We're coming up on an election season where sound judgment must take precedence over an emotional or apathetic mind-set. One of the issues will be the legalization of so-called medical marijuana. The one thing we don't need is more drugs available to our children under the guise of medical use. Advocates for the legalization constantly bring out someone with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, glaucoma or chemotherapy patients who have found relief by smoking marijuana; they play upon our feelings of compassion for those who suffer.

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Colorado legalized medical cannabis (marijuana) use and it has worked properly, protecting sick citizens from confrontation with government. Amen.

Colorado law enforcement groups alleged what Howell Police Chief George Basar ("Police chief critical of marijuana measure," Oct. 20) claims; however, the claims have proven false.

Another reason to permit sick humans to use the relatively safe God-given plant cannabis (marijuana) that doesn't mentioned is because it's biblically correct since Christ. The Ecologician indicates he created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on literally the very first page.

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The battle has been brewing for the past several months over Proposal 1 on the statewide ballot Nov. 4. The issue: Should the use of marijuana be allowed in Michigan for medical purposes?

Many support the measure, which they say could help some 50,000 Michiganians afflicted with various debilitating medical conditions. Others fear legalizing marijuana, well-intended or not, would open up new channels to illegal use.

Matter of fact, if you're reading this Oct. 24 or 25, I'm in a hospital bed recovering from shoulder surgery, but I am definitely not a candidate for marijuana treatment as provided in Proposal 1 - nor should I be. My situation isn't even close. People who would be eligible suffer an entirely different kind of condition and pain. They experience it around-the-clock, and in many cases their medical condition is terminal.

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Vague Language on Medical Marijuana

A proposal on the Nov. 4 Michigan ballot aims to help ease the pain and suffering of people with some very real, hard-to-address medical problems. Yet as it's constructed, the proposal is difficult to support.

Proposal 1, the medicinal marijuana initiative, seeks to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana use for patients with certain medical conditions without the fear of the patient or the doctor running afoul of state law.

Marijuana has a long track record of relieving pain or side effects for those being treated for cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS and other conditions. Undeniably, some of those patients believe that they can find only find effective relief by using marijuana, and their doctors may agree. There is a real need.

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CASSOPOLIS - Proposal 1 would legalize smoked marijuana for so-called "medical" reasons. Unfortunately, it is deeply flawed and carelessly written. It is filled with loopholes.

The unintended consequences will result in deep pitfalls for our county and state.

To see the danger of Proposal 1, you need only to look to other states who now regret having passed similar proposals.

California approved a proposal to legalize so-called "medical" marijuana 10 years ago.

It has failed miserably.

Today in California, even the proposal's most vocal supporters admit their law has resulted in chaos.

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VOTERS HAVE ONE statewide election and two proposals to decide Nov. 4.

In the election, for U.S. Senate, Democratic incumbent Carl Levin of Detroit faces Jack Hoogendyk, a Kalamazoo-area Republican state representative.

This fight, like so many Levin has waged, isn't fair.

Levin, 74 and 29-year incumbent, is in an enviable power position. Power in campaign funds -- $7.7 million to Hoogendyk's $234,000. In political experience -- former Detroit City Council member, appellate defender and assistant attorney general. He's the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman and a leader of his national party. Hoogendyk, 53, has held his state rep post five years.

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LANSING -- A recent poll shows support leading opposition for a ballot proposal to allow medical use of marijuana.

Results released Friday of an EPIC-MRA poll conducted for The Detroit News and TV stations WXYZ, WILX, WOOD and WJRT found 54 percent support Proposal 1, 38 percent against and 8 percent undecided.

The telephone poll of 400 likely voters conducted Sunday through Wednesday has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

An EPIC-MRA telephone poll conducted Sept. 20-22 showed 59 percent supported the Nov. 4 marijuana proposal, 37 percent against and 4 percent undecided. That poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

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Proposal to legalize it for patients finds strong support and strong fears

For many voters, the decision to back or reject a proposal to give people with severe and terminal illnesses legal access to marijuana will come down to their thoughts on compassion for sick and dying people versus those on preventing drug abuse.

It's a debate that has divided the medical community, with each side pledging it is concerned with protecting Michiganders' health.

Supporters have campaigned for months, saying medical marijuana is the only thing that gives relief to some patients, mitigating the worst side effects of the best medical treatments. And the measure -- Proposal 1 -- has strong early support, boasting a 66%-25% lead in the most recent Detroit Free Press-Local 4 Michigan Poll.

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Proposal 1 on the statewide ballot in the Nov. 4 general election would allow physician-approved use of marijuana by registered patients with "debilitating medical conditions" such as glaucoma, cancer, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, and other conditions. The Department of Community Health would be assigned to oversee this process.

Under the proposal, patients would get an ID card and would be allowed to grow up to 12 plants from which to process their pot. The proposal would "permit registered and unregistered patients and primary caregivers to assert medical reasons for using marijuana as a defense to any prosecution involving marijuana."

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Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids, the group opposing the ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for medical use in Michigan, made a stop in Battle Creek on Thursday.

Scott Burns, deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, spoke against Proposal 1.

