If you can't beat 'em at the ballot box, do it with administrative and quasi-legal shenanigans. That seems to be the way East Lansing City Clerk Marie Wicks and Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum have managed to keep a vote on legalizing marijuana off the East Lansing ballot this fall. "In 11 other cities the same thing will be voted on," says attorney Jeffrey Hank, chair of the Coalition for a Safer East Lansing, which ran the petition initiative. "They're playing games with democracy. We are pissed off." [continues 1122 words]
A change is gonna come Christeen Landino remembers attending her first marijuana protest in downtown Detroit back in 1974. She still has a card from then that she paid $1 for in support of the Michigan Marijuana Initiative, an unsuccessful petition drive to get decriminalization on the ballot that year. It didn't happen then, but we know that a whole lot of water has passed under the Ambassador Bridge since then. President Nixon had recently declared his war on drugs, and had marijuana designated a Schedule 1 drug, despite having been advised to decriminalize it. Today Nixon's drug war is pretty well considered a failure, and the majority of Americans support legalization of marijuana. [continues 1115 words]
Marijuana has become pretty normal in America. That doesn't mean that people aren't still getting dragged off to jail for possession. According to FBI estimates, about 750,000 people were arrested for marijuana-related offenses in 2012. The vast majority of them were for simple possession, and although marijuana use is approximately equal among both groups, young African-Americans and Latinos are arrested at rates much higher than whites. Those arrest numbers speak to a whole different set of social issues other than marijuana use, and as soon as this marijuana thing gets untangled, it will give law enforcement one less way to ensnare people of color in the legal system. [continues 1160 words]
I first wrote about Alysa Erwin in December 2013. At the time, she had been cancer-free for 11 months. Alysa's and her family's ordeal started in January 2011 when she was 14 years old. She started having debilitating headaches, and in the spring was diagnosed with Grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma - brain cancer - at the University of Michigan hospital. Her parents were told she might live 18 to 24 months with chemotherapy treatments. After one round of chemo, Alysa was so sick her family decided to forgo conventional treatments and try treating her with Rick Simpson Hemp Oil. [continues 1168 words]
Chuck Ream takes his cannabis religiously. In fact he's evangelistic about it. "When you get out past your own ego, the teaching plants carry the message of right and wrong just like the Bible," says Ream. "That teaching from the magical plants could be the impetus to save our civilization, to move beyond absolute materialism. It's the only real religion." It's that kind of zeal that led to Ream receiving the High Times Lester Grinspoon Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent Michigan Medical Marijuana Cannabis Cup. It's a great honor, but Ream has bigger ambitions. [continues 1091 words]
Michigan Moves Forward Well, we can chalk up another medical Cannabis Cup for the state of Michigan. Truth is, I was too busy to make it to Clio, although the Wyclef Jean show to cap it off would have been worth the trip on its own. At least I got to enjoy Lee DeVito's posts from the affair. I think he sent them in by carrier pigeon - an electronic pigeon. These kinds of things are the fulfillment of lots of strategic planning to make sure things go right. The last Cup, held in Detroit in 2011, was pretty good except for Detroit police felt the need to stroll through and show off a little muscle. That included shutting down the medicating area. [continues 1112 words]
The War on Drugs Creates a New Class of People to Be Discrimined Neil Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), is a dedicated advocate against the War on Drugs. He's participated in it on the police side as a 33-year veteran of the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department. He's served on drug squads and done undercover work. LEAP is a national organization of former and current law-enforcement officers who support ending the War on Drugs. Franklin was among those, along with Michelle Alexander (author of The New Jim Crow), who convinced the national NAACP to pass a resolution calling for an end to the War On Drugs in 2011. [continues 1156 words]
Pot and recreation The eyes of America are on Colorado, so far the only state where legal marijuana for recreational use by adults is available (with Washington state not far behind). And the folks involved in marijuana issues in Colorado and elsewhere are well aware of that. So, last week, the national organization Drug Policy Alliance held a teleconference marking six months of marijuana legalization. I learned a lot about what's going on there, but the assessment from Mike Elliott of the Colorado Marijuana Industry Group (MIG) seems to sum things up pretty well: [continues 1186 words]
