Medical marijuana was snuck in the back door

I'm writing to complain about my back door. Don't get me wrong, it's a good door. It's just the inappropriate use of that door that I'm concerned about. Actually, it's not just my back door that I'm worried about either, but all of ours.

Back in 2004, someone came to our front door to talk to us about supporting "medical marijuana." At the time, it seemed like a rather compassionate, libertarian and open-minded thing to consider.

Unfortunately, what we didn't know was that while this guy was talking to us at the front door, his buddies were sneaking in our back door and setting up a "legalized marijuana" operation in our living rooms.

What should have tipped us off from the beginning that something was amiss was that the guy at the front door advocating the "medical marijuana" issue was not a doctor or a part of the medical community. He was a part of the "legalize marijuana" crowd.

The thing we should have realized back then but didn't is that most doctors are about as likely to prescribe marijuana as they are to prescribe a cigarette or a case of beer. While those things may make one feel better temporarily, they are generally not felt by the medical community to be in a patient's best long-term interest.

So what we now have, by and large, are very few community doctors willing to write prescriptions for "medical marijuana" for the patients they care for, which was predictable. Unfortunately, what came in through the back door are individuals who are willing to go into a community, set up clinics and for a fee pass out medical marijuana cards to patients they have more than likely never seen before nor will ever see again.

Thus, on a regular basis I now see in my office young healthy patients who are on "medical marijuana" for "headaches," "ankle pain" and "knee pain."

I also hear about "care givers' wanting to set up shop down the street from our schools, in our downtown and in our neighborhoods where our kids live and walk and learn. All this leaves me feeling rather "back-doored."

Again, don't get me wrong. I think the discussion of whether or not we as a society should legalize marijuana is a legitimate discussion to have, with some good positions on both sides of the issue. But to be sold "medical marijuana" and to wind up with de facto legalized marijuana is for us all to be ill-used as voters.

I therefore encourage the city of Whitefish to show this crowd the front door and keep them out of and away from our down town, neighborhoods, parks and schools. I also think that this "medical marijuana" issue may be worth revisiting at the ballot box with a sharper eye towards that back door.

If you agree, please sign the petition to get the issue back on the ballot in November. It is available for signing until June 18 at www.safecommt.org.

Matt Bailey is a doctor living in Whitefish.