"This is about dope. This is not about medicine," he said. "If it was, it would have doctors who were standing up talking about the efficacy of smoking this weed. It is preposterous. This is a con."

Judge Bill Scheutte, the group's co-chair, is touring the state and encouraging people to vote against Proposal 1.

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The big reason some of us feel like voting in favor of this proposition is the over-the-top opposition. There may be problems of one sort or another with the proposition as currently constituted, but when the right wing takes its predictably sky-is-falling stance, I tend to get as unyielding as they are.

I'm still having trouble understanding why a lot of drugs can't be handled like our national drug of choice, alcohol -- legalize and regulate. If someone abuses it to the point where they endanger others, then land on them hard.

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I know a number of judges and doctors. The good ones have some respect for the truth. Not so with Bill Schuette and Daniel Michael. Their first misstatement was that California has seen a dramatic increase in drug use because of Prop 215. The truth is that teen use of marijuana has actually dropped since Prop 215 was passed.

Their second bogus statement was that California is in "chaos" because a security guard at a marijuana dispensary was killed. If this reasoning made sense, then liquor stores should be banned everywhere.

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When Dr. George Wagoner, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist from Manistee, saw the suffering his wife of 51 years was enduring from her battle with ovarian cancer last year, he turned to marijuana to ease her pain. "During her chemotherapy she experienced intense nausea, and conventional anti-nausea drugs didn't help much. One drug cost $46.20 a pill and didn't help," said Dr. Wagoner. "Another made her hallucinate, so she refused to take it. Basically, pharmaceutical drugs were ineffective and the marijuana -- just a very small dose -- was most effective."

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The limitations in life for those afflicted with debilitating diseases like multiple sclerosis, ALS, Crohn's disease and many others are significant. They endure pain so intractable their doctors write multiple prescriptions for narcotics just so they can make it through the day.

Many of these patients have a very low quality of life, yet they have a strong will to live and fight their diseases. For some, the only relief they can get is through medical marijuana. It alleviates chronic pain, eliminates nausea almost instantly, and helps patients who experience spasms and other symptoms.

Proposal 1 was written with these patients in mind. It will allow them to quietly and privately get the relief they need.

Lee Wilson

Bloomfield

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Proposal 1 Offers Relief, Compassion, Safeguards for the Sickest Patients

Michigan voters will have the opportunity to protect seriously ill patients from the threat of arrest and jail for using their doctor-recommended medicine. Voting "yes" on Proposal 1 is about compassion, common sense and providing a measure of relief for some of our sickest friends, neighbors and loved ones.

Study after study has shown that medical marijuana can be remarkably effective at treating the symptoms of certain debilitating diseases and conditions, including cancer, multiple sclerosis and HIV/AIDS, as well as countering the side effects of certain treatment regimens themselves. Indeed, medical marijuana often works for patients where conventional drugs fail.

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A Livingston County police chief has serious concerns about the ballot question on the Nov. 4 election to legalize medical use of marijuana and is encouraging voters to reject the measure.

Howell Police Chief George Basar, president of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, said Proposal 1 would make it easy for people to grow and use marijuana, and the lack of regulations would lead to more people, including children, using the drug.

He said the message is, "If you feel bad, let's sit around and smoke marijuana and get high."

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If marijuana is going to be used as a medicine in Michigan its distribution needs to be properly regulated.

Should Michigan residents approve the medical marijuana proposal on the Nov. 4 ballot? We say NO. Not because we are unconvinced about the medical benefits the drug could provide some sick and dying people. There is a growing body of research and patient testimonials about marijuana's medical properties, despite federal drug laws that say it has no accepted medical use. Our concern is that there are not enough safeguards in the ballot proposal to ensure proper regulation and controlled distribution of personally grown pot.

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Voters will decide on Nov. 4 whether Michigan will become the 13th state to decriminalize the use of "medical marijuana." Should anyone worry that the state will be overrun with illegal drugs? We do not think so. Approve this proposal, and people suffering from cancer or other serious diseases will have a new way to cope. Voters ought to say yes to Proposal 1.

This proposal allows Michigan residents to possess marijuana legally, but only under certain conditions. They must suffer from one of a list of medical conditions for which marijuana is proven to offer pain relief. They must have a doctor's permission.

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As a practicing physician of 29 years, I dedicated my life to caring for people. After my wife of 51 years was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last year, I knew uncertainty lay ahead.

Beverly's prognosis was grim. Cancer treatment is an emotional roller coaster, yet we kept hope until the last day. She underwent surgery and several courses of grueling chemotherapy. The resulting nausea robbed Beverly of her quality of life. She couldn't keep anything down, lost considerable weight and literally wasted away before my eyes.

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A decade ago, voters in California approved a proposal to legalize smoked marijuana for so-called "medical" purposes. Today, even the proposal's most vocal supporters admit the California law has resulted in "chaos," "pot dealers in storefronts" and millions of dollars being dumped "into the criminal black market."

Michigan's Proposal 1 is just like the California law. While its stated intentions to help people experiencing serious pain are well meaning, Proposal 1's vague language, careless loopholes and dangerous consequences place Michigan communities and kids at risk. Michigan voters should reject it.

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