Pot at the Polls. Michiganders are gearing up for a lot of voting about marijuana over the next several months. In August, folks in Hazel Park and Oak Park will be voting on decriminalization of possession and transfer on private property of up to an ounce of the substance for those 21 and older. In Oak Park, the Safer Oak Park Coalition had to take it to court to force the city to put the question on the ballot, even though the Safer Michigan Coalition had successfully jumped through all the legal hoops to get it on. Oak Park officials tried to use an administrative maneuver to keep it off. They claimed that the ballot language had to be approved by Attorney General Bill Schuette's office. Schuette is no friend of marijuana decriminalization, and the AG stood mute on the language. Since the AG didn't speak, Oak Park officials said the question couldn't go on the ballot. The coalition sued, and an Oakland County Circuit Court ruled that the question must go on the ballot. [continues 1093 words]
Putting Pot to the Test. The managers at Iron Laboratories LLC seemed a bit anxious when I visited their facility on Maple Road in Walled Lake. They're wary of how they're portrayed in the media. "We wouldn't have done this one year ago," says CEO Robert Teitel. "Now it's time." That wariness comes from the fact that their business is testing medical marijuana. Marijuana is, shall we say, a testy business in Michigan right now. Since the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA) was passed in 2008, marijuana businesses have often been on shaky ground due to continuing attitudes against them. The legislation has been interpreted unevenly by various local governments and law enforcement agencies. There are places, such as Washtenaw County, that have taken a gentler attitude toward what will be tolerated, and other places, such as Oakland County, that have taken a tougher stance. [continues 1132 words]
Legal Ambiguities and the Future of Michigan Marijuana. If The Graduate came out today, Michael Komorn suggests a famous bit of dialogue might go like this: Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Benjamin: Yes, sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening? Benjamin: Yes, I am. Mr. McGuire: Marijuana. Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean? Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in marijuana. Think about it. Will you think about it? In The Graduate, of course, that word was "plastics." But Komorn, a Southfield-based attorney, sees that kind of potential today in marijuana. Komorn should know. At komornlaw.com, you'll find a giant banner at the top of the page proclaiming that "Since November 2008, Komorn Law has focused on protecting and defending the rights of medical marijuana patients and caregivers." [continues 1108 words]
Study Hour. "Taking music lessons as a child could physically change your brain." This headline ran in the HuffingtonPost last year. Unless you read the HuffPost regularly, you might not have heard about it. There was no rash of stories across the country regarding the brain damage wreaked by music lessons. Actually the findings about music lessons, and music itself, were that they had a positive impact on our brains. But the brains of musicians are definitely wired differently than non-musicians. [continues 1075 words]
High spirits. "I like smoking weed," said the guy wearing a bright, multicolored jacket with Batman's nemesis "The Joker" on it. "Is that a bad thing?" Not at the 43rd Ann Arbor Hash Bash, where marijuana was inhaled freely by the crowd estimated to be 8,000 strong under the sunny skies of a spring day. Guitarist Laith Al-Saadi opened up proceedings with a solo Jimi Hendrix-inspired version of the "Star Spangled Banner." That opened up the official proceedings. Unofficially, folks had been toking, vaporizing, and consuming brownies, cookies and other edibles for quite some time. Toward the back and the edges of the crowd, getting high was the main activity. That's pretty much what they were doing up front too, except those folks were paying attention to what was being said from the steps of the library. The folks in back didn't have a chance. The drum circle, which had been banging away since before I showed up early, never even flinched in recognition of the program. [continues 1013 words]
Copping Out on Pot. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is the first new condition added to the list of qualifying conditions since the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act went into effect in 2008. Steve Arwood, director of the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, approved the recommendation of the advisory panel last week. Apparently the system, as set up in the MMMA -- can work. As long as it took, it still puts Michigan at the forefront on PTSD. Of the 20 states (plus the District of Columbia) with medical marijuana laws, Michigan is just the sixth to allow it for treatment of PTSD. And, ironically, it came the same week the federal Department of Health and Human Services finally gave long-delayed approval to the University of Arizona to study marijuana as a potential treatment for veterans with PTSD. [continues 1097 words]
