cannabisnews.com: Michigan's Medical Pot Law Prompts Airwaves Fight





Michigan's Medical Pot Law Prompts Airwaves Fight
Posted by CN Staff on October 30, 2008 at 08:34:15 PT
By David Eggert, Associated Press Writer
Source: Associated Press
Lansing, MI -- Both sides in the debate over a Michigan medical marijuana proposal are sparring over TV ads, with backers showing suffering patients and opponents warning that California-style pot shops could open.Critics of the measure plan to air a 30-second ad Thursday that shows sinister-looking men standing outside a storefront labeled "Cannabis Company" while children walk by or stop to talk to them.
According to the ad, hundreds of pot-smoking clubs opened in California after voters approved the use of medical marijuana in 1996. "They grow pot there, they smoke it there in every neighborhood just blocks from schools," the announcer says.Supporters of Michigan's measure, which would let severely ill people use marijuana to relieve pain, said any comparisons to California's law are misleading and just scare tactics.No pot shops have opened in 11 other states that have allowed marijuana use for medical purposes since the passage of California's law, according to Dianne Byrum, spokeswoman for the group that supports the proposal, Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care.Proposal 1 would let registered caregivers grow 12 marijuana plants per patient in a locked facility. Each caregiver could supply a maximum five patients and could be compensated for costs."It's limited," Byrum said of the Michigan proposal. "It's not like a retail store. You can't sell it for profit. I don't know how you're going to have commerce at that point. You simply cannot factually assert the California law is going to be transplanted into Michigan under Proposal 1."The ad was defended by Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids, the anti-Proposal 1 group that created the ad. Spokesman Matt Resch said the Michigan measure would not prohibit pot shops from opening."I could have my buddy, who also is a caregiver, we could pair up and have a nice little greenhouse going," he said. "It's just another example of how this thing was poorly written and offers a lot more questions than answers."Byrum responded that Michigan's proposal is much more extensive and detailed than California's, and offers more safeguards.Supporters began running ads last week featuring a woman who suffers from multiple sclerosis and experiences blindness from optic neuritis, and a retired physician who helped his wife of 51 years by procuring marijuana to ease her symptoms of chemotherapy as she underwent treatment for ovarian cancer.Under the proposed state law, the Michigan Department of Community Health would set up a medical marijuana registry system and issue ID cards to qualified patients. To qualify for marijuana use, a person would have to have a debilitating medical condition such as cancer.Patients would need written certification from their doctor saying they needed access to medical marijuana. They also would have to pay application and-or renewal fees set by the state.The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care has reported raising more than 10 times the amount Proposal 1 opponents have raised, $1.5 million to $125,500, through Oct. 20.On the Net:Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids: http://www.nopotshops.comMichigan Coalition for Compassionate Care: http://www.stoparrestingpatients.orgSource: Associated Press (Wire)Author: David Eggert, Associated Press WriterPublished: October 30, 2008Copyright: 2008 The Associated Press Related Articles & Web Site:Stop Arresting Patientshttp://www.stoparrestingpatients.org/ Medical Marijuana Relieves Sufferinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24271.shtmlMarijuana Helps 1 Man Despite Doctor's Verdicthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24257.shtml 
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Comment #17 posted by afterburner on November 01, 2008 at 07:02:30 PT
NikoKun #11
"Shop clerks check IDs, drug dealers don't!"During WW2, Hitler disparagingly referred to England as "a nation of shopkeepers." History has shown that that is what made their nation great. The humble bureaucrats and shopkeepers who enforce the rules at their own personal stations provide stability for society.America could learn from them by applying this approach to cannabis peace. Save the children from the drug warriors!
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on October 31, 2008 at 18:46:36 PT
Poll: Mich. Voters Back Medical Pot
Video: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news/local&id=6482929
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Comment #15 posted by Paint with light on October 30, 2008 at 23:40:22 PT
Green Ribbons
This has been the Just Say No campaign's Red Ribbon week here locally.So I have been wearing a green ribbon everywhere I go.Equal with alcohol.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on October 30, 2008 at 16:58:21 PT
ekim
That sounds like it was fun. I agree Go Michigan!
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Comment #13 posted by ekim on October 30, 2008 at 16:56:39 PT
Howard and Misty stoped by
fed both and had a great visit -- go MI
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on October 30, 2008 at 15:40:43 PT
Poll: Obama, Medical Pot Lead in Michigan
Thursday, October 30, 2008 http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081030/POLITICS01/810300464
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Comment #11 posted by NikoKun on October 30, 2008 at 15:16:30 PT
The opposition's got it backwards!
Legalizing marijuana (or medical) means that LESS shady people will be on the street, talking to our kids!
When you legalize it, you allow it to be properly regulated! This cannot happen while it remains in the black market. And if you force the sick patients who need it, to get it from the black market, you FORCEFULLY FUEL the black market!Shop clerks check IDs, drug dealers don't!
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Comment #10 posted by dongenero on October 30, 2008 at 12:56:56 PT
I hope so Paul
Thank you for the work you do to promote our freedom.
