Group AIDS in Change for Drug Offenders

As federal government officials grappled with a plan earlier this month to reduce sentences for thousands of low-level crack cocaine offenders, they were being lobbied by Michigan residents in favor of the idea.

Lots of Michigan residents.

Michigan has one of the largest and most-active chapters of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a national nonprofit organization that works to repeal what many consider unfair drug and sentencing laws.

With 14,000 members nationwide, including 4,000 Michigan residents, and an annual budget of more than $1 million, the group packs a punch.

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Port Huron isn't just saving money when cutting the DARE program (DARE fans hope program is spared, Dec. 18). It is stopping a program that nearly every study, including government studies, shows is a failure and may be causing more drug use than no program at all.

Isn't there a conflict of interest in spending money for something that doesn't work and teaches lies, half truths and reefer madness propaganda? Isn't there a conflict of interest when DARE teaches that cannabis is bad and the Bible teaches God created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good on literally the very first page of the Bible?

DARE is great for police, their unions and job security. However Port Huron shouldn't be spending $730,000 so police can have "relationships" with children.

Dillon, Colo., Dec. 21

[end]

LANSING - Michigan's November 2008 ballot could be a bit crowded, possibly including proposals to provide universal health care and allow marijuana use for medical purposes.

Those proposals, among others, took procedural steps forward Wednesday with action by a state elections panel.

Other possible petition drives in the works would create a part-time Legislature in Michigan and require a statewide vote to raise certain taxes.

Most of the proposals are in preliminary stages. In most cases, organizers still have to collect the more than 380,000 valid signatures required to put proposals to change the state constitution before voters.

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Dear Mayor Moeller:

While the Times Herald's article stated your community's support for our program, Shannon Murphy did not research DARE's successes and I would like to set the record straight. I would appreciate your sharing this information with your City Council for their consideration.

Here are only a few of Murphy's omissions regarding DARE-America's history:

Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency: DARE grads are less likely to use inhalants, crack cocaine and smokeless tobacco.

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LANSING (AP) --Michigan's November 2008 ballot could become a bit more crowded, possibly including proposals to provide universal health care coverage and allow marijuana use for medical purposes.

Those proposals, among others, took procedural steps forward Wednesday with action by a state elections panel.

Other possible petition drives in the works would create a part-time Legislature in Michigan and require a statewide vote to raise certain taxes, a proposal that also could repeal tax increases put in place this year.

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Roundtables Were Correct: Port Huron Can't Afford This Sacred Cow

If you need an example of why governments are so often in financial hot water, look no further than the simmering controversy over the DARE program in Port Huron.

In September, the cash-strapped city decided to end its subsidy for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. It seemed a prudent decision, if only because DARE is a notorious feel-good program. Study after study has shown DARE is approximately as beneficial as trying to help a drowning man by hiring a cheerleader to wave pompoms and urge him to swim harder.

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LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan's November 2008 ballot could become a bit more crowded, possibly including proposals to provide universal health care coverage and allow marijuana use for medical purposes.

Those proposals, among others, took procedural steps forward Wednesday with action by a state elections panel.

Other possible petition drives in the works would create a part-time Legislature in Michigan and require a statewide vote to raise certain taxes, a proposal that also could repeal tax increases put in place this year.

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Michigan's November 2008 ballot could become a bit more crowded, possibly including proposals to provide universal health care coverage and allow marijuana use for medical purposes.

Those proposals, among others, took procedural steps forward Wednesday with action by a state elections panel.

Other possible petition drives in the works would create a part-time Legislature in Michigan and require a statewide vote to raise certain taxes, a proposal that also could repeal tax increases put in place this year.

Most of the proposals are in preliminary stages. In most cases, organizers still have to collect the more than 380,000 valid signatures required to put proposals to change the state constitution before voters.

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Backers Can Gather Signatures to Put Legislature, Health Care Plans on '08 Ballot.

LANSING -- Petition forms calling for a part-time Legislature and mandating universal health care in Michigan won approval Wednesday of a state elections panel, paving the way for circulators to begin gathering signatures next month.

Both measures would go on the general election ballot in November of 2008.

The Board of State Canvassers voted 4-0 to approve the part-time Legislature petition, which calls for a constitutional amendment that would slash the legislative session schedule from year-round to four months, reduce lawmakers' salaries and limit their benefits.

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Tight City Budget Threatens Anti-Drug Officer Positions

As Port Huron makes plans to cut its DARE program at local schools next year, supporters of the drug and alcohol resistance program have come out in full force to try and save it.

The city is planning on cutting the DARE officer position, along with the community service officer position, as it faces a budget crisis brought on by the multi-million dollar sewer-separation project.

The city anticipates savings more than $730,000 in the next five years with the elimination of the two positions.

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Michigan Voters May Be Asked in November to Legalize Drug for Patients in Pain

Lynn Allen is in a great deal of pain. And he thinks marijuana would ease it.

