THE END OF REEFER MADNESS

Do you believe in having the freedom to do as you choose with your
own body? Or should government make those decisions for you?

That's the fundamental question in many great controversies of our
time regarding smoking, prostitution, abortion, stem cell research,
marijuana, wearing a motorcycle helmet, the right to die with
dignity, the use of steroids, and drug use to name a few.

At least half the time, we (ie. society) decide to limit ourselves.
If you want to make money by inviting strangers to enjoy your body,
too bad -- it's against the law. If you want to hit the ball farther
than anyone else on the team by taking steroids, tough luck -- it's illegal.

But if you want to smoke cigarettes or have an abortion, you are
still free to do so. For the time being, that is.

So it's all quite arbitrary as to what you can legally do with your
own body in our supposedly "free" country.

That's why this November's vote on the Michigan Medical Marijuana
Initiative seems momentous: we don't often decide to legalize
anything -- the trend is usually in the other direction.

In March, members of the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care
turned in over 300,000 signatures from state voters, securing a place
on the ballot for the Michigan Marijuana Act. The act would amend
state law "to allow authorized patients to use cannabis
therapeutically under a doctor's supervision."

If Michigan voters grant their approval, ours would be the 13th state
to approve the use of medical marijuana since 1996, according to
NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).

Medical marijuana eases the pain and symptoms of glaucoma, MS, and
chemotherapy. Should these people be forced to suffer excruciating
pain or be forced to pay for prescription drugs costing thousands of
dollars when inexpensive, effective marijuana is available? Vote your
conscience on this one, and think of that member of your own family
whose pain could have been eased.

Ah, but critics claim that in states where medical marijuana has been
legalized, there are always a few Sneaky Petes who bend the rules so
that they too can smoke pot.

Fortunately, two forward-thinking congressmen have a prescription for
nipping this in the bud (no pun intended). Their idea is to simply
quit harassing the American people over small amounts of marijuana
and let us be free to use it.

What a concept! Freedom. Who could imagine?

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) and co-sponsor Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas)
have offered a resolution to decriminalize the personal use of
marijuana. They have proposed ending federal penalties for Americans
who possess fewer than 100 grams of marijuana, or a little less than
a quarter ounce.

"The vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the
government's business," Frank said last week in a Capitol Hill press
conference. "I don't think it is the government's business to tell
you how to spend your leisure time."

Rep. Frank, who doesn't smoke marijuana, points out that billions
have been spent in law enforcement to try to stop something that
Americans routinely thumb their noses at -- just as they did the
prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s. NORML claims there are tens of
millions of pot smokers in the U.S., and that there have been 20
million marijuana-related arrests since 1965. In fact, a marijuana
smoker is arrested every 38 seconds in our country.

The arrests are a bonanza for law enforcement, courts and lawyers,
but a real heartache for parents who've had to pay the legal bills
for their teens, or have seen their kids sent to the county jail.

Under Frank's proposal, it would still be illegal to deal marijuana
or possess more than a quarter ounce. Obviously, this would require a
bit of fait accompli from the government, winking at distribution.

Thus, the main problem with decriminalizing marijuana would,
ironically, be a lack of government regulation.

Without government regulation of trade, organized crime would still
be involved in marijuana's distribution. Then too, there is the
question of potency: in Amsterdam, where marijuana is legal, some
strains are so potent from being refined through the years that
smokers have suffered psychotic reactions.

If marijuana is going to be decriminalized, then we should also
consider having it regulated and taxed, to the benefit of Michigan
farmers and our state treasury.