cannabisnews.com: Group Seeks To Put MMJ Question Before Voters





Group Seeks To Put MMJ Question Before Voters
Posted by CN Staff on June 04, 2008 at 19:12:55 PT
By Michael McConnell, Daily Tribune Staff Writer
Source: Daily Tribune
Ferndale, MI -- City voters will get a chance to decide whether a pro medical marijuana group should have a chance to distribute pot to sick patients if the group has a court order.Carl M. Swanson of the National Organization for Positive Medicine has already collected enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot in Ferndale.
Swanson's Ferndale attorney, Thad McCullum, recently turned in petitions with 398 signatures to the City Clerk's office. Only 250 signatures are needed to get the issue on a ballot."There are a lot of legal barriers to getting from where we are today to the point of having anyone actually dispense medical marijuana," Ferndale City Manager Robert Bruner, Jr. said of the group's effort.McCullum last week addressed City Council and tried to persuade them to put the ballot question before voters in the Aug. 5 primary election.Council members said they needed more time to consider the issue.It is too late now, however, for the City Council to vote in time to get the issue on the August ballot.Officials will likely decide Monday to put the question on the ballot in the November general election, said Mayor Craig Covey.He said the City Council could legally enact the proposed ordinance based on the petitions without a citywide vote. However, it is highly unlikely the council would make such a move, he added."But regardless of what the council or the city voters decide, state and federal laws still prohibit the use of marijuana under any circumstances," Covey said. "My understanding is that this organization is trying different measures like this around the country."In November 2005, Ferndale voters approved an ordinance allowing the use of medical marijuana. Several other communities statewide, including Detroit and Ann Arbor, have passed similar measures.The 2005 ordinance, like the current ballot proposal, is essentially moot because it is superceded by state and federal laws that ban all marijuana use and sales."I think all this is groundwork for the day if there is a change in the marijuana laws at the state and federal level," said Councilman T. Scott Galloway. "I think that this is controversial enough that no one on the council will want to vote (to enact) it and it will go on the ballot."Swanson, who is leading the current marijuana effort, did not respond to messages through his attorney to contact the Daily Tribune.McCullum said Swanson "lives in the Ferndale area" but the city clerk's office has no voter registration in his name. McCullum said Swanson is currently out of state."His parents are ill and he's taking care of them," McCullum said.Covey said McCullum told him that Swanson's group was pushing the marijuana distribution ordinance in Ferndale because the community has already voted in favor of decriminalizing marijuana for medical use."My understanding is that this group is trying different things around the country," Covey said. "I was the only public official to support the medical marijuana initiative here in 2005. I've always believed marijuana use by adults should not be treated as a crime. There are far more dangerous substances out there that should receive the bulk of attention in the war on drugs."Ten states, mostly in the western United States, have laws that allow for the medical use of marijuana.But those laws are in conflict with a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling they cannot preclude federal law officers from charging marijuana users and distributors under federal law.Note: Initiative would give NOPM chance to dispense pot to sick patients.Complete Title: Group Seeks To Put Marijuana Question Before Ferndale VotersSource: Daily Tribune, The (Royal Oak, MI)Author: Michael P. McConnell, Daily Tribune Staff WriterPublished: Wednesday, June 4, 2008Copyright: 2008 The Daily TribuneContact: editor dailytribune.comWebsite: http://www.dailytribune.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by afterburner on June 05, 2008 at 07:48:24 PT
Moot, indeed.
"The 2005 ordinance, like the current ballot proposal, is essentially moot..."Yes, moot, meaning talking it over.moot
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moot
{
Main Entry: 1 moot ...Function: nounEtymology: Middle English, from Old English môt, gemôt; akin to Middle High German muoze meeting ... 1: a deliberative assembly primarily for the administration of justice; especially : one held by the freemen of an Anglo-Saxon community2obsolete : argument, discussion
}Yes, meeting, discussion, argument by freemen!
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 04, 2008 at 20:00:44 PT
Alton Kelley, Psychedelic Poster Creator, Dies
June 3, 2008Alton Kelley, one of the founding members of the '60s San Francisco rock scene, died Sunday at his home in Petaluma after a long illness. He was 67.Mr. Kelley will be remembered as the creator (with his artistic partner, Stanley Mouse) of hundreds of classic psychedelic rock posters, such as the famed "skull and roses" poster for a Grateful Dead show at the Avalon Ballroom. Mr. Kelley and Mouse created 26 posters for just the first year of the Avalon's operation.Complete Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/03/BAQS111UJ4.DTL
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