Great Profiles

John Masterson, like an ever-growing number of Missoulians, is not from Montana. He moved here in the summer of 1993 to pursue a graduate degree from the University of Montana.  Since then he has entwined himself with several areas of the community, from his volunteer work with the Montana chapter of the National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws (NORML), to his successful web-hosting company, Modwest Inc.

Masterson earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Miami in his home state of Florida. In the summer of 1993, he came to Missoula where he earned a master of arts in communications studies at UM.

In the summer of 1998, Masterson felt he had something to contribute to the long-standing struggle to end the prohibition of marijuana.  He approached NORML about resurrecting the Montana chapter of the organization. NORML is a non-profit organization founded in 1970 that works to change marijuana laws by lobbying state and local government and educating the public about the many benefits of the plant.

The previous Montana NORML chapter dissolved in the 1970’s, which meant Masterson would be starting from scratch. NORML put Masterson through an extensive application process.  He had to convince NORML not only why he would be a good candidate to lead the Montana chapter, but also why Montana needed a chapter of its own at all. He wrote an essay stating his case as well as bylaws for the new chapter. He was also required to take an active role in the community, which he did by distributing flyers and talking to people about the benefits of legalizing marijuana.

In August of 1998, Montana NORML opened its doors to the public with Masterson serving as its executive director. Since then, the tiny non-profit organization, run almost entirely by Masterson and his wife Heather, has had some major achievements and at the annual NORML conference in October, they were given the outstanding citizen activist award.

John and Heather Masterson began their work in October 1998 by commissioning a poll of adults in Montana about their opinions of marijuana use.  According to the Montana NORML website, 90 percent of respondents felt that the war on drugs was both unsuccessful and a waste of money. About 70 percent supported medical marijuana, and more than 50 percent were for regulating and taxing marijuana for recreational use.

In December 1998, Masterson co-authored a house resolution (HR-2) that called for the re-legalization of hemp at the state and federal level. HR-2 was passed in the 1999 state legislative session 95-4. The Montana Legislature passed a hemp agricultural law, based on HR-2, in the 2001 legislature.

In 2002, Masterson worked with students at the University of Montana to create an on-campus chapter of NORML called Grizzly NORML.  The group did not last long after many of the students graduated or moved away, which was discouraging for Masterson, but he saw it as a step in the right direction.

Masterson also played a role in the Medical Marijuana Act, which was passed in Montana in 2004.  Most recently, John serves as the chair of the community oversight committee, which was created after the passing of Initiative 2, which recommends that county law enforcement make adult marijuana offences its lowest priority.  The committee was set up to evaluate the implementation of Initiative 2 and consists of nine residents of Missoula County.

While at the helm of Montana NORML, Masterson has experienced a fair amount of success, but he says his most gratifying role in the fight to change marijuana laws has been as the chair of the I-2 oversight committee, a position he describes as “a seat at the table.”  As chair of the committee he is involved in actual administration of county policy, which, to Masterson “feels like progress.”

In January 2000, Masterson and three other “techies” founded the web-hosting company Modwest, Inc. when, as Masterson recalls, “four techies built a server on the living room floor and then started building automation software to run the technical aspects of the service.” Today, Modwest has moved from its birthplace to an office in downtown Missoula. Masterson serves as vice president of business development and customer care.  The company has 12 employees and customers in 53 countries around the world.

In addition to Modwest, Masterson co-founded another website called grupthink.com.  He describes this as a “social media site used to aggregate answers to open-ended questions.” A visitor to grupthink can share his opinion and read the opinions of other’s regarding hundreds of topics including “most evil person ever,” ”how do you sunbathe?” and “who’s your favorite lesbian?”

A man who runs a nonprofit group and two websites would likely be described as very busy by most, and rightly so, but Masterson is also a beer brewer.  In fact, he is the former president of the Homebrew Club in Missoula and has is own how-to video posted on Youtube titled “A Day of Homebrewing at the Masterson Ranch.”

Not surprisingly, Masterson lists time management as one of his biggest obstacles. To combat the stress caused from spreading himself so thin, Masterson has several outlets. Chief among them is GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System). GURPS is a dungeons and dragons style role playing game Masterson describes as a “grittily realistic combat system.” While this may not sound like the ideal stress reducing activity, it seems to be working.

Sitting in the conference room of the dimly lit offices of Modwest, I was impressed by how relaxed, although tired, Masterson seemed. Lounging in his chair, he described the many facets of his life with a calm smile on his face. It was the smile of a man who has worked extremely hard for the things that matter to him without fear or regret.