Your Turn

My son, Travis, died on Dec. 5, 2003, at the age of 29. He was a successful chef by trade, a family man with his own eight-year-old son. Travis was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a blood cancer, in January of 2003. He immediately started chemotherapy. This chemo made him deathly ill. He couldn’t keep anything down: not food, pain killers, Marinol, or any other medications.

Travis went on the Internet, did some research, and read information about medical marijuana. We were sitting in the dining room when Travis came in and asked us if it was OK if he smoked marijuana in the house. We knew that would put all of our lives at risk. If we were busted, we could lose our house and possessions. Our daughter could lose her scholarship at MSU.

But, we knew that, with marijuana, Travis was able to eat and keep down his food and medications. In fact, his using marijuana eliminated the need for more narcotic drugs. So, the whole family got behind Travis and supported him.

I still feel the presence of my son daily. That is why I supported the Medical Marijuana Policy Project of Montana, the grassroots organization that drafted, gathered signatures for, and campaigned for Montana’s medical marijuana initiative, I-148, approved overwhelmingly in 2004 by 62 percent of Montana voters.

I didn’t want any other family to live through the fear that we had lived through. We’re law-abiding citizens, but we saw what marijuana did for Travis. Of all the prescriptions Travis took, marijuana was the least invasive one. Most importantly, with marijuana, Travis could keep his food down.

House Bill 311 is legislation needed to fine tune Initiative 148 and help hundreds of patients. In rural areas, nurse practitioners and physician assistants are peoples’ primary care givers. These medical professionals need legal standing to recommend marijuana, just as they currently do with any other drug. Secondly, we need to make legal the transportation of medicine from legal caregivers to legal patients.

Montanans are compassionate toward those with debilitating illnesses, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and chronic pain. I think everyone wants the program to work for patients in need.

Legislators need to remember Montanans’ compassion. These legislators didn’t get 62 percent of the vote.

We need 51 votes to bring House Bill 311 out of committee. Please encourage your legislators to support House Bill 311. Thank you.

Teresa Michalski is spokesperson for Montana Medical Marijuana Patients and Families United.