cannabisnews.com: Petition To Go To Voters Petition To Go To Voters Posted by CN Staff on September 04, 2005 at 07:47:41 PT By Vanessa McCray, Record-Eagle Staff Writer Source: Record-Eagle Traverse City -- Jay-walkers, beware. A citizen-driven attempt to make medical-marijuana use the "lowest law enforcement priority" could be brought before city voters in November. City clerk Debbra Curtiss verified the signatures of 623 city residents who signed a petition to make marijuana possession, delivery or use by a medical patient the "lowest law enforcement priority of the city." The signatures are enough to place the proposal before voters, Curtiss said. Voters "have the right to set law enforcement priorities," said Tim Beck, executive director of the Michigan National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. If approved, the ordinance means the city should "start enforcing jay-walking," before it goes after medical marijuana use, Beck said. "You better clean up a lot of other crimes and focus on that rather than sick people," he said. The city commission Tuesday will consider its options regarding the request. Assistant city attorney Karrie Zeits advised the commission either to enact the ordinance or place the issue before voters. Those are the options allowed by the city charter when a petition is certified. Zeits said while she thinks portions of the ordinance are "most likely illegal," she is not completely sure. "As a result of the lack of certainty, (it is) most prudent for the city commission to go ahead and take the action required by the charter," she said. If voters were to approve the ordinance, the city could ask the courts to determine its validity, Zeits said. Beck said he is "absolutely convinced" the ordinance is legal. Laura Barber of the local Coalition for Compassionate Care filed the petition. She could not be reached for comment. City commissioner Ralph Soffredine, a former city police chief, said he opposes the ordinance. "I feel strongly about it, we have a hell of a time trying to deal with alcohol and now they are trying to make something else available," he said. Medical marijuana ordinances have been passed in Ann Arbor and Detroit, Beck said. Ferndale voters will vote on a similar proposal in November. In 1996, Traverse City voters rejected 2,455 to 1,766 a proposal to reduce penalties for marijuana possession. That proposal also was sparked by an citizen-driven petition. Medical pot use would be low police priority. Source: Traverse City Record-Eagle (MI)Author: Vanessa McCray, Record-Eagle Staff WriterPublished: September 4, 2005Copyright: 2005 The Traverse City Record-EagleContact: letters record-eagle.comWebsite: http://www.record-eagle.com/Michigan NORMLhttp://www.minorml.org/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #6 posted by Hope on September 05, 2005 at 10:07:08 PT Howard Wooldridge and LEAP are galvanizing a line of support for change right through the center of the entire nation.It's wonderful. I can tell you from my experience as an equestrian, that what they are doing is not easy. This ride, difficult as the logistics are, is a brilliant idea. People are so attracted to the sight of a horse and rider where they don't expect it, that it's as good as a parade anywhere, for getting the attention of onlookers.Riding horseback is not without danger. There are plenty of things that can go wrong at the drop of a hat when you are riding away from traffic...but throw traffic into the mix and it's fraught with negative possibilities.I hope they stay safe and complete their mission and I expect that galvanized line of people across the nation, less afraid to speak their mind in favor of change, will spread up and down and increase the density of citizens, like us, who are sick of the way it's being done and want a change.Thanks, Howard...and thanks to all who are helping and supporting him.It's a "righteous" thing they are doing. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by ekim on September 04, 2005 at 21:19:14 PT good going Traverse City Howard and Misty's Long Rider Blog Documenting a Horseback Odyssey from Sea to Shining Sea DAY 184 http://leap.cc/howard/weblog.html (Long Rider Report), THU September 1, 2005Today started with another article in the paper (The News-Herald) www.news-herald.com by Justin Maynor. It was on page 3 but it was a great big picture that took up about half of the page!As I sit here in front of the library waiting for it to open, Howard calls to tell me not to go through the next town which is Painesville. He has just been hassled by their local policeman. He made him ride the horse on the street instead of on the grass where he usually does and when he found out that he couldn't write him up for anything he left but he shot him the finger as he rode off !! There was about a dozen people watching all this take place and they all clapped as the officer drove off! Hopefully, there will be more to this story...tune in tomorrow to see.Back to Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------DAY 183(Long Rider Report), WED August 31, 2005A great start to the day...Howard did make the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Yeah!! It wasn't much, it was on page 9, but there it was a picture and a few words under it, and it said all that needed to be said.Today, Howard was stopped so many times as he made his way through Euclid, Wicklite, Willoughby and then Mentor, that he only made it 16 miles by the end of the day. Everyone was so excited to see the guy they had seen on the news and in the paper. He got $40.00 in donations and literally about 100 people either came up to him to thank him and say, "God bless you" or they drove by and gave him a thumbs up.We are still on US 20 and we found out that there is a fairgrounds on the outskirts of the city. When we arrived at the fairgrounds about 10 peoole came up to see what was going on. One of them gave us a bale of hay and another one Jason, was a member of Ohio NORML. He said he had heard that we were going to be coming through but he didn't know he would get to meet us...he gave the horses a bag of treats.Well it's late, we still have to get the horses taken care of then we have to find some place to eat and then hopefully get back here in time to take shower before they close them up for the night. http://leap.cc/howard/weblog.