Group aims to repeal state marijuana law

The Montana Supreme Court upheld the Legislature’s decision to severely restrict medicinal marijuana use on Thursday, but a group working in the Flathead Valley and across the state wants to go a step further and completely abolish access to the drug unless it is distributed by a pharmaceutical company.

Safe Montana is a Billings-based group backing Initiative 176, a proposed ballot initiative to repeal the Montana Marijuana Act and ban possession, receipt, transfer, manufacture, cultivation, trafficking, transporting or using marijuana. It would bring state law into line with federal law.

The group has to get more than 24,175 signatures by March 31 to send the initiative to state voters in November. A similar initiative effort failed in 2014.

Steve Zabawa, director of Safe Montana, said the initiative was proposed to help protect Montana’s families.

He said he believes marijuana can have a lot of medicinal value, especially for cancer or epileptic patients, but thinks the drug should be monitored like other medicines: through a pharmaceutical channel.

“We believe in safe medicine,” Zabawa said. “We don’t believe anyone should be able to grow their own medicine. We believe a pharmaceutical company that is bonded should be doing that.”

Since 2004 medicinal marijuana has been legal in Montana. Starting in 2009, there was explosive growth in the industry with the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to announce that it wouldn’t actively enforce laws prohibiting the drug. By 2011, there were more than 30,000 people registered to legally use medical marijuana in Montana and nearly 4,800 providers.

The Legislature passed a law in 2011 to repeal most of the marijuana statute and limit providers of the drug to three marijuana cardholders. On Thursday, that law was upheld by the Montana Supreme Court in a move Zabawa applauded.

Zabawa said he believes the massive growth in the industry was not because more Montanans were using their marijuana cards for pain management, but instead were accessing the drug for recreational means.

“If you smoke marijuana, it basically just wastes you,” Zabawa said. “It gives you a very high sensation of good things. They get this high and they forget about life. Their problems pile up in the corner.”

Zabawa said he initially thought it was cool to do the drug in his younger years, but that over four decades he has seen the impact on people close to him.

“It hasn’t turned out pretty,” Zabawa said. “Suicide, depression, hepatitis ... I haven’t seen any real success stories. I’ve seen drugs destroy families and we hate that. That’s why I do it.”

Safe Montana communication director Kerri Crowe traveled to Kalispell in mid-February to collect signatures. She said she’s concerned marijuana is a “gateway drug.”

“The people with the green stuff often also have the white stuff,” Crowe said.

Zabawa is aware that there is another ballot initiative underway that would do the opposite of Safe Montana’s objective. Constitutional Initiative 115 would completely decriminalize marijuana for people over age 21.

Zabawa said he still thinks Safe Montana has a chance.

Jordan Loyda is the group’s local petition gatherer.

He has been spending most of his days standing outside the Flathead County Justice Center collecting signatures. On Wednesday, he had his infant son Gabriel strapped in a chest carrier. He said he has researched both sides of the current law.

“I see younger kids on marijuana,” Loyda said. “I don’t want that around Gabriel. I think it can be used as medicine, but right now, I think the system is abused.”

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.