ACTIVISTS SAY STATE MUST DO U-TURN

The constitution of the State of Michigan is fine as far as it goes. But
wouldn't it be better if it included provisions to make the personal use and
possession of marijuana legal, and prohibited lawsuits against gun
manufacturers and tobacco companies?

A small but ambitious group of political activists based in Saginaw thinks
so. They're mounting a campaign for the Personal Responsibility Amendment.

The PRA committee plans to begin collecting signatures in January and hopes
the issue will be on the Michigan ballot in November 2000, organizer Greg
Schmid said Wednesday.

Schmid is a 39-year-old lawyer who doesn't smoke, own a gun or use
marijuana. He said the state is headed in the wrong direction.

Prohibition didn't work with alcohol, Schmid said. It isn't working with
marijuana, and it won't work with guns and tobacco, he said.

"Respect for the law is being eroded every day by laws that are
unenforceable," he said.

Noble sentiments, perhaps. But what are PRA's prospects in an era in which
powerful forces are pushing in the other direction?

Just about nil, according to Bill Ballenger, publisher of the newsletter
Inside Michigan Politics.

"If there is anything that has proven true about ballot proposals, it's that
you have to keep them simple," Ballenger said.

This one -- which also would end the practice of allowing law enforcement to
keep assets seized from suspected lawbreakers - is "just too much,"
Ballenger said.

Schmid is aware of the obstacles. He and his father, Allan Schmid, were
involved in successful ballot proposals to limit taxes and politicians'
terms. Both were reasonably well financed; this one isn't, so far. Nor is
Allan Schmid's initiative to reduce the state Legislature to part-time
status. It's also targeted for the November 2000 election.

But Schmid is relying on grassroots and cyberspace to make up for a lack of
money. He's been running a Web site since June, and claims to have more than
500 contacts ready to circulate petitions. They need more than 302,000
signatures of registered voters to get on the ballot.

Tonight, Greg Schmid will make a presentation on the PRA at a 7 p.m. meeting
organized by the University of Michigan libertarian organization in Ann
Arbor.

The meeting is at Mason Hall. The PRA site is:
http://198.109.165.99/ballot2000/