Solid Foundations Lead to Success

Building foundations is not glamorous work.  It’s nuts and bolts.  It is hard work.  Just as with building a house, a solid foundation is necessary for the project to stand the test of time. Foundations, while not visible, determine the success of that which is built upon it.

Less than 10% of proposed initiatives make it to ballot and are voted on by the people of Montana. The MTCIA and its partners are working hard to create a stable foundation for a mighty task. When we launch our statutory initiative, we’ll have all the pieces organized to make this effort run like a machine and get the job done. An initiative campaign is a legal process to establish statewide policy and it must meet legal review and prepare for potential attacks by opponents.  It is not simply collecting signatures.

Currently, our ballot language is in the review process with the Attorney General’s office.  We expect to have approximately two months to gather the needed signatures to get on the ballot. It will be a tight timeframe, but it’s been done before. With a solid foundation and all the pieces in place before we launch, two months will be enough.

Yet, we are not simply waiting on the Attorney General’s office. We are working. We are constructing the systems, gathering the people, and creating the proper infrastructures that will support us and carry us to a victory.  We are building the foundation for success.

And, we will succeed. The people of this country and this state support medical marijuana. The initiative, itself, is also the work of creating a better foundation for the regulation of medical marijuana in Montana. The 2011 law, SB 423, could be called a faulty foundation, or even no foundation at all. Its aim was never to create a safe, functional, and accountable system. So, the work before us here is foundational work, too, getting the nuts and bolts of a workable law in place that protects access for patients and provides citizens with what they wanted out of a medical marijuana program.

Responsible.  Accountable. Compassionate.

This is the foundation of the program Montanans wanted.