Editors note. A lot of you are hitting on this page when you are searching for Michigan Proposal 1. That is all fine and good, but there are other articles on this blog concerning support and opposition to this important proposal. Please either click on the title “Things in my head go ’round and ‘Round” or hit the archives to see what else is out there.
Thanks, and don’t for get to vote on Tuesday Nobember 4th.
There seems to be a lot of interest in Michigans Proposal 1 that would legalize medical marijuana. I have been getting a few hits on what I wrote a couple of days ago on it.
There is pro and con about this proposal, as you could figure out. There are doctors who support it, and there are doctors who don’t. Of course the ones who don’t support it are labeled as being in the wallet of the big drug companies.
The proposal would require and ID, and annual registration. A patient would be able to grow up to 12 plants of their own. This proposal mirrors ones in 12 other states, so you would think that a good deal of the language has been lawyered to the point where no one could argue about any part of it. The biggest con is that Federal law still makes marijuana possession illegal. That is a big concern, considering the raids on medical marijuana stores in California.
I was reading a blogger from Michigan who took a look at the wording of the proposal and reviewed it here. He says that he will be voting for the proposal, but doesn’t get into saying why.
I would also vote for it for a couple of specific reasons. 1. Marijuana is a weed that has tremendous versatility above and beyond the bud. We are being incredibly short sighted to eliminate this plant from use. The fibers can be used for clothing, rope, and a million other things. The seeds can be pressed for oil, or ground and used for food they are high in nutrients. 2. We have to get beyond that people get high. People get drunk on a daily basis, to great detriment to not only their own health but the health of others. Alcoholism helps drive up all of our insurance rates. And don’t say to me that you would rather work with a drunk co-worker than one who is high. I will take the high one over the drunk one any day. Marijuana is not the evil that it has been made out to be.
So. That is my 2 cents.
What say you, populace?
Namaste.
September 21st, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Republican Ranting here (the Michigander you linked to) – I just wanted to say, thanks for pointing out the fact that I never exactly explained WHY I’m vogting for it – gonna go change it now.
September 21st, 2008 at 8:07 pm
[...] so the blogger over at The things in my head go ’round and ’round just pointed out that I never said exactly WHY I’m voting for this proposal. So, [...]
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:01 am
Hello,
I’m glad to see that you will be voting for the medical marijuana initiative (Proposal 08-01). I will be too, this November 4. I think you are missing the major reason though, namely, cancer patients shouldn’t go to jail for using their medicine. This initiative is going to allow cancer, AIDS, MS, hepatitis C, and chronic pain patients to use medical marijuana legally under state law, with a doctor’s recommendation. My focus is on the sick and suffering patients out here in this state. Federal law needs to change, but 99% of all marijuana arrests occur at the state and local level. We can carve out this narrow exception for Michigan’s sickest patients, so that they don’t have to fear the threat of arrest anymore. I appreciate your commentary, I just hope that you will turn your focus to the patients. These are real people, and they deserve better than the current system. THAT is the real issue.
For more information, please visit http://www.stoparrestingpatients.org
-m
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Hey Matt. I appreciate your input. I agree that no patient should have the alternative of medical marijuana taken away from them. I also believe that the whole issue of the legality of possession of marijuana is absurd. It was criminalized because of lies, and the war on it is a big drain on our federal budget. But if we can change opinion by going the medicinal route, by all means lets do it. You have no argument from me, my brother.
namaste.
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Republican Ranting. Didn’t mean to point a finger, I was just happy to see that you would be voting for the proposal. Thank you, very much.
Namaste.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:12 am
I am no expert on politics. I’m no expert on marijuana. But i can say that i will infact be voting ‘for’ this proposal, because from personal experience marijuana can be used as a medicine. I have had chronic back pain ever since a car accident 10 years ago. However i will admit to dabbleing in marijuana prior to the incodent, but never did i realise it untill after i got these back aches; that weed if used in the right dose can minimize the pain greatly. I only need a small ammount and i could be doing sit ups hehe.