Plus Sanjay Gupta 'Not Backing Down on Medical Marijuana.' The action was heavy in Lansing on the medical marijuana front last week -- something good, something not so good, and something questionable. First the good: The state Medical Marihuana Review Panel met last week and voted 6-2 in favor of adding Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana certification in Michigan. Now it's up to state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Director Steve Arwood to decide whether to allow it. [continues 1175 words]
Parents and their children seem to be at the forefront of medical marijuana contention in Michigan and across the nation these days. One of the hottest points is Michigan's proposed SB 736, which was introduced by state Sen. Rick Jones on Jan. 15. The Senate bill addresses issues around the children of medical marijuana patients and seems to be an outgrowth of the Bree Green debacle last year. Baby Bree, as she is known publicly, was taken from her parents by Child Protective Services in early September. Bree's parents, Steve and Maria Green, are medical marijuana patients. Steve suffers from epilepsy and Maria from multiple sclerosis. Maria grows marijuana at their home. The issue with then-6-month-old Bree stemmed from a custody battle between Maria and her ex-husband over an older child. [continues 1132 words]
Pot's Tipping Point. The public debate over marijuana has finally reached the highest levels in our government. President Obama, in an interview that ran in The New Yorker, said that while he believed marijuana use is a "bad habit and a vice," he doesn't "think it is more dangerous than alcohol." That was certainly a shot over the bow against the War on Drugs; hopefully it moves us closer to sensible policies about marijuana. "We were absolutely delighted that he finally came out with a positive statement, an accurate statement," says Heidi Parikh, director of Michigan Compassion, a federal nonprofit focused on education about medical marijuana. "We hope he moves forward in the direction, that he'll reschedule it before the end of his term." [continues 1124 words]
Putting Pot to the Test. One of the biggest arguments anti-marijuana warriors use is the "we don't know enough about this stuff" ploy. I've been guilty of saying that myself. But the truth is there's plenty of information available about marijuana's effects, both medically and recreationally. We know its potential and its pitfalls. We also know how a population will deal with marijuana in an unregulated atmosphere. Think of the United States before pot was criminalized, back when it was part of the pharmacopoeia of its day. [continues 1145 words]
Also, Dr. Sanjay Gupta Switches to Pro-Medical Marijuana Side. One of the most interesting stories I've read this past year is that of the Lykovs, a Russian family that lived off the land in the Siberian wilderness for more than 40 years before they were discovered in late 1978. Smithsonian magazine did a big story on them last winter, and versions of it have been making the rounds ever since. In 1936, Karp Lykov, a fundamentalist Russian Orthodox Christian angered by Bolshevik persecution, took his family of four to live in the wilderness. You can search the Internet to find the whole story. The point of interest here is that the Lykov family grew hemp to make clothing (apparently they dragged parts for a spinning wheel and a loom into their mountain valley) and ate the seeds. [continues 1105 words]
The very first time I started reporting for the Higher Ground column in 2009, marijuana activists were outspoken about their opposition to Bill Schuette, then a candidate for state attorney general. Schuette won -- and has carried on a vendetta against patients, caregivers and dispensaries operating under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. I've heard lots of horror stories from folks paranoid about the potential harm a candidate could do, once in office. I'd be hard-pressed to name a candidate who turned out to be as bad as the opposition imagined in the way that Schuette has. He, along with the likes of Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard and Prosecutor Jessica Cooper, has pressed for the most conservative, restrictive interpretations of the law possible. [continues 1046 words]
Michigan Fiddles While the West Burns One. What a waste of the state Legislature's time. SB660 was passed by the Michigan Senate last week to much posturing and politicking by our lawmakers, and a fair amount of grousing by marijuana legalization activists. I'm not sure why any of them bothered. Senate Bill 660 says that if the federal government ever reschedules marijuana, then Michigan will allow the Canadian corporation Prairie Plant Systems (PPS) to run 16 marijuana grows in the state to produce what they consider certified "pharmaceutical grade" marijuana that would be sold in drug stores. [continues 1016 words]
