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Detroit -- A proposal to legalize marijuana for medical use in the city would have a largely symbolic effect if approved by voters Tuesday.
Proposal M would change the city code, creating an exception to the marijuana ban for people who use the drug for medical purposes under a doctor's direction. But such a change would have no effect on federal and state laws that allow prosecution of those possessing or using marijuana.
The initiative's backers acknowledge that there would be little practical effect from the change and view the measure as a step toward rewriting the state's drug laws.
Timothy Beck, founder of the Detroit Coalition for Compassionate Care, which collected the necessary signatures to put the measure on the ballot, has said that if the proposal passes – along with a similar one that will come before Ann Arbor voters in November – his group will work to change state laws.
Beck says the group will work with lawmakers to put the issue before the state Legislature or push for a statewide ballot initiative.
Opponents of the change say it will send the wrong message to young people about drug use and is part of a push for broader legalization of marijuana.
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington state have passed laws allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court said in June that it will rule on the issue in the case of two California women who say marijuana is the only drug that eases their chronic pain.
Source: Associated Press
Author: Sarah Karush, The Associated Press
Published: August 3, 2004
Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press
Proposal M would change the city code, creating an exception to the marijuana ban for people who use the drug for medical purposes under a doctor's direction. But such a change would have no effect on federal and state laws that allow prosecution of those possessing or using marijuana.
The initiative's backers acknowledge that there would be little practical effect from the change and view the measure as a step toward rewriting the state's drug laws.
Timothy Beck, founder of the Detroit Coalition for Compassionate Care, which collected the necessary signatures to put the measure on the ballot, has said that if the proposal passes – along with a similar one that will come before Ann Arbor voters in November – his group will work to change state laws.
Beck says the group will work with lawmakers to put the issue before the state Legislature or push for a statewide ballot initiative.
Opponents of the change say it will send the wrong message to young people about drug use and is part of a push for broader legalization of marijuana.
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington state have passed laws allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The U.S. Supreme Court said in June that it will rule on the issue in the case of two California women who say marijuana is the only drug that eases their chronic pain.
Source: Associated Press
Author: Sarah Karush, The Associated Press
Published: August 3, 2004
Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press
