Pubdate: Fri, 22 Aug 2008
Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright: 2008 Detroit Free Press
Contact:  http://www.freep.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/125
Author: Dawson Bell, Free Press Staff Writer
Referenced: Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care Ballot Wording 
http://drugsense.org/url/lB2kv4uG
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

POT, STEM CELLS MAKE THE BALLOT

Backers of State Reform Effort Promise to Appeal

LANSING -- The field of statewide ballot proposals for 2008 appears 
to be set at two -- medical marijuana and embryonic stem cell 
research -- following approval of ballot wording by a state elections 
panel Thursday. Advertisement

The proposal to permit the cultivation, possession and use of 
marijuana by patients with certain debilitating illnesses, such as 
muscular dystrophy or HIV-AIDS, was designated as Proposal 1 by the 
Board of State Canvassers.

A constitutional amendment to lift restrictions on research using 
human embryos, aimed at seeking treatments and cures for chronic 
illness and injury, was designated Proposal 2.

Backers of the amendment claim that it would provide researchers at 
Michigan's public universities with significant new opportunities to 
conduct work in an area they predict will provide much of the life- 
and health-saving medicine of the 21st Century. Opponents charge the 
proposal would free human embryo researchers from any state 
oversight, potentially turning Michigan into a Frankenstein 
laboratory of American medicine.

Following a directive issued Wednesday evening by the state Court of 
Appeals, the board declined to designate a third proposal -- the 
Reform Michigan Government Now! plan -- for the Nov. 4 ballot. 
Supporters of that proposal said they will appeal that decision to 
the state Supreme Court.

The only other option to expand the 2008 ballot proposal roster lies 
with the Legislature, which may propose constitutional amendments 
until 60 days before the election. Legislative leaders have not 
expressed an intention to do so this year.

The board also adopted the 100-word summaries of the two proposals 
that will appear on the ballot. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake