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Politics : THE WHITE HOUSE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (18620)	3/24/2008 8:19:33 PM
From: Gersh Avery	Respond to of 25737

I just received this. Not mentioned below is that, according to this poll, 64% of Republicans will vote yes. We have fantastic news! According to a new independent poll published in a prominent Michigan political newsletter, 67% of voters favor the passage of MCCC's medical marijuana initiative in the state! This is a significant increase in support from polls conducted in previous years. It also cuts across all demographics, which bodes very well for making Michigan the 13th medical marijuana state this November. The poll, conducted by the Lansing-based consulting firm Marketing Resource Group (MRC) and published in Inside Michigan Politics, surveyed 600 registered Michigan voters. And the numbers speak for themselves: 67% of Michiganders support a compassionate medical marijuana law, with 28% opposed and only 5% undecided. Momentum is clearly on the side of reform, but we still need both the resources and the activist base to mount an effective campaign as we move forward. If you are at all able, please consider making a donation to the campaign today, or click here to get involved! After the nearly half a million signatures MCCC handed in to the state last November came back with a whopping 80.2% validity rate, the medical marijuana initiative advanced to the Michigan Legislature. If, as expected, the legislature chooses not to act on the initiative after 40 days, Michigan voters will decide the issue at the polls in November. The overwhelming level of support is not altogether surprising: Five Michigan cities - Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Flint, and Traverse City - have already passed local ordinances to protect seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana with their doctors' recommendations, and have done so by wide margins every time. And previous polling - such as a 2005 survey, which found 61% in favor of a compassionate medical marijuana law - has always indicated that a majority of Michiganders support reform. The strong showing of support reflected in the MRC poll - 2 out of 3 Michigan residents would now vote in favor of MCCC's initiative - is testimony to the compassion and commonsense of Michiganders, who clearly favor ending the cruel and unnecessary policy of arresting Michigan's seriously ill for simply treating the symptoms of debilitating illnesses. Despite this encouraging news, the campaign still has a long way to go and we'll need substantial resources to maintain this momentum. Would you please consider donating to MCCC today or volunteering for the campaign? Your continued activism and participation will help ensure a victory for the patients at the polls in November. Scott Klein Michigan Coaliton for Compassionate Care 313-346-7688 P.O. Box 20489 Ferndale, MI 48220 sklein@mpp.org

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (18620)	3/26/2008 2:27:36 AM
From: Gersh Avery	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25737

After April 14, I want to see posters that clearly identify every elected official in Michigan that stood in clear opposition to the will of the people. Only to force seriously sick people to suffer an additional few months. Posted by Clark Hughes The Bay City Times March 25, 2008 09:41AM Categories: Our View Legislators too timid to touch a burning issue may let special interests determine how Michigan rolls, with a medical marijuana initiative on the Nov. 4 general election ballot. It's a poor way to make law. On March 3, the Michigan Board of Canvassers approved petition signatures for a ballot initiative that would allow seriously ill people to grow as many as 12 marijuana plants and possess 2.5 ounces of marijuana for treatment of their disease. Using an alternate spelling for the drug, the proposal is called the "Michigan Medical Marihuana Act." Its main supporters are the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care and the Marijuana Policy Project. Their petitioners collected more than enough verifiable signatures - 377,975 - to force the proposal before the state House and Senate. If neither body of elected lawmakers acts on the proposal within 40 days, which is mid-April, the Michigan Constitution requires that the measure be placed on the next general election ballot. Neither the House nor the Senate are expected to tackle this hot-button issue. Instead, the people who voters elect and pay to represent them in Lansing may just let this proposal happen. That would be a dereliction of duty. Legislators, stand up and be counted. Let your employers, the people of your districts, know exactly where you stand on this issue. It's not like the petition has tied lawmakers' hands. Within that 40-day window, the state constitution says, lawmakers may approve the ballot proposal, or vote it down and submit their own version of what a state medical marijuana law should look like and run it on ballots alongside of the petition initiative. In any event, the "Michigan Medical Marihuana Act" crafted by special interests will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot. But Michiganders still do have a say in what they will see in voting booths on Election Day. That can only happen if state representatives and senators find the courage to debate and vote on what some see as an evil drug and others view as a medical marvel. This is a thorny issue that deserves wide-open, public debate. An up-or-down vote. Even an alternative medical marijuana law, written by elected lawmakers who are paid to represent the interests of the people of this state. Odds are good that, when faced with a medical marijuana proposal, Michiganders will vote to approve one. In 2005, for example, more than 60 percent of voters in Traverse City and Ferndale approved medical marijuana measures on their local ballots. It was the same story in Flint last year. State and federal law, which supersede local ordinances, make these measures largely symbolic. Michigan is poised to become the 13th state in the nation - the first in the Midwest - to legalize marijuana use and possession for medical purposes. Reclaim this important public issue, legislators, and earn your keep. Do not just shrug, and let "Medical Marihuana" happen without you. Our View is the editorial opinion of The Bay City Times, as determined by the newspaper's editorial board, which includes the editorial page editor, the editor and the publisher.