POT FOR MEDICAL USE ON BALLOT

Supporters Gather Signatures to Ensure the Initiative Will Go Before
Public in November.

LANSING -- An initiative to legalize marijuana for medical use likely
is headed for the November ballot in Michigan, following
certification Monday of supporters' petitions by a state elections panel.

The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, which collected nearly
a half-million petition signatures last year, easily surpassed the
required 304,101 valid signatures to qualify, the Board of State
Canvassers decided on a 3-0 vote.

The initiative now goes to the Legislature, which has 40 days to
consider it. If lawmakers approve the measure, which is unlikely,
Michigan would become the 13th state to allow medical marijuana use.
If lawmakers reject the proposal or fail to act within that time
frame, it automatically goes on the November ballot.

If enacted, the new statute would allow patients to use, possess and
grow their own marijuana for medical purposes with their doctors' approval.

Backers say seriously ill people should be permitted to use
marijuana, without penalty, to alleviate pain and nausea.

"We should be allowing doctors and patients to have all options to
deal with pain and suffering without fear of arrest or jail," said
Dianne Byrum, spokeswoman for the coalition. Patients likely to
benefit include those suffering from AIDS and Alzheimer's disease and
cancer patients under chemotherapy.

Byrum said some national physicians' groups support medical
marijuana. But the Michigan State Medical Society is opposed, except
in research.

"We need scientific proof of efficacy. There's no direct evidence
that it works," said David Fox, spokesman for the physicians' group.

Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, a physician and former hospice
director, said he would vote against the proposal. He said THC, the
active ingredient in marijuana, is already available in pill form,
called Marinol.

"It is used as an anti-nausea medicine, an appetite stimulant and
pain control but has a fairly narrow role and generally there are
better medications," George said.

Campaign finance records show the medical marijuana group raised
about $1.07 million and spent nearly all of it on the petition drive.
That's more than any other ballot committee.

Other initiatives still in the petition circulation stage include
plans that would: legalize embryonic stem cell research; replace the
state income and business taxes with a 9.75 percent sales tax and
require universal health care.