KALAMAZOO -- Originally the organizer of a push to get a medical marijuana dispensary ballot measure before Kalamazoo voters in November was told he was 73 signatures short of that goal. But it turns out, the Kalamazoo Coalition for Compassionate Care, headed by Chris Chiles, did get the needed number of valid signatures on the petitions to appear on a ballot -- 2,575 valid names, when the minimum required was 2,567. The Kalamazoo City Clerk's office erred in not counting all the valid signatures on the coalition's petitions, in some cases because of illegible signatures that didn't seem to match names in the city's registered voter list, City Clerk Scott Borling said. [continues 492 words]
KALAMAZOO -- Organizers were 73 valid signatures short of the requisite number needed to put a medical marijuana dispensary ballot measure before Kalamazo voters in November, according to a news release from Kalamazoo City Clerk Scott Borling. Kalamazoo Coalition for Compassionate Care can collect more signatures for a ballot question next year, the clerk said. But a Michigan Court of Appeals decision released Wednesday may have dealt the coalition's mission to get the issue before city voters an even greater blow. [continues 210 words]
KALAMAZOO -- Chris Chiles says his group, Kalamazoo Coalition for Compassionate Care, has collected 2,751 signatures on petitions seeking support for a ballot measure that would amend Kalamazoo's charter to permit medical marijuana dispensaries in commercial districts. Kalamazoo City Deputy Clerk Virginia Vander Roest said Chiles needed to turn in 2,567 signatures -- 5 percent of the city's registered voters as of Tuesday when the petitions were filed -- to appear on a ballot in Kalamazoo. The clerk's office is in the process of checking the validity of the signatures, which Chiles said he cross-referenced to ensure they had the requisite number. [continues 177 words]
KALAMAZOO -- Kalamazoo city attorney Clyde Robinson has several concerns with a proposed charter amendment that would make the use or possession of a small amount of marijuana the "lowest law enforcement priority" in Kalamazoo, including that, in Robinson's view, the provision seems to seek medical marijuana-type legal immunity for the general population. Robinson highlighted his concerns in a letter informing the Michigan attorney general and governor's offices that the coalition pushing for the city charter amendment had collected the number of valid signatures needed to place the question before city voters. [continues 604 words]
KALAMAZOO - The group pushing for a Kalamazoo city charter amendment that would make the possession of a small amount of marijuana a minor priority for Kalamazoo police is close to its goal of seeing the issue put to a citywide vote. The Kalamazoo Coalition for Pragmatic Cannabis Laws seeks a change in the city's charter so that the use or consumption of 1 ounce or less of pot by anyone 21 and older is the "lowest law enforcement priority" in Kalamazoo. [continues 96 words]
A Growing, But Still Problematic, Remedy On a recent morning, Kirk Manter, 54, lifts a 3-foot-tall marijuana plant grown in a house on a quiet street in Woonsocket. He shoves the leafy plant packaged in a tall trash bag into his Jeep Cherokee and drives it to a man in South County who is battling multiple sclerosis. A wooden cross dangles from his narrow neck. His white T-shirt features a picture of a caduceus the symbol of the medical profession against a bright green plant. [continues 857 words]
Gov. Murkowski's anti-marijuana bills fly in the face of the constitution, the facts, and of common sense. The courts have held that our constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy means we can lawfully own small amounts of marijuana. SB74 and HB96 are an attempt to overturn that ruling. Anti-marijuana zealots argue that marijuana is a "gateway drug," meaning that it somehow leads users to other drugs as well. However, no evidence supports this assertion, and it is on its face a fallacy, asserting causation in place of correlation. To follow that same logic, milk is the ultimate "gateway drug" because almost all drug users started out drinking milk. [continues 64 words]
As Matthew Brzezinski's article (June 23) makes clear, the reason illegal drugs cost so much is that they're illegal. And the cost to the buyer doesn't include the costs involved in keeping them illegal. It's the taxpayer who foots the bill for the border patrols, police narcotics squads and the court and prison employees directly involved in the enforcement of our drug laws -- and for the new prisons to accommodate the growing numbers of convicted dealers and users. [continues 106 words]