But ya, i dont smoke it regularly, maybe 1 or 2x a month just cause of the fact i dont wana get cought. Im just stating the facts for those who have never experienced it. The THC, if handled responsibly can be a really good drug.
Just curious if anyone here has a study or information on harmful effects of THC? I have been tyring to find a long term negative to THC and i havent been able to find one. However i ‘have’ found MANY long term side affects with over the counter perscripting drugs such as advil.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:49 am
Hi Mark. Thanks for sharing your personal experience. I haven’t found a whole lot of negative information either. Though there are studies that report that smoking anything is going to have a detrimental effect on your lungs. You would have to figure that one, now wouldn’t you?
Namaste.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Yah, i’m sure smoking anything cant be good for you. But at the same time cigarettes do nothing but bad for the human body yet they are legal. If marijuana was legal, maybe it ‘does’ hurt you 30years later down the road as do cigarettes however it being a medicine and helping people for 30years is still more beneficial to me, then tobacco is.
One thing i can state that my dad is open with me about how much he smokes pot, and since he grew up in the 70’s its clear hes into it heheh. But still he has been smoking up on 35 years, 2-3joints daily and when he had a recent visit with a doctor to check how his lungs were… No permanent damage yet. If that says anything :P
September 30th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Forgot to ask a question sorry for the double post.
Why do doctors prefer to perscribe medacines for pain in the opiate family (vike’s, morphine, ect) over say a capsel of THC? There would be no smoking involved, it would be the same as taking a pill of pain killers.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
There is a synthetic THC out there that is being prescribed now. Though folks who take it have mixed reactions to it. The best answer that I can give you to your question would be that there is a ton of money that is paid back to Dr.s for prescribing certain medications. The big Pharm companies kick back billions of dollars to keep you and I hooked on their candy.
Namaste.
September 30th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
As for the comparing of Marijuana to Cigarettes. There are some studies that show a Weed cigarette being slightly worse for you than a tobacco filled one, but here is the point I’d like to make to rival that. People smoke 20+ cigarettes daily. There is no way people would ever smoke that many weed cigarettes. So sure, maybe they are worse for you at a ratio of 1:1, but let’s look at the quantity difference and see which is worse. Not to mention the who medicinal thing…
September 30th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Yah i read that a j is = to 4 cigarettes. But like you said no one is going to smoke enough joints / can afford enough joints in a day to be worse then cigarettes are for you.
Just curious if insurance pays for perscribed marijuana? I know its sold in dispensaries in california just curuios say hypothetically my ppom policy. We pay like 5% of the total cost, would that apply for medicinal marijuana? Siengs it is a legit perscription~
September 30th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Insurance does not pay for MM. You have to dredge the cash up out of your pocket.
Sorry.
Namaste.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Hey, I think that I would rather work with a high co-worker rather than a drunk one too. I believe patients who are left without marijuana as another CHEAPER alternative to other pain meds that screw with your brain. My mom had breast cancer when I was around 10, then I had no idea what and impact marijuana could be, now I know what good it can do to help patients feeling better, naturally. My mom sadly past away, and to my knowledge never got to use marijuana as medication. Now with Proposal 1, I believe that the governtment is finally realizing “Hey maybe Marijuana is not that bad!” Finally….
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:39 pm
I just read on the internet, 86% of drug charges on the federal level are because of weed. I think one of the resons they want to keep it illigal is just immagine how much money in citations the city gets for each of those 86% of people every year o.O
October 4th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
In response to Mark’s last assumption that the government MAKES money off marijuana arrests… Our Federal government spends WAY more on the War on Drugs than it could ever hope to make through citations. Therefore, by at least legalizing/decriminalizing to some extent, we could potentially be freeing up millions upon millions of dollars that were previously being used to incarcerate marijuana offenders.
October 7th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Some terrific comments here. A few points of feedback.
Matt is right. Proposal 1 is about relieving the suffering of seriously ill patients. And that’s really where we need to keep our focus right now.
