MEDICAL MARIJUANA

When Dr. George Wagoner, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist from
Manistee, saw the suffering his wife of 51 years was enduring from
her battle with ovarian cancer last year, he turned to marijuana to
ease her pain. "During her chemotherapy she experienced intense
nausea, and conventional anti-nausea drugs didn't help much. One drug
cost $46.20 a pill and didn't help," said Dr. Wagoner. "Another made
her hallucinate, so she refused to take it. Basically, pharmaceutical
drugs were ineffective and the marijuana -- just a very small dose --
was most effective."

Dr. Wagoner and his wife are among many who have taken the path of
using marijuana for medical purposes. However, in Michigan, they are
breaking the law. On November 4, Ballot Proposal 1 will give Michigan
voters the opportunity to legalize the use of marijuana for medical
purposes. Currently, 12 other states have laws allowing the use of
medical marijuana.

For Reverend Steve Thompson, chapter president of the Benzie County
NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws),
the ballot issue is music to his ears.

"I have been an advocate for this for many years," said Thompson. "I
have been using marijuana for the past 42 years of my life. I am not
into alcohol and a prescription drug about killed me. I turn 61 on
November 5 and I expect this to be the best birthday present ever."

Support & Opposition

Of course, Thompson is assuming that the ballot proposal is going to
pass. The most recent survey of Michigan voters conducted by the
Detroit News/WYXZ radio shows 66 percent of voters in support of the
ballot issue.

However, Michigan Court of Appeals Judge and former congressman,
state senator and Michigan Agricultural Director Bill Schuette has
been leading the opposition fight against the ballot proposal.
Schuette is part of the newly-formed organization Citizens Protecting
Michigan's Kids that has been campaigning against the issue.

"Proposal 1 is flawed and full of unintended consequences which will
be devastating to Michigan's kids and their families," said judge
Schuette. "While there is a need to help people burdened with chronic
pain symptoms, Proposal 1, which advocates legalizing marijuana, is
carelessly written and opens the door to greater access to drugs for
teenagers across Michigan."

But Thompson counters that the other side has been campaigning on
half truths and not giving the voters all of the facts.

"If you look at the states that have passed medical marijuana, the
use of marijuana in all of those states by teenagers has declined. A
big difference between NORML along with the Michigan Coalition for
Compassionate Care (the group spearheading the ballot proposal) and
Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids is transparency," said Thompson.

"First of all, at our websites we post all of the leaders behind this
and our phone numbers and e-mail addresses. It is very difficult to
determine who is actually behind the opposition organization. Also,
they only post half truths on their website. We post both sides of
the issue, including articles that are written against the ballot
measure as we want citizens to understand both sides of the issue and
make an educated decision when they vote."

Step to Legalize It?

One of the criticisms launched by those that oppose the legalization
of medical marijuana is that it is simply just a step in the process
for the outright legalization of marijuana.

"It is no secret the NORML wants to see marijuana legalized,"
Thompson said. "It is why we have taken a backseat and the Michigan
Coalition for Compassionate Care is taking the lead on this. I am
confident in Michigan voters being intelligent enough to
differentiate between this. I believe there are people who are
willing to support this ballot proposal and not willing to see the
legalization of marijuana for recreational uses. This ballot proposal
is about compassion. It is about providing a medical alternative to
prescription drugs that do not help in some medical situations. As
for all of these half truths, I encourage people to read the actual
law. There are stiff penalties for anyone abusing this law."

Those in opposition also point to a pharmaceutical drug, Marinol,
that accomplishes the same result. They point to the fact that
Marinol is prescribed in doses, whereas smoking marijuana is not a
controlled dose.

"Marinol does not have the same effect," said Thompson. 'This has
been proven time and time again. It is the smoking of the marijuana
that is most effective in relieving these symptoms -- In particular,
loss of appetite, as Marinol does not increase one's appetite, while
smoking marijuana does."

Other Concerns

The Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids point to their concerns if
the proposal passes:

Allow use of marijuana without a doctor's prescription.

Allow a person arrested on any marijuana offense to use a "medical
marijuana" defense in court.

Allow a flood of lawsuits over things such as whether doctors and
hospitals must allow patients to smoke marijuana in a doctor's office
or hospital room, despite every other law banning smoking.

Allow the opening of pot shops and smoking clubs in neighborhood
strip malls, like has happened in California under a similar proposal.

But Thompson counters that opponents are using scare tactics.

"I am not sure they have read the legislation, but everything they
are suggesting has been addressed and they are taking half truths to
scare the public," said Thompson. "This gets down to compassion for
those with medical conditions. My mother, who is 82, has had series
of strokes in recent weeks and has told me she is going to hang on to
see this pass."

As for the future, Thompson is hopeful that marijuana will someday
again be legalized (it was banned in the United States in 1937,
although the law was fuzzy at that time and allowed for State's
rights, and a marijuana tax was passed for medical use).

"I hope it will happen in my lifetime. What I don't get is why
growing hemp is illegal. Hemp is not pot and has no THC; and if you
grow marijuana in a hemp, field it turns to hemp not the other way
around. So instead of letting farmers grow it, we import 97 percent
of the hemp we use in this country from Canada," said Thompson.

"NORML is probably the only organization in the country that is
inviting the government to regulate and tax us. But that is not what
is at stake today. That is a discussion for another day, instead what
we have to do is make a decision whether or not that, and regardless
of our opinion of marijuana is, if we want to be compassionate enough
to allow for this to help people with certain medical conditions."

Express readers are encouraged to read the full text of the medical
marijuana legislation by Googling it. The use of medical marijuana
under the proposed legislation would be only allowed for certain
medical conditions and patients would have to receive authorization
from their doctor to grow and smoke marijuana for their condition.
The conditions covered, as well as some of the concerns from the
opposition, are detailed in the legislation including the stiff
penalties for violating marijuana laws.