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Comment #9 posted by paul armentano on October 30, 2008 at 12:31:54 PT
The Death Throes Of A Doomed Policy!
http://blog.norml.org/2008/10/30/lying-in-michigan-the-death-throes-of-a-doomed-policy/Lying In Michigan: The Death Throes Of A Doomed Policy?October 30th, 2008 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director If you ever wondered how low the opponents of medicinal marijuana could possibly stoop, just check out the 30-seconds of vile propaganda above. (I recommend having a strong anti-emetic handy.)For those of you who may not know, even though I’m NORML’s Deputy Director I live in California. Let me tell you that the claim that so-called “pot smoking clubs [are] in every neighborhood” is as false as it is absurd. Fact is, the county I live in (Solano County) doesn’t even allow for the establishment of dispensaries, nor has it — in four years since the passage of Senate Bill 420 — ever issued identification cards to state-authorized patients, as is required by law. Numerous counties and municipalities have passed similar moratoriums on patient dispensaries, and many others continue to resist issuing ID cards to qualified patients.By contrast, those California cities that allow for the not-for-profit patient dispensaries have enacted strict zoning policies regarding where they can operate (”Just blocks from schools???” Please!), and imposing limits on the number of collectives that may operate in a community. (Just imagine in drug pharmacies like Walgreens were forced to endure similar restrictions.)That is the reality in California, and that is why polls indicate broader public support for the legalized use of medical cannabis now than when Proposition 215 first passed in 1996.Of course, those who oppose Proposition 1 in Michigan and who condone arresting and jailing patients for their use of cannabis are well aware of these facts — just as they are aware that Prop. 1, like the medical cannabis laws in eleven other states, does not even allow for the creation of licensed cannabis dispensaries. Yet in order to continue to prosecute and cage their fellow citizens, regardless of whether they are healthy or dying, our opponents rely on lying and fear-mongering — the same tactics that brought us marijuana prohibition in the first place.Will the scare-tactics work? They haven’t in past. (Of the ten state medi-pot initiative campaigns since 1996, nine have passed.) Unfortunately, like in Massachusetts, the negative campaigning is clearly having an effect — with recent polls indicating a drop in public support from an estimated 66 percent to 54 percent. Believe me, as one who bases his written words on science and facts, it pains me to say that.That said, like in Massachusetts, I am confident that a majority of Michigan’s voters will see through our opponents cynical and dishonest smoke-screen come Election Day, and will choose to make the ‘land of 11,000 lakes’ the thirteenth state to authorize the legal use of medical cannabis.Why do I say this? I say this because for the first time in recent memory it’s become apparent that our opponents are desperate. They are desperate because they know they are losing — state by state, community by community, and voter by voter.As Mahatma Gandhi said, “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.” Well, it’s obvious that we are no longer being ignored, nor are we being ridiculed. Finally, with their backs up against the wall, the defenders of prohibition have decided to fight.And we all know what comes next.
http://www.norml.org
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Comment #8 posted by Sam Adams on October 30, 2008 at 11:49:59 PT
Interesting lesson learned?
It looks like we're going to be accused of allowing dispensaries even when the referendum doesn't include them.My take-away from that would be: include non-profit dispensaries from now on! Might as well, and it helps 10 times as many patients as no dispensaries.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 30, 2008 at 11:08:35 PT
YES on PROPS. 1 and 2
http://drugsense.org/url/LdejqZHU
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on October 30, 2008 at 10:42:11 PT
http://www.nopotshops.com/
Hmmmm. They allow comments, apparently.
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on October 30, 2008 at 10:06:08 PT
Police Defend the Right to Choke Marijuana Suspect
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle_blog/2008/sep/30/police_defend_the_right_to_choke
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Comment #4 posted by dongenero on October 30, 2008 at 10:01:31 PT
Fear mongering appeals made to the public
I find it sad that people's fears are marketed to in this way. Let's be honest, they are marketing prohibition with fear as their sales tactic. I'm not buying.It reminds me of the new McCain ad; "not yet".
All fear, bleak visuals, scary-psychotic music. I feel sorry for the folks who buy into these consuming mind sets. I'm ashamed and angry at those who utilize such tactics. This is the post 9-11, neo-con world for you.
You can choose it or you can reject it. Hope or fear? Be afraid, be very afraid....of everything.....(smiles) I approve this message.
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Comment #3 posted by paul armentano on October 30, 2008 at 09:49:32 PT
You can view the disgusting No on Prop 1 ad here
http://stoparrestingpatients.org/oppositions-desperate-lies
http://stoparrestingpatients.org/oppositions-desperate-lies
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Comment #2 posted by fight_4_freedom on October 30, 2008 at 09:18:13 PT
I would love to see one like that Sam
It's pretty sad that the best they could come up with is what they put out. If they are so opposed to California's law, they should focus their efforts on putting a halt to prop. 215.Proposal 1 is nothing like that and they know it, but this is their best defense I suppose.
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Comment #1 posted by OverwhelmSam on October 30, 2008 at 09:08:38 PT
Opposing Identical Comercials
Make a commercial of mock jack booted law enforcement beating innocent adults for smoking marijuana in the privacy of their own homes. What's good for the goose and all, fair is fair.
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