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by runruff on September 04, 2005 at 15:44:49 PT: Stupid huh! But the rational is this: There is 26% oxygen in the atmosphere regardless of how polluted the air is. Supposedly we get the right amount of oxygen no matter what. The issue is over the carbon dioxide we expell after breathing. Expulsion is as important as intake and pure oxygen upsets that balance. a more scientific expination I can't give you but it has something to do with this. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by AgaetisByrjun on September 04, 2005 at 14:30:46 PT Unrelated: oxygen is a controlled substance http://story.japanherald.com/p.x/ct/9/id/eb0d6bd68ed860e7/cid/a1e025da3c02ca7cOxygen bar at State Fair eyed for possible violationsLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- It may be pure and fundamental to life, but dispensing oxygen requires prescription power.Lacking that authority, the owner of an oxygen bar at the Nebraska State Fair may be violating federal and state laws.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates pure oxygen and considers it a "legend drug," says Marla Augustine, spokeswoman for the state Health and Human Services System.To dispense pure oxygen without authority of a prescription -- and the necessary license to issue one -- violates federal law, Augustine said Friday.The owner of the Third Eye Oxygen Bar, Drew Norris of Hutchinson, Kan., says he doesn't understand the fuss."If doctors are concerned about people breathing oxygen," he said, "they should be just as concerned about beer in the beer garden, the variety of fried foods that are out here and the cigarettes that are sold out here."He said he checked with health officials before he came to his first Nebraska State Fair three years ago, and "nobody raised any red flags.""This is a substance that we are addicted to from the second we are conceived to the second we die," Norris said. "We have to breathe oxygen."He describes his enterprise as an "entertainment."Customers choose between blends of oxygen and aromatherapy, inhaling the mix from tubes.The federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act says any type of oxygen for breathing and administered someone else is a prescription drug. For example, it is used to help people who have heart disease, asthma and emphysema.The American Lung Association has said "there is no evidence that oxygen at the low flow levels used in bars can be dangerous to a normal person's health."But, said Dr. Mary Purucker, a pulmonary specialist for Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a 2002 FDA publication, people with some medical conditions run some risk.People with some types of heart disease or asthma, for examples, must have their oxygen carefully administered. "If they inhale too much oxygen," she said, "they can stop breathing."Also, the FDA article said, some people who choose "flavored" oxygen could inhale allergens or irritants that could lead to wheezing.The FDA lets state boards of licensing enforce the prescription requirements.Joe McDermott, the fair's assistant executive director, said it isn't up to the fair to determine whether Norris is breaking the law. But if he is, McDermott said, fair officials will ask him to leave.The state has previously dealt with oxygen bars.In December 2004, Augustine said, the Board of Medicine and Surgery told a a Grand Rapids, Mich., company to stop providing oxygen to an oxygen bar operated by university students and to a beauty salon in Omaha.Augustine of the HHS said her agency will determine whether to ask the attorney general's office to move against Norris' oxygen bar. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Jim Lunsford on September 04, 2005 at 12:57:20 PT Maybe.... they have been confusing the effects of prohibition as the cause of drug use. Not a bad idea to do this action though. Imagine a wave of this type of active citizenry. As an aside: Homeland security (drug war office) is under questioning now and I doubt this fairly unpopular office is going to be here anymore. Which means that legalization has a better chance as well. After all, the drug war did spend money that could be used for infrastructure? Victory is only as certain as we are passionate about it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by runruff on September 04, 2005 at 08:40:05 PT: Another flat earth society member. "We have a hell of a time trying to deal with alcohol now they're trying make something else legal". [Excuse me while I regress here for a second.] DUH! How many domestic violence calls has this guy been to where the perp was stoned on pot? How many bodies has he scraped up off the side of the road because of a driver has had a few tokes? How many people has he or his deputies had to pick up out of the gutter with vomit down the front of their shirts and urine stained pants from smoking a joint? How many people has he had to arrest for fist fighting over whose team won the super bowl while they had one to many joints?Sometimes only a Homer Simpson response is appropriate when some makes a statement like that, DOH! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment