POLICE SCOFF AT PUSH FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

A proposal to legalize marijuana for medical purposes does not have
the support of Livingston County authorities, who say such action
could lead to bigger troubles.

Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte said Tuesday that opening the
door to legalization of marijuana is "ridiculous."

"It would be a nightmare for law enforcement," he said.

The Board of State Canvassers OK'd petitions Monday to put the issue
before state lawmakers. If lawmakers don't approve the measure within
40 days, the proposal will be placed on the November ballot for
voters to decide.

That may be the most likely scenario because lawmakers haven't acted
on similar legislation introduced in recent years.

Capt. John Kowalski of the Howell Police Department said he is not
convinced there is any legitimate medical use of marijuana.

"I think the person who uses it may have some psychological
'easement,' but I haven't seen any data that says marijuana has a
legitimate use," he said.

The Michigan initiative would allow patients to grow and use small
amounts of marijuana for relief from pain associated with cancer,
AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other diseases.

Under the proposal, a doctor's approval or recommendation would be
required to use the drug. Registry cards would be created so police
could tell who was a registered patient with an OK to use the drug.

A recent paper written for the American College of Physicians called
"Supporting Research into the Therapeutic Role of Marijuana,"
acknowledges that marijuana has been smoked for medicinal purposes
for centuries, and that clinical anecdotal reports suggest "numerous
potential medical uses for marijuana."

The paper also notes that although the indications for some
conditions -- such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting --
have been well-documented, less information is available about other
potential medical uses.

The paper also says the ACP encourages the use of nonsmoked forms of
THC that have proven therapeutic value and "urges protection from
criminal or civil penalties for patients who use medical marijuana as
permitted under state law."

Kowalski and Bezotte agree that it is unnecessary to legalize
marijuana for medicinal purposes because there already exists
approved prescription medications to treat cancer, AIDS and other diseases.

"It's been proven that marijuana leads to other drugs," Bezotte said.
"Where is it going to stop? Will we legalize cocaine?"

Michigan law prohibits marijuana use for any reason, but roughly a
dozen other states permit medicinal use by patients.

Dianne Byrum -- a spokeswoman with the Michigan Coalition for
Compassionate Care in Ferndale, which has been devoted to passing a
medical marijuana initiative in Michigan -- said those other states
have seen successful marijuana as medicinal purpose programs.

Byrum said the patient who would fit medicinal use is "narrow" --
less than one-half of 1 percent nationally.

"This is a narrow group of individuals who are extremely sick or
dying," she explained.

Bezotte argues that allowing someone to grow his or her own marijuana
could lead to recreational use by others.

Byrum dismisses that argument, saying there would be no legal
protection for any patients violating the law. Those patients who do
would be subject to prosecution and would permanently lose their
ability to use marijuana for medicinal purpose, she said.

"These are seriously ill people; it's not people who are well enough
to be selling drugs," Byrum noted.

Voters in at least five Michigan cities -- Ann Arbor, Detroit,
Ferndale, Flint and Traverse City -- have passed ballot initiatives
allowing for medicinal marijuana use in the past few years. The votes
were mostly symbolic, however, since state and federal laws prohibit
use of the drug.

Byrum said she believes Michigan voters will approve the measure. An
August 2003 poll found that 59 percent of Michigan voters supported
removing criminal penalties for the medical use of marijuana,
according to the Coalition for Compassionate Care.

Bezotte said the effort would be moot anyway.

"It will be an issue of state law versus federal law, and I don't see
the federal law (changing)," Bezotte said.