Ballot Proposals in Michigan: Voters Will Decide on Medical Marijuana, Stem Cell Research

Michigan voters on November 4th will decide on ballot proposals for Medical Marijuana use and Stem Cell Research.

At this point, neither ballot proposal is generating high-profile emotion that would match the 2004 ban on gay marriage or the 2006 rollback of affirmative action. Political conservatives had their way on both of those issues.

A petition drive for a referendum to create a part-time legislature failed to muster the necessary 380,000 votes. Michigan thus will remain one of only 11 states with a full-time governing body.

PROPOSAL 1: MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Thousands who suffer from afflictions ranging from AIDS to multiple sclerosis, from Crohn's disease to glaucoma, have reported that they receive relief from ingesting THC through pot.

Ballot proposals to protect these folks from criminal action has become a national trend. A petition drive is a typical option, because legislators shy away from right-wing charges that they are soft on drugs.

Voter approval of Proposal 1 in November would make Michigan the 13th state to act on behalf of medical marijuana supporters. Others are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

The Michigan Coalition of Compassionate Care has put forward Rochelle Lampkin of Detroit as a spokeswoman. She is a 50-something grandmother who contracted MS as a young adult. She says she neither drinks nor smokes, and she once actually joined neighborhood pickets to protest at a "drug house" where reefer was sold.

In other words, in no way is Ms. Lampkin a druggie.

Pain behind her eyes a few years ago was becoming unbearable. A fellow MS sufferer encouraged her to try medical marijuana. She took a few tokes, even though it was against her principles, and voila - she felt relief that she says was long-lasting. She now is a regular user but insists she does not ingest enough to get high.

Debate over Proposal 1 comes on two fronts.