A Bud by Any Other Name. Language and the creative use of words have always fascinated me. That's why I find the use of language employed in the War on Drugs so amusing. Among pro-marijuana activists, there are some who always refer to pot as "cannabis." Cannabis is its scientifically correct name and the name predominantly used for medical preparations before its prohibition. Another popular name was Indian hemp. Referring to the plant as marijuana was part of the public relations campaign to vilify it. Mexicans referred to it as marijuana and the prohibitionists chose to use that name in the effort to tie it negatively to ethnic minorities. [continues 1068 words]
Legislation Establishing Dispensaries Languishes While Patients' Rights Continue to Be Squeezed. The best chance to change the current atmosphere in Michigan surrounding medical marijuana lies in the state legislature, where Rep. Mike Callton's Medical Marijuana Provisioning Center Regulation Act (HB4271) sits in the Judiciary Committee. The bill, first introduced in February 2013, has been stuck in committee ever since; some observers believe it will die there, but not every observer. Robin Schneider, a legislative liaison for the National Patients Rights Association (NPRA), thinks it will not only come up for a vote - -- it will pass. [continues 1104 words]
Disperate Agendas but the Same End-Goal I recently spoke with Brandy Zink, chair of the Michigan Chapter of Americans for Safe Access, about the movement to legalize marijuana, when she said, "When marijuana is legal, we're still going to need medical marijuana." That got me to thinking. There are a lot of fronts when it comes to cannabis activism - each of them viable in their own way, yet inseparably intertwined with each other. The most visible fronts are the medical marijuana movement, the push to legalize recreational use of marijuana, the industrial hemp initiative, and efforts to end the drug war and legalize them all. [continues 947 words]
From Washington State to Washtenaw County, Women Are Spearheading Policy Change. Members of the group Michigan Moms United gathered outside the state Department of Human Services last week, along with other groups protesting the controversial removal of 6-month-old Bree Green by Child Protective Services from her Lansing family. The child's father suffers from seizures and is a medical marijuana patient; her mother is a registered caregiver. An Ingham County Court referee ruled that Bree was in danger because her mother had marijuana in the house and someone with a gun could break in. [continues 923 words]
A Statewide Look at Disparate Marijuana Laws. The Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, passed in 2008, made pot legal for patients with certain medical conditions. But the MMMA is not the only story in the state when it comes to legislating the cannabis plant. There are decriminalization efforts working their way around city by city, and some expect a statewide effort in 2016. Let's take a little tour around the Mitten for an update on some of the various laws. Lansing [continues 840 words]
Michigan Marijuana Law Reform In the five years since Michigan voters said "yes" to medical marijuana, a lot of things have changed. Michigan was the 13th state to legalize medical use of cannabis, and now there are 18, in addition to Washington state and Colorado, where it is legal for recreational use. Medical uses for marijuana are gaining acceptance among medical professionals and the National Institute of Health has acknowledged that it may be useful in cancer therapies. Polls show about 85 percent of Americans support medical marijuana, and a little more than 50 percent support legalization of recreational use with taxes and regulation similar to alcohol and tobacco. [continues 454 words]
It's about time. Patient activist Melody Karr, testifying in front of the MMRP about her experiences after having seen her first husband commit suicide and her second husband dying when she was only 32. By Published: September 11, 2013 Last week, the Michigan Marihuana Review Panel, which makes recommendations on qualifying conditions to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, heard public testimony on a petition to add Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome to the list of qualifying conditions. If the panel recommends the condition and LARA Director Steve Arwood concurs, it would be the first condition added under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, and the first qualifying psychological condition in Michigan. [continues 1145 words]
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Pot Moms, and More The Drug Enforcement Agency has reportedly ordered all security and armored vehicle companies to cease servicing marijuana businesses. The past couple of weeks have been a very strange trip for Michiganders engaged with marijuana rights. It started with Dr. Sanjay Gupta posting an apology for his past opposition to medical marijuana on the CNN webpage. Titled "Why I changed my mind on weed," Gupta wrote that he had "mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance because of sound scientific proof." [continues 1064 words]