Smoking anything can not be good for people. That’s just common sense. Arguing about which is more harmful, tobacco or cannabis, is a red herring and only serves the interests of the prohibitionists by keeping the focus on smoking.
Instead when the topic of “smoked” medical marijuana comes up, remind people that it can be ingested by many methods, including vaporizing, eating, brewing into a tea, daubed on the skin as a tincture, even made into suppositories. All of these alternative methods avoid the toxic by products of combustion and robs our opponents of one of the very few legitimate points they can use to build their own case.
The text of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, commonly known as, Proposal 1, states that no insurance company can be forced to cover medical marijuana.
The government spends upwards of 40 billion annually on the War on Drugs. It is a huge net drain on the public purse. Peter is correct. But Mark is correct in the sense that the War on Drugs is huge cash cow for many private industries and unions.
A group of us is organizing for what comes after the election. Prop 1 does not provide for dispensaries in MI such as they have in CA. And it limits the number of patients a caregiver may assist at 5. Dispensaries, cooperatives and collective gardens, ala CA, are off the table but we’re still going to need to organize some sort of network to ensure safe, reliable and affordable access to medicine. Contact us at MichiganMedicalMarijuana@gmail.com or visit our website, http://www.michiganmedicalmarijuana.org, set to launch shortly after the election.
October 7th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
[...] few days ago I wrote this post about Michigan’s Proposal 1 that concerns Medical Marijuana. Today I had an interesting [...]
October 7th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
what exactly, not just the diseases cancer, HIV, hep C. and the ones listed that i don’t have, can be rationalized as treatable conditions by marijuana? if anyone can clarify that would be great, but under my interpretation basically its like calis and anyone with pain, heartaches (which is pain), and the other listed symptoms can receive a certification, also i noticed that they put a safety net in there not physicians so they can not be penalized under any circumstance even under evaluating a patients’ need.
October 8th, 2008 at 7:09 am
The ballot wording–what we will vote on–may be found at: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/sos/APPROVED_Bal_Word_CCCl821_246348_7.pdf
The full text of the proposal may be read at: http://stoparrestingpatients.org/initiative
Proposal 1 protects patients suffering from:
(1) Cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, nail patella, or the treatment of these conditions.
(2) A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces 1 or more of the following: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe and chronic pain; severe nausea; seizures, including but not limited to those characteristic of epilepsy; or severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those characteristic of multiple sclerosis.
(3) Any other medical condition or its treatment approved by the department, as provided for in section 5(a).
It further requires that a medical marijuana recommendation only be done within the context of an established, “bonafide doctor-patient relationship.”
It is extremely unlikely that “heartache” would be recognized as a qualifying condition under this narrowly drafted proposal.
Equally unlikely is a quack physician setting up a medical marijuana clinic, churning out recommendations for frivolous reasons.
Severe chronic pain is a qualifying condition but it would still require a documented case history with the patient’s regular physician.
And why shouldn’t pain be included? Chronic pain patients using medical marijuana report they are able to substantially reduce their use of far more dangerous and potentially addictive opiod drugs like Vicodin & Oxycontine.
Medical marijuana is especially helpful in treating intractable neuropathic pain associated with spinal injury and traumatic amputation–symptoms traditional pain relievers are unable to mitigate.
For a copy of our brochure–Talking to Your Doctor About Medical Marijuana–e-mail us at: michiganmedicalmarijuana@gmail.com
October 11th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
1. citations for busted marijuana users don’t cover all the costs of the drug war, no, but also consider court fees, as well as property seizures. You were growing in your house? You were driving with a pound of weed? Well, now your house and car are police property, to be auctioned off. I’m sure they fold the money back into the “war”.
2. synthetic THC is not the same as marijuana; it lacks the dozens of other cannabinoids that shade and effect the medicinal value.
