DETROITERS VOTE TO ALLOW MEDICAL POT

Detroit citizens voted 59-41 per cent Tuesday to allow the use of medical
marijuana in their city, which should send a message to Canadian
municipalities to do the same, says the editor of B.C.-based Cannabis
Health Journal.

Detroit is the first city in the American Midwest to allow medical marijuana.

"I'm happy that it passed," Brian Taylor said Wednesday. "I'm surprised
that it's not higher than 59 per cent, given that most polls show the
support for medical marijuana is around 80 per cent.

"But maybe some Canadian municipalities will now wake up to their
responsibilities, instead of continually calling it a federal matter, and
deal with the issue."

Detroit police officers now may not arrest anybody who uses marijuana for
medical reasons and has a doctor's note on letterhead to prove it. State
and federal officers, however, will still be able to lay drug charges
against Detroiters even if they are using pot medicinally.

"We're very, very happy," said Tim Beck, chairman of the Detroit Coalition
for Compassionate Care, which lobbied to have Proposal M for medical
marijuana on the ballot. "There were a lot of people who expected this to fail.

"It adds a different dimension on things. Some people said this was a West
Coast phenomenon. So people are ecstatic there has been a major win in the
Midwest."

Ann Arbor votes on a similar resolution Nov. 2. If that passes, proponents
say they will push for Michigan to allow medical marijuana use statewide.