The MTCIA is You

The MTCIA has been the only entity effectively protecting access to medical marijuana in Montana. The reason it has been effective is because the MTCIA is not the Board of the Directors. It is not any particular personality in any given moment in time. The MTCIA is the people who show up, who have shown up, and know that change in cannabis policy of the proportion we seek is a marathon, not a sprint.

The MTCIA is you.

In Montana, together we have learned that changing the course of history comes with a price.

Many pioneers of the medical marijuana economy have paid dearly for their participation. They have paid with life-changing criminal records, destroyed finances, lost careers, stress-induced illnesses, and stigma.

But there’s another price the pioneers pay and that is the price of the fight. Everyone who has served as a provider for the past five years has been able to do so as a result of the lawsuit brought against the state by the MTCIA in 2011. More to the point, those who participate as providers in Montana’s medical marijuana program do so on the financial backs of those who have paid for the lawsuit.

To those who have stepped up and contributed, we applaud you and look forward to your continued support. To those who haven’t, it’s past time. You need to step up. If you want to be recognized by the community and elected officials as a legitimate, professional member of an industry, you must act like one.  

That means paying your way.

When you give to the MTCIA you are giving to yourself, preserving access for patients and protecting your own business. Exploitation and economic manipulation is how cannabis became illegal a century ago. The road in will not be the road out. Don’t “get yours” at the expense of others. Please step up and pay your fair share.

Your contribution goes to:

Legal

Our legal expenses continue in the effort to stay open and maintain a continuum of access for patients. We have appealed the Montana Supreme Court’s decision of February 2016 to the U.S. Supreme Court. We are hoping with this appeal to secure a stay on the state Supreme Court’s decision and prevent a lapse in access come August 31.

Political

We also have expenses in our efforts to fix the ridiculous medical marijuana law the 2011 legislature imposed on Montana. Citizens’ initiative I-182 aims to create a new foundation for a proper regulatory structure for medical marijuana in Montana. Licenses. Allowing testing. Allowing PTSD as an eligible condition. These are just a few of the provisions in the initiative aimed at reforming this clunker of a law. But it’s just the beginning.

Legislative

We also have expenses related to the ongoing work of improving and fixing our regulatory statute. We will also need to defend the law we aim to pass this November, I-182. This work is bigger than showing up in Helena from January through April every two years. It’s the work of ongoing education with our legislative representatives. It is work that does not end, as evidenced by the fact that professions from massage therapists to contractors to non-profit associations to insurance and mining industries all maintain a lobbyist and political presence.

We also will soon be launching a PAC and we will seek donations to it that can be used to support candidates who support us.

Many of our providers support the MTCIA with $10-$50/per patient/per month contributions. Can you join them?   

 

Please contact the MTCIA Treasurer James Haney at (406) 670-0143 or heavenscent1313@gmail.com to arrange to make a contribution.

Or, you can send a check to MTCIA, PO Box 50074, Billings, MT 59105

Payment via PayPal is also available at our website at mtcia.org.

Our promise is your promise.

We will not quit.

The MTCIA is you.