3. People get drunk off grains, apples (cider), and corn (whiskey). These aren’t illegal, though, because they have other value, such as food, energy, etc. The cannabis plant is incredibly useful for its fiber (paper, clothing, rope, etc) and seeds (food, oil), and of course it’s bud for medicine… and more environmentally friendly in many ways (fiber lasts longer for more durable clothes, paper; and the nutritional value is outstanding for the seed). Is it a conspiracy by the producers of inferior materials and products to keep it illegal in general? Synthetic THC (marketable) or marijuana (not marketable). Think of the cotton growers, logging companies and paper mills that could be put out of business by a better fiber? And it’s a weed, grows everywhere, easily too.
I’m voting yes for sure.
October 13th, 2008 at 12:51 am
here it is for everyone who wonders about the effects of marijuana
tobacco and the other 50% of cigarettes burn black(toxic) smoke
marijuana, which is absolutely additive free, burns white(non-toxic) smoke
that is why cigarettes make you short on breath, give you pins and needles in your lungs, and sticks to it reduceing lung capacity. since it is toxic, it takes longer to process and has many long term effects that marijuana doesn’t. our bodies have no problem absorbing the organic, non-toxic smoke of the marijuana PLANT
in a controlled study where a patient smoked no weed for 30 days, then smoked all day for 30. after undergoing many physical and psychological tests, by licensed specialists, it was determined that there was absolutely zero long term damage.
anything you have to pick out the STEMS and SEEDS first should be legal.
FACT: you can make a car engine that is powered by marijuana, similar to the process of ethanol from corn, except it would be at a fraction of the cost.
FACT: before it was illegal, the government required homeowners to grow marijuana because of all it’s wonderful uses (clothes, thread, medicine with zero side effects, food….)
FACT: marijuana was made/is illegal in the US because our lawmakers were/are racist and scared.
FACT: marijuana grows under more condition types in the world than nearly any other PLANT, it grows like a weed, thus the slang was born.
FACT: marijuana is the only drug known to man to have zero side effects.
FACT: marijuana has more medical uses than any other drug known to man.
FACT: marijuana is a 2 billion dollar industry that, if taxed, could certainly turn around the economy with money to spare.
I am voting YES on proposal 1, and I hope you all join me in spreading the facts. it is absolutely absurd that marijuana, a PLANT, is illegal.
if you love, nurture, and respect it, it will love, nurture, and respect you.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
I have crohn’s disease and use Marijuana as it helps control pain, nausea and allow’s me too want food! See, Hunger pains feel better then having food pass through my intestines as they are falling apart and no cure is in site! I just want too not live in fear while living in pain for the remainder of my few days! I just think a person dying in a jail when a doctor agrees marijuana is best medicine to live normal is not normal or humane!
peaceouTy!
TAMMpON
October 13th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
I think Medical Marijuana Is the future of Medicine. It has been used as a medicine for centurys, and i can say for one, when i smoked marijuana it cured my anxiety, and (not so much when i was stoned) Let me think more freely about issues concerning politics, and helped me re-evaluate my life for the better. I believe it is the future of medicine and the base of human evolution! I am voting YES on proposal 1!
October 14th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
The virtues of Marijuana have been well documented in a book titled, ” The Emperor Wears No Clothes,” by Mr. Jack Herer. He has shone with historical proof, contemporary scientific studies, and U.S. Government data that Marijuana/hemp is safe, beneficial, harmless, and certainly NOT the danger that the government and pharmacutical industry have painted out to be for the past seventy years. Next, the various states that have had the integrity to legalize Marijuana for medical use have seen no increase in crime worthy of repealing their laws and found “POT” to actually work. Finally, the FDA has approved various drugs ( not just Opiates ) that cause adverse reactions. Its time to face the truth that Marijuana is useful, good, able to meet our needs organicly and cheaply, and long over due for a come back.
October 23rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
What you were talking about up top with the comparison of drunk workers and high workers… Say, when you’re driving drunk, for instance, you can take a pbt or a variety of other things to test if you are drunk.. Now, when someone is high, even though its better than drunk, i would still NOT want a high driver on the road and there is no way to test for it (except to see if they have smoked in the past month or so). I don’t know where I’m going with this.. Too many joints i suppose. This comment is mainly for legalizing Marijuana, but it sort of fits.
