PROP 1 WORDING MAY OPEN LEGAL LOOPHOLES

Part one of Proposal 1 states that Michigan citizens will acknowledge
marijuana as a prescription drug. Although not every voter agrees
that marijuana can be used as an effective medicine, a majority of us
do according to recent polls taken by the Detroit News and the
Detroit Free Press. Both polls showed over 60 percent support among
likely voters for Proposal 1.

Most Michigan citizens clearly favor the idea that sick residents
with a doctor's prescription should have access to marijuana. And
serious medical conditions like cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS,
hepatitis C and MS are specifically named in the proposal as likely
candidates for medical marijuana treatment. So far so good.

Part one concludes by stating that all medical conditions qualifying
for marijuana treatment will be determined by the Michigan Department
of Community Health. That also seems reasonable enough, so the
editorial staff of the Eastern Echo unanimously supports this first section.

It's the second, third and fourth sections of Proposal 1 that begin
to make the Echo editors a bit uncomfortable. These three sections
will likely scare off quite a few Michigan voters as they encounter
them on Election Day as well.

Sections two and three give a general description of "registered
individuals" with state-issued ID cards growing "limited quantities"
of marijuana in an "enclosed, locked facility." So who will issue the
ID cards to marijuana patients and their growers? Answer; The
Michigan Department of Community Health. Okay, who are they again?

According to their Web site michigan.gov/mdch, the MDCH is among the
largest of Michigan's 20 departments of state government, and is
"responsible for health policy and management of the state's
publicly-funded health service systems."

The director of the MDCH is Janet Olszewski, described as "a
long-time health care executive" who has spent "more than 20 years in
state government health services." Governor Jennifer Granholm
appointed her in January 2003.

What is unnerving about these later sections of Proposal 1 is they
provide no details concerning how the MDCH will register, track and
enforce the state's legal marijuana users and growers. Will the
Office of Drug Control Policy, a division within the MDCH responsible
for drug treatment, prevention, education and law enforcement,
oversee medical marijuana? Who knows.

The final section of Proposal 1 presents a strange twist on providing
medical marijuana to sick Michigan patients. This section would
permit "registered and unregistered patients and primary caregivers
to assert medical reasons for using marijuana as a defense to any
prosecution involving marijuana." What's that all about?

Just as the 2004 amendment to Michigan's constitution banning gay
marriage was used to overturn Michigan's public same-sex benefits
programs in May of this year, section four of Proposition 1 seems
designed to eventually provide a legal defense for many types of
marijuana prosecutions. After all, what claim to a legal defense
should an unregistered caregiver have for the possession or
distribution of a controlled substance like marijuana? We at the Echo
are just not sure.

So while the Eastern Echo editors all support a patient's right to
use prescription marijuana as a medicine, we are divided as to
whether Proposition 1 is the best way for Michigan residents to
efficiently and safely make that happen.

One thing is clear however; we are all very interested to see how the
voters resolve this important health care rights debate. We've said
our bit, now it's up to you, Michigan.