 2017 Montana Legislature
Montana Senate committee members have been set. You can see the names in this Bozeman Daily Chronicle link.
Now you know which legislators you can write letters to about marijuana.
I'm thinking the agriculture committee is the one you’ll want to target when it comes to medical marijuana.
You might want to write a letter to the tax committee as well – they’ll probably take up the 6% sales tax on medical marijuana.
When it comes to agriculture, these are the Senators on the committee:
Hoven is the Chair of the committee and Swandel is the Vice-Chair.
So you’ve got 7 Republicans and 4 Democrats.
It’ll be tough to convince some of those Democrats to get those medical marijuana bills out of committee.
If you want to see the 3-patient limit lifted before next summer, you might want to write some of those committee members a letter.
Tell them how you feel. Tell them what your problems are.
Write them a letter.
Now you know which legislators you can write letters to about marijuana.
I'm thinking the agriculture committee is the one you’ll want to target when it comes to medical marijuana.
You might want to write a letter to the tax committee as well – they’ll probably take up the 6% sales tax on medical marijuana.
When it comes to agriculture, these are the Senators on the committee:
- Brian Hoven (R)
- Nels Swandal (R)
- Mary Caferro (D)]
- Mike Lang (R)
- Margie MacDonald (D)
- Eric Moore (R)
- Albert Olszewski (R)
- Ryan Osmundson (R)
- Diane Sands (D)
- Frank Smith (D)
- Dan Salomon (R)
Hoven is the Chair of the committee and Swandel is the Vice-Chair.
So you’ve got 7 Republicans and 4 Democrats.
It’ll be tough to convince some of those Democrats to get those medical marijuana bills out of committee.
If you want to see the 3-patient limit lifted before next summer, you might want to write some of those committee members a letter.
Tell them how you feel. Tell them what your problems are.
Write them a letter.
It’s their job to listen. Heck, you’re the one paying for their salary and benefits package.
Yes, their paycheck comes from your income and property tax dollars, maybe even some of the fees and such that you pay out on occasion.
The point is, they work for you.
Write them a letter.
I think you can do that.
Tell them what you think about medical marijuana and why it’s good for you and for Montana.
Many of those committee members probably haven’t heard from a medical marijuana patient. Many only have their preconceived notions to fall back on.
So write them a letter.
I’d suggest doing so for the following:
Brian Hoven
1501 Meadowlark Drive
Great Falls, MT 59404-3325
Nels Swandal
PO Box 147
Wilsall, MT 59086-0147
Mike Lang
PO Box 109
Malta, MT 59538-0109
Eric Moore
487 Signal Butte Road
Miles City, MT 59301-9205
Albert Olszewski
PO Box 8891
Kalispell, MT 59904-1243
Ryan Osmundson
1394 S. Buffalo Canyon Road
Buffalo, MT 59418-8005
Dan Salomon
42470 Salomon Road
Ronan, MT 59864-9272
That’s 7 letters that you can write to those people. You can do a handwritten note to each, or just print the same letter 7 times and send it.
That’ll cost you $3.29 in stamps and a bit of your time.
Will it make a difference?
It might.
And also, let’s remember that it was the House Human Services Committee that refused to lift the medical marijuana restrictions in the 2013 Legislature.
That committee was headed up by anti-marijuana hardliner David Howard.
It might be a good idea to look up that House committee when those committee member assignments are made public, which will happen soon.
Until then, think about writing a letter to your district’s legislators as well as others that you think might be able to help you.
Besides that…what else are you going to do?
This is easier that showing up to the legislature’s committee meeting rooms on the 3rd floor of the Capitol sometime in February or March.
It’ll be cold outside then, and miserable inside.
So please, think about writing a letter to these people that you’re paying to make laws and repeal them.
You can do it.