October 25th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
I have a question I have a very bad problem not being able to sleep at night and unfortunantly I do not have 8 or even 7 hours to devote to sleeping. The issue is trying to settle my mind just long enough to get to sleep. When I was younger I used marijuana and fully understand its effects. Its has in the past been a great solution but as I have gotten older I have more to lose by getting caught. I would love to be able to get at least 5 hours of sleep a night and marijuana could definently help. Would this be any sort of a legitiment reason for mm?
October 26th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Vito:
i’m not sure if it would qualify as a legitamite reason.
but i have been useing marijuana as a sleep aid for years.
Without it i lie awake for hours, unable to get to sleep. Wakeing up in the morning tired as hell. But whenever i smoke i fall asleep the instant my head hits the pillow and wake up feeling refreshed.
Mm should definatly be used as a cure for insomnia
October 26th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Vito:
Thank you for your question.
Yes, it is a viable reason for a MM card, along with lots and lots of others. It is up to the discretion of your physician, and if they are willing to write you that prescription and put their license on the line, then no one will be able to take that away. Lets just get this proposal passed so you won’t have anymore undue stress and worry about the consequences. That just leads to more sleepless nights. It will be gauche to tell your doctor that you used to self-medicate. There are very few drugs that are organic and side-effect free. Another great use for a great PLANT!!
October 28th, 2008 at 9:26 am
This passed; this proposal WILL help many people in a large variety of situations. People who want to smoke pot will smoke pot, legal or not. I watched first hand what the Guinea pig mind mentality of our doctors did to my father. They almost seem happy to hand out a nice list of opiates, muscle relaxants, and some amphetamines to balance out the lethargy. My father was prescribed a bad combination of these “medicines” for his chronic back pain; the use of these medications taken as directed provided him with years of delirious hell. Now; it is not difficult to look up non-government funded research (it’s out there) and figure out what you think is best from there? We are all easier to deal with if we just believed everything we’re told, herded like sheep; told that pot is bad and then provided with a list of phony reasons why. Did you know there hasn’t ever been one death from the consumption of Cannabis? Why don’t you look up the death rate of alcohol? Cigarettes? Opiates? Cannabis doesn’t cause cancer; in fact it inhibits it, Cannabis doesn’t make you dumb, in fact it’s been proven to help protect your brain, Cannabis is not bad for you when consumed in a healthy manner. You can monitor the amount of Cannabis you consume in food and have a non-intoxicating medicinal level of THC; it’s an ancient analgesic proven and true. Why don’t you look up some of the medical properties Cannabis has, instead of assuming everyone just wants to get high? An uninformed voter wreaks havoc on our wellbeing. Let’s utilize this democracy, read about medical Cannabis!
October 30th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Wheres the Proof that medical marijuana helps?
October 30th, 2008 at 11:44 am
[...] Ok folks, here is your chance. I just received a comment from someone who wants to know where the proof is? [...]
November 1st, 2008 at 5:08 pm
What is the best teacher? Personal experience, right. OK, I smoke marijuana to control chronic nausea, vomiting and wasting syndrome from Diabetic Neuropathic Gastroparesis, in a state where it is illegal. The symptoms are chronic nausea, vomiting and lose of appetite. I take two 5 mg Marinol pills a day, they are not even close to the efficient and effective relief I get from inhaling marijuana smoke. Even by smoking it, the least healthy way to use it, I get immediate relief form my nausea and what ever drawbacks there may be in smoking marijuana, they are eliminated by the theraputic value of marijuana. Since I have smoked marijuana from age 18 to age 45 then quit cold turkey, due to boredom, I learned that marijuana is NOT adictive. I had no problem quitting, I did not desire any other type of drug. That shoots the theory that marijuana leads to harder drugs all to hell. So we have the discovery of the endocannabinoid system in the human body, when are we going to wise up and legalize marijuana, sell it and tax it just like liquor and research into the cannabis plant for other helpful drugs. If there are more pot shops than Starbucks it is simply supply and demand. The cornerstone of our economy. Vote YES on Prop 1 and I will move to Michigan. After all it is alot closer to the pig shit state of Iowa where marijuana is as addictive as heroin. The politicians in this state are only outshone by Sen Mark Souder (R-IND) this man is a danger to our contries health and well being.
