POT, STEM CELLS MAKE THE BALLOT

Backers of State Reform Effort Promise to Appeal

LANSING -- The field of statewide ballot proposals for 2008 appears
to be set at two -- medical marijuana and embryonic stem cell
research -- following approval of ballot wording by a state elections
panel Thursday. Advertisement

The proposal to permit the cultivation, possession and use of
marijuana by patients with certain debilitating illnesses, such as
muscular dystrophy or HIV-AIDS, was designated as Proposal 1 by the
Board of State Canvassers.

A constitutional amendment to lift restrictions on research using
human embryos, aimed at seeking treatments and cures for chronic
illness and injury, was designated Proposal 2.

Backers of the amendment claim that it would provide researchers at
Michigan's public universities with significant new opportunities to
conduct work in an area they predict will provide much of the life-
and health-saving medicine of the 21st Century. Opponents charge the
proposal would free human embryo researchers from any state
oversight, potentially turning Michigan into a Frankenstein
laboratory of American medicine.

Following a directive issued Wednesday evening by the state Court of
Appeals, the board declined to designate a third proposal -- the
Reform Michigan Government Now! plan -- for the Nov. 4 ballot.
Supporters of that proposal said they will appeal that decision to
the state Supreme Court.

The only other option to expand the 2008 ballot proposal roster lies
with the Legislature, which may propose constitutional amendments
until 60 days before the election. Legislative leaders have not
expressed an intention to do so this year.

The board also adopted the 100-word summaries of the two proposals
that will appear on the ballot.