Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jun 2014
Source: Detroit News (MI)
Copyright: 2014 The Detroit News
Contact:  http://www.detroitnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/126
Author: Mike Martindale
Page: 6A
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/props.htm (Ballot Initiatives)

OAK PARK VOTERS TO WEIGH HOME POT USE

1 Ounce Would Be Permitted on Private Property

Oak Park - Voters here will have the opportunity on Aug. 5 to decide 
whether possession of marijuana for personal use should be legalized 
within the city's borders.

Following a lawsuit filed by the Safer Oak Park Coalition, Oakland 
Circuit Judge Rae Lee Chabot ruled this week that the city of Oak 
Park should put a marijuana proposal on the Aug. 5 ballot which would 
permit persons 21 years or older to possess or transfer up to an 
ounce of marijuana on private property not accessible to the public.

Supporters stress the initiative is directed at home personal use 
only and does not permit marijuana use in public.

Oak Park officials previously argued that ballot language had to be 
approved by the State Attorney General's Office. The City Council 
unanimously voted Monday to drop any objections to the ballot question.

"Marijuana legalization is a freedom and liberty issue, because it is 
about keeping the government out of every little aspect of our 
lives," said Andrew Cissell, who is promoting the issue and is also a 
candidate for the state legislature.

Cissell, 26, was arrested in September after selling marijuana in Oak 
Park to an undercover police officer. Oakland County Narcotics 
Enforcement Team officers said Cissell was operating a grow operation 
at an Oak Park address where they seized 47 marijuana plants, two 
safes containing 838 grams of marijuana, and related equipment used 
to grow the herb.

"Andrew is a licensed patient and caregiver and we believe his arrest 
was not appropriate or lawful," said Debra Young, a spokeswoman for 
the marijuana initiative group and also Cissell's campaign manager.

Young said all the criminal charges are still pending in Oakland Circuit Court.

Cissell was sentenced to 18 months probation earlier this year for 
election law violations for circulating and gathering signatures for 
a similar successful marijuana initiative in Ferndale. The charges 
were brought because he was not a resident of the city at the time.

The Oak Park initiative is similar to ones adopted in seven other 
Michigan communities including Detroit.

Cissell is running in the August primary as a Democrat for the 
District 27 seat in the Michigan House of Representatives. The 
district includes Ferndale, Oak Park, Royal Oak Township, Berkley, 
Huntington Woods and Pleasant Ridge.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom