Council does the right thing
The Kalispell City Council stepped up and did the right thing, and for that they should be lauded.
On a 5-4 vote, the council opted Monday to rescind its own earlier plan to ask voters to decide the future of the municipal airport.
To airport opponents, that sounds like a betrayal, but to those of us who admire sound, responsible government, it is a return to sanity. Every single decision the City Council makes has consequences, often momentous consequences, such as the decision to approve major business development at the north end of the city.
Nonetheless, we citizens don’t clamor to put every other decision up for a general vote by residents. It’s neither an efficient, nor a reasonable, way to run government. The ancient Greeks learned that more than 2,000 years ago.
We elected our representatives to be informed and make the best decisions they can about what they deem to be in the best interests of the community as a whole. Giving in to a vocal minority’s pleas for a ballot issue was a bad precedent that could only have emboldened special interests to try to put a multitude of pet peeves to a vote, or worse to steer policy based on who can pay for the best ballot campaign.
Governing capably requires fortitude, intelligence and wisdom. We are glad to see the Kalispell City Council displaying all three.
IF NOTHING ELSE, the Montana Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding a Flathead District Court ruling on medical marijuana provides some bright clarity to those in the business and those charged with regulating it.
The issue in the case was whether it is legal for caregivers to exchange marijuana with other caregivers. The Flathead Court ruled that it is not legal under the Legislature’s 2009 Medical Marijuana Act and the Supreme Court agreed, but went a step further.
In a 5-0 ruling, the court found that all aspects of the medical marijuana business are illegal, because “the fact remains that the medical marijuana laws seek to legalize conduct that is violative of the federal Controlled Substances Act,” wrote Justice James Nelson.
Nelson said state courts shouldn’t be wasting any more time dealing with issues related to the state medical marijuana program. That’s pretty straightforward stuff, and it should clear any confusion for law enforcement and any uncertainty for those involved with the marijuana trade. From now on, no matter what Montana’s Legislature says, you smoke pot, or grow it, at your own peril.