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:29 am
i have bipoar i smoke- it works better then the pills i was given. i lost my hair and had to pay 400 for a months worth when after a few mins i’m calm my moods don’t jump the pills take up to 2weeks to work i have smoked for 15 yrs. and could stop anytime “just don’t want to”
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Would the legalizing of medical marijuana eventually lead to other patients? ie; depression, eating disorders, and body pains.
just curious.
Vote Proposal 1
November 4th, 2008 at 8:07 am
I fully support the medical use of marijuana and it makes me feel good that it could help so many people. I was going to vote YES on proposal 1 until I researched it a little more and found out by voting YES to legalize medinicinal marijuana that i was also voting YES to legalize the growth of it in your own home “behind locked doors”. It is silly to assume that the patients will grow the marijuana in accordance with the laws that put a limit on it, allowing you to only grow the amount “necessary” for them to use to get better. People break laws all the time, whose to say that they wont break this one and grown an excess amount and start selling it? It worries me that some patients wouldn’t be responsible and all of a sudden their “medicinal marijuana” is now being sold and smoked by all the stoners in the neighborhood.
That is why i am voting NO on proposal 1 this year, and i am certain that most people will as well. I hope that next time they can separate the use of medicinal marijuana and the fact that you can grow it in your own home and just make it like any other pharmaceutical…go to the pharmacy and wait in line for your weed. When that happens, i would be more then happy to vote YES, but until that happens, i am going to have to say NO.
Oh, and to all the stoners who are voting YES because they think its cool and that it should be legalized because they smoke everyday….please stay home on election day. Legalization of marijuana will not benifit you at all, unless the cancer patient down the road is just as corrupt as you are.
November 5th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Where do you think the pharmacy is gonna get its MM? You either let the patients grow it themselves, or growers sell it to the shops that sell it to the patients. You think they can just plant a field of it and harvest it with some machine?
November 5th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I have heard about this proposal and i have been pondering it in my head back and fourth with this one. if we are to legalize where are the ill and sick going to get it? how much are they going to get? how are they going to be able to regulate who is really ill or sick and who is not and just smoking it for a good time? its alot to think about.
November 5th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I am voted for proposal 1 with a lot of hold backs. I believe that patients that need weed to get by day to day should be able to. Then it comes into play all of the people who will be using weed and know that they can use medical reasons as a defense it the court room. I don’t believe that we should make it that easy for men and women to get high just to do and slack and forget their responsibilities. We in michigan now have a high unemployment rate just wait til people think they can get away with smoking weed. People who smoke are unmotivated. I think the law needed to be rewritten, but i voted for it because there are people who truly need it and we should keep them from getting the comfort they need because some people are gonna be idiots.
November 7th, 2008 at 11:46 am
it is as simple as this “they always said there would never be a black president”
just like they said ” marijuana will never be legalized”. this is all part of a generation gap and how that certain generation views a subject. It will be legal at some point when the new young generation out weighs the rest just like the young voters in the election. I could goes on for hours just clearly showing the pros of marijuana “especially compared to the legalized alcohol in which the government makes a lot of revenue by tax and probation cost, and causes way more damage. And the ignorance of the none smoker that is constantly delaying our chance to legalize, implying the negatives when they don’t even smoke!! wtf is up with people
November 7th, 2008 at 11:48 am
marijuana make you happy and alcohol make you irrational and mad at times
January 8th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
The bottom line is that if you have a 2 parties as an experiement with the conditions:
Party A
-20 males
-Nothing but alcohol.
Party B
-20 males
-Nothing but pot.
The results 100% of the time would be
=Party A
Fights broke out, things probably got trashed.
=Party B
No fights broke out, and nothing irrational happend.
Funny how weed is considered a DRUG. LOL.