From Ferndale to Lansing - and Even Uruguay - Legalization Seems More Tangible Than Ever Before. THIS MAY BE THE biggest news about marijuana since the War on Drugs kicked off under President Richard Nixon: Uruguay is standing on the verge of legalizing it. A couple of weeks ago, the South American nation's General Assembly passed a bill that would legalize growing, selling and possessing the plant; it still has to pass in Uruguay's Senate and be signed by President Jose Mujica. [continues 1067 words]
Singular Repercussions There has been a strange disconnect with the African-American community and activism against the War on Drugs. Statistics show that while blacks and whites use drugs at about the same percentage - thus, there are a lot more white people using drugs because, well, there are a lot more white people - blacks go to jail for drug offenses at a much higher rate than whites, and serve longer sentences for them. The mantra among drug-war reformers is that drug use should be treated as a public health issue rather than a criminal issue. Although drugs are illegal, in affluent communities the health issue approach is more often applied as families send members to rehabilitation and counseling. [continues 1109 words]
Another Layer of Legitimacy This is big news for marijuana activists around the world: Michigan Compassion, a Taylor-based medical marijuana nonprofit, has received a major award from Google Grants to support its education efforts. Not only does it help the organization, it adds another layer of legitimacy in an area that had formerly been pushed into the shadows of society. "Michigan Compassion is a recipient of a Google Grants award," reads a letter Google provided the organization. "The Google Grants program supports registered nonprofit organizations that share Google's philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy and the arts. Google Grants is an in-kind advertising program that awards free online advertising to nonprofits via Google AdWords." [continues 1083 words]
Some say the good book approves of kind bud. Apparently God, who - from a believer's standpoint - is the creator of all things, including marijuana, doesn't care if you use it. At least that's the opinion of the Rev. John Jackson of Trinity United Church of Christ in Gary, Ind., and probably quite a few of his peers. Jackson attended a recent conference called "View from the Pulpit: Faith Leaders and Drug Decriminalization" at the American Baptist College in Nashville, Tenn. The group of black pastors focused on the injustice of drug law enforcement because African-Americans make up only 13 percent of drug users, but make up 59 percent of those convicted for drug offenses. [continues 870 words]
Obama Escalates the War on Drugs When Barak Obama became president in 2008, there was hope among marijuana activists that federal authorities would not concern themselves with medical marijuana facilities and individuals in states that legalized the plant for medical use. After all, this was a president who had admitted to smoking pot and inhaling (the last three presidents have smoked marijuana, although Bill Clinton claimed he didn't inhale). Then there was the so-called Ogden memo that declared medical marijuana a "low priority" in states that had legalized it. Activists thought they felt a breath of fresh air out of Washington regarding the War On Drugs. [continues 1202 words]
LAST WEEK, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA) protects registered patients while driving with THC in their bloodstreams, although it left open the possibility of prosecution for impaired driving. In the case of People v. Koon, the court ruled unanimously (and without oral argument): "This case requires us to decide whether the MMMA's protection supersedes the Michigan Vehicle Code's prohibition and allows a registered patient to drive when he or she has indications of marijuana in his or her system, but is not otherwise under the influence of marijuana. We conclude that it does." [continues 1106 words]
A Place That Marijuana Activists Look to With a Gleam in Their Eyes If Michigan has a "city upon a hill," a beaming locale that is a showplace for the state, a place where the economy seems to roll along with hardly a glitch, a place "where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average," to borrow the description of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon, it would be Ann Arbor. With the University of Michigan, the U-M hospital, the annual art fair, a popping downtown and plenty of people walking the neighborhoods, an abundance of jobs and a low crime rate, Ann Arbor is the kind of place that lots of cities would like to be. [continues 1166 words]
The 42nd Annual Hash Bash in Ann Arbor The 42nd Annual Hash Bash in Ann Arbor was the highlight of a flurry of activities around marijuana the past few weeks. A reported 3,000 people were at the University of Michigan Quadrangle for the Bash - part pep rally, part political effort and part toke-down. State Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, was one of many speakers at the well-organized and well-run event, which included local and national activists. Mason Tyvert, who works for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, and who headed up the legalization campaign team in Colorado, spoke; other speakers included National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws founder Keith Stroup and seed geneticist D.J. Short. [continues 1117 words]
How Bill Kicked the Pills Bill had six back surgeries by the time he was 31 years old. The first was during the ninth grade after he injured his back getting tackled on the football field, rupturing a disc in his lower back. The surgery followed a few months later, resulting in his missing most of that academic year. In 10th grade, some not-so-smart kid pulled a chair from under him as he was going to sit down, which led to another ruptured disc and another surgery. In 11th grade he slipped on some wet grass. Disc fragments and other effects from his injuries led to nerve problems. He underwent the knife a third time. [continues 1010 words]
The Stone-Cold Truth I got a good bit of reaction to my last piece on cannabis and cancer, so I want follow up on it before moving on to other subjects. Obviously, many folks out there are suffering and seeking relief, but I don't want to peddle false hope; there is already too much of that going on. However, if you already have a death sentence hanging over your head then you pretty much have nothing to lose. One of the major medicinal advantages of cannabis, the clinical name for marijuana, is the absence of significant and unintended side effects (no major harms) associated with its medicinal use 3/4which is a lot more than can be said for many pharmaceutical drugs that come with a laundry list of side effects, which sometimes include death. [continues 1234 words]
Stubborn Legal Questions Vex Patients' Search for Medicine When it comes to medical cannabis, there is a lot of attention paid to legal issues: Is it legal? Who can have it? Where can you have it? How much can you have? Can you buy it? Can you sell it? What's legal? What's not? There's a reason for this uncertainty: Cops keep busting people, and prosecutors keep trying to shut down their operations and put them in jail. It seems that folks in law enforcement can't change their thinking; this is a medical issue that's still being addressed with a drug-war mentality. [continues 1328 words]
State's High Court Lowers the Boom The Michigan Supreme Court dropped a bomb last Friday that still has a lot of medical marijuana patients, caregivers and people who run so-called dispensaries disoriented as to how to continue operating under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. In the case State of Michigan vs. McQueen, the high court, in a 4-1 ruling, determined that patient-to-patient sales are not allowed under the act. Such sales were the foundation most dispensaries built their business model on. [continues 1282 words]
New Pot Doc Shows Patients Trying to Obey the Law Michigan medical marijuana activists have a new film promoting their cause. Blazed and Confused: The War Against the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act is a one-hour documentary that examines how things are not working so well for some folks in the medical marijuana system. It was made by local film maker Jen Whalen. Whalen has worked on other films, but this is her first time in charge of the whole shebang. This is also the first time she's stepped into the medical marijuana world. [continues 1178 words]
Legalization Efforts Grow From the Bottom Up Peeling back the layersof cannabis prohibition is like playing a game of three-card Monte. Now you see it, now you don't. That seems to be the case with decriminalization efforts that won handily in five Michigan cities in November and energized activists. Now local officials are throwing up roadblocks along the route to instituting change. In Grand Rapids, Proposal 2 amended the city charter to make possession of marijuana a civil infraction punishable by a $25 fine for a first offense. [continues 1201 words]
Why the War on Drugs Is a War Against Black People Attorney Michelle Alexander has been shaking things up across the nation over the past two years, yet you may not have heard of her. Her book, The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, takes on race and the War on Drugs in ways few people would dare to approach. The point of her book is that there is a new Jim Crow system that traps many African-Americans in a permanent underclass. That system is driven by the War on Drugs which causes many young people to be stigmatized by felony records - for a victimless crime - that keep them from employment, education and housing. [continues 923 words]
