GROUP SEEKS TO PUT MARIJUANA QUESTION BEFORE FERNDALE VOTERS

Initiative Would Give NOPM Chance to Dispense Pot to Sick Patients

FERNDALE -- City voters will get a chance to decide whether a pro
medical marijuana group should have a chance to distribute pot to
sick patients if the group has a court order.

Carl M. Swanson of the National Organization for Positive Medicine
has already collected enough signatures to get the issue on the
ballot in Ferndale.

Swanson's Ferndale attorney, Thad McCullum, recently turned in
petitions with 398 signatures to the City Clerk's office. Only 250
signatures are needed to get the issue on a ballot.

"There are a lot of legal barriers to getting from where we are today
to the point of having anyone actually dispense medical marijuana,"
Ferndale City Manager Robert Bruner, Jr. said of the group's effort.

McCullum last week addressed City Council and tried to persuade them
to put the ballot question before voters in the Aug. 5 primary election.

Council members said they needed more time to consider the issue.

It is too late now, however, for the City Council to vote in time to
get the issue on the August ballot.

Officials will likely decide Monday to put the question on the ballot
in the November general election, said Mayor Craig Covey.

He said the City Council could legally enact the proposed ordinance
based on the petitions without a citywide vote. However, it is highly
unlikely the council would make such a move, he added.

"But regardless of what the council or the city voters decide, state
and federal laws still prohibit the use of marijuana under any
circumstances," Covey said. "My understanding is that this
organization is trying different measures like this around the country."

In November 2005, Ferndale voters approved an ordinance allowing the
use of medical marijuana. Several other communities statewide,
including Detroit and Ann Arbor, have passed similar measures.

The 2005 ordinance, like the current ballot proposal, is essentially
moot because it is superceded by state and federal laws that ban all
marijuana use and sales.

"I think all this is groundwork for the day if there is a change in
the marijuana laws at the state and federal level," said Councilman
T. Scott Galloway. "I think that this is controversial enough that no
one on the council will want to vote (to enact) it and it will go on
the ballot."

Swanson, who is leading the current marijuana effort, did not respond
to messages through his attorney to contact the Daily Tribune.

McCullum said Swanson "lives in the Ferndale area" but the city
clerk's office has no voter registration in his name. McCullum said
Swanson is currently out of state.

"His parents are ill and he's taking care of them," McCullum said.

Covey said McCullum told him that Swanson's group was pushing the
marijuana distribution ordinance in Ferndale because the community
has already voted in favor of decriminalizing marijuana for medical use.

"My understanding is that this group is trying different things
around the country," Covey said. "I was the only public official to
support the medical marijuana initiative here in 2005. I've always
believed marijuana use by adults should not be treated as a crime.
There are far more dangerous substances out there that should receive
the bulk of attention in the war on drugs."

Ten states, mostly in the western United States, have laws that allow
for the medical use of marijuana.

But those laws are in conflict with a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling
they cannot preclude federal law officers from charging marijuana
users and distributors under federal law.