The 51-year-old Williamston man was born with hemophilia and infected with HIV and hepatitis C more than 20 years ago.

His greatest pain comes from arthritis related to his hemophilia. He must use a wheel-chair to get around. He takes narcotics that help with pain, but they have side effects, including constipation and memory problems. Unless it's legal, he won't use marijuana.

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Medical marijuana has been shown time and time again to help seriously ill people get relief. Prosecuting them and threatening them with jail time is barbaric ("Legal pot for very ill gets lift," Nov. 21).

I am glad to see that so many Michiganders agree with me and have signed the petition to put medical marijuana on the ballot next year. People with serious diseases should not be thrown in jail for following their doctor's advice, and I am confident that Michigan will overwhelmingly vote to protect patients if given the chance in 2008.

Helen L. Thompson

Benzonia

[end]

The government should not be wasting time trying to put sick patients in jail when they use medical marijuana to ease their suffering. Numerous studies show that medical marijuana is effective in treating patients with debilitating diseases such as multiple sclerosis and cancer.

Protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest can bring people back into society who currently lack effective treatment and are crippled by their symptoms.

Michigan should stand on the side of compassion and care, not senselessly punish people who are trying to care for themselves. I am looking forward to voting yes on the medical marijuana proposal if it's put on the ballot!

Matthew R. Abel

Attorney at law

Detroit

[end]

It is such a relief that the citizens of Michigan support the medical usage of marijuana. I have seen my closest relatives suffer from the pain and anxiety of cancer and the debilitating treatments used to fight it. They do not deserve to go to jail for following their doctors' orders.

Medical marijuana can relieve suffering cancer patients of their continuous pain, as well as the nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy, helping to keep them alive and well enough to keep fighting cancer.

Michigan is on the right track in joining the 12 states that have successfully implemented medical marijuana legislation.

Neil Yashinsky

Troy

[end]

As a retired Michigan police officer, I found the comments of my colleague, Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel, regarding policing medical marijuana, puzzling. If a person has a permit for marijuana, the officer simply takes no action. No permit would mean arresting the person for possession. The same principle applies for those found in possession of a concealed weapon. This is not complicated.

I hope Michigan votes in favor of allowing sick people to use God's medicine. Our profession has more important things to do.

Howard J. Wooldridge

Education Specialist, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Washington, D.C.

[end]

Michigan State Police have seized "large quantities" of marijuana, heroin, cocaine and prescription narcotics over the past month, according to Lt. John Card, commander of the Bay City post.

"There's a lot of Christmas green, so to speak, being trafficked north," he said. "There is no small town that is immune from having narcotics and marijuana delivered to their area."

Larger busts have occurred south of here, with state police seizing 48 bales of marijuana, totaling 1,200 pounds, on Interstate 94, coming from Tucson, Ariz., Card said. Another bust south of Detroit netted 1,375 pounds of marijuana packed into a bus, he said.

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It destroys lives.

It sparks violence.

And, in the 20 years it's been in Muskegon County, crack cocaine has been a big, ongoing burden on the local criminal-justice system.

Think of crack-based crime as a chronic illness: not the acute crisis it once was -- but a draining, debilitating disease that drags on and on, with no remission.

Unlike other drug surges of the past, the most potent form of cocaine has never faded from favor. Since it hit Muskegon County like a crack of thunder in 1988, the cheap, enormously addictive drug has remained the No. 1 drug problem for law-enforcement officials and many users and dealers.

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Nearly 200 West Michigan inmates serving time in federal prison for crack cocaine offenses could be eligible for release in March or have their sentences reduced.

They are among the nearly 20,000 federal inmates nationwide who could be affected by the decision this week to take another look at sentences that treated crack cocaine offenders, who largely are black, more harshly than powder cocaine offenders, who predominately are white.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to allow about 19,500 federal inmates to seek reductions in their crack cocaine sentences.

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If various interest groups have their way, Michigan voters next year may be faced with having to decide:

. Whether to legalize marijuana use for medical reasons;

. Whether to repeal the state ban on embryonic stem-cell research;

. Whether to approve a constitutional mandate to ensure every Michigan resident has affordable, comprehensive health-care coverage;

. Whether to give voters the power to repeal tax increases passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor;

. Whether to get rid of the state's full-time Legislature and replace it with a part-time body, and repeal term limits; or, alternately

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Everyone knows war results in the death and destruction of human life. Any veteran can tell you it's not like in the movies. And for those injured vets who live to tell about it, any and all effective, appropriate means for medical care are welcome.

The only problem is, certain proven procedures have been "off the table" for non-medical reasons. One of America's leading organizations promoting innovative approaches to such care is Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access. Incorporated in 2007, VMMA can claim sole ownership to the title of being this country's only advocate for veterans' rights to access medical marijuana for therapeutic purposes.

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