Last Week's Votes Give Massive Momentum to the Anti-Prohibition Movement Can you get a contact high from election results? It does seem possible with the euphoria among activists over last week's votes on cannabis issues. "It clearly gives massive momentum to the anti-prohibition movement," says Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "It again challenges the federal government and sets precedent for other states to very soon follow." The votes were historic for cannabis activists in Michigan and across the nation. All of the ballot proposals in Michigan cities - Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Ypsilanti - passed. Voters in Colorado and Washington state made groundbreaking decisions to end state-level prohibition in favor of regulating and taxing cannabis in manners similar to alcohol and tobacco. Massachusetts brought the total of states with medical marijuana laws to 18. [continues 1047 words]
Marijuana Law Reformers Aim for Long-Term Change on Election Day The stakes are high for marijuana laws in next Tuesday's elections. Three states are voting on some form of a tax-and-regulate law, and two states are voting on medical marijuana. In Michigan, where voters said yes to medical marijuana in 2008, there are proposals in five cities that would further mitigate legal penalties for marijuana possession and use. Detroit's Proposal M seeks to legalize possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana on private property by adults 21 and older. In Grand Rapids, Proposal 2 calls for making possession or use of marijuana a civil infraction punishable by a fine of up to $100. Kalamazoo voters will decide on amending the city charter to allow up to three marijuana dispensaries in the city. And in Flint and Ypsilanti, there are questions on the ballots that, if approved, would direct police to make enforcement of marijuana-possession laws their lowest priority. [continues 1031 words]
Push to Decriminalize Small Amounts of Weed in Detroit Finds Little Opposition Maybe anti-Proposal M forces were out this past weekend campaigning. Maybe they're crashing the phones on radio talk shows this week. Maybe, with less than three weeks before the election, they got loudspeakers and made their voices heard. Well, that's what Lawrence Kenyatta, co-chair of the advocacy committee at the Partnership for a Drug Free Detroit, hoped would happen. "We are going to step our game up so that we will be prepared to educate Detroiters on the negative effects this will have on the city of Detroit," says Kenyatta. "It's an all-hands-on-deck call to action that will basically consist of soldiers who are in treatment facilities. We're mobilizing our troops." [continues 780 words]
Lawsuits part of effort to get state officials to comply with medical marijuana law Medical marijuana laws generally get bureaucratic pushback from administrators, politicians and law enforcement unhappy with the changes made by citizens' initiatives. Michigan medical marijuana activists claim that is the case with the Michigan Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), which oversees the Michigan Medical Marihuana program (MMMP). LARA has definitely been remiss in processing applications and issuing registration cards to patients and caregivers in the past. Although Rae Ramsdell, director of LARA's Bureau of Health Professions, claims to have caught up on a backlog of applications since buying new card-printing machines, complaints about receiving cards late still circulate among activists. [continues 1151 words]
Legalization Advocate Irvin Rosenfeld's Visit to Michigan Irvin Rosenfeld is one of the four surviving federal medical marijuana patients. There were once 13 of them, and Rosenfeld has been receiving his allotment longer than any of the other survivors. He gets a canister with about 300 rolled marijuana cigarettes from the government every 25 days. Instructions printed on the can instruct the patient to smoke 12 of them each day. Rosenfeld, who has a bone disease called multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis, which causes tumors to grow on the long bones of his body, was in Michigan last week to lobby the state Legislature on pending bills that will affect medical cannabis patients and their access to their medicine. He also spoke at a Downriver Community Compassion Club (DCCC) meeting held at Donovan VFW Hall in Dearborn Heights and sold a few copies of his 2010 book, My Medicine: How I convinced the U.S. government to provide my marijuana and helped launch a national movement. [continues 1069 words]
Engaging New Book About Marijuana Avoids the Dullness Trap There have been plenty of books published on marijuana in recent years. Many of them have been oriented toward politics and the law, generally arguing that prohibition is misguided and its consequences are abysmal. Another group falls into the "marijuana is medicine" category, with authors citing study after study indicating the curative wonders of the weed. Yet others are how-to books: how to set up a grow room, how to grow cannabis, and how to cook it. However, seemingly in the effort to be taken seriously, marijuana activists often fall into the trap of dullness when writing their perfectly reasonable tracts. [continues 1088 words]
