Pubdate: Tue, 4 Mar 2008
Source: Detroit News (MI)
Copyright: 2008, The Detroit News
Contact:  http://detnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/126
Author: Mark Hornbeck, Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Cited: Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care 
http://stoparrestingpatients.org/
Cited: Michigan State Medical Society http://www.msms.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+Coalition+for+Compassionate+Care
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

POT FOR MEDICAL USE ON BALLOT

Supporters Gather Signatures to Ensure the Initiative Will Go Before 
Public in November.

LANSING -- An initiative to legalize marijuana for medical use likely 
is headed for the November ballot in Michigan, following 
certification Monday of supporters' petitions by a state elections panel.

The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, which collected nearly 
a half-million petition signatures last year, easily surpassed the 
required 304,101 valid signatures to qualify, the Board of State 
Canvassers decided on a 3-0 vote.

The initiative now goes to the Legislature, which has 40 days to 
consider it. If lawmakers approve the measure, which is unlikely, 
Michigan would become the 13th state to allow medical marijuana use. 
If lawmakers reject the proposal or fail to act within that time 
frame, it automatically goes on the November ballot.

If enacted, the new statute would allow patients to use, possess and 
grow their own marijuana for medical purposes with their doctors' approval.

Backers say seriously ill people should be permitted to use 
marijuana, without penalty, to alleviate pain and nausea.

"We should be allowing doctors and patients to have all options to 
deal with pain and suffering without fear of arrest or jail," said 
Dianne Byrum, spokeswoman for the coalition. Patients likely to 
benefit include those suffering from AIDS and Alzheimer's disease and 
cancer patients under chemotherapy.

Byrum said some national physicians' groups support medical 
marijuana. But the Michigan State Medical Society is opposed, except 
in research.

"We need scientific proof of efficacy. There's no direct evidence 
that it works," said David Fox, spokesman for the physicians' group.

Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, a physician and former hospice 
director, said he would vote against the proposal. He said THC, the 
active ingredient in marijuana, is already available in pill form, 
called Marinol.

"It is used as an anti-nausea medicine, an appetite stimulant and 
pain control but has a fairly narrow role and generally there are 
better medications," George said.

Campaign finance records show the medical marijuana group raised 
about $1.07 million and spent nearly all of it on the petition drive. 
That's more than any other ballot committee.

Other initiatives still in the petition circulation stage include 
plans that would: legalize embryonic stem cell research; replace the 
state income and business taxes with a 9.75 percent sales tax and 
require universal health care. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake