QUESTIONS ON BALLOT INITIATIVES REMAIN

The votes were clear: Michigan residents gave the green light Tuesday
to legalize marijuana for the seriously ill and topple some barriers
to using embryonic stem cells for medical research.

But the implications of both may be anything but.

One day after the ballot proposals passed by healthy margins -- 63-37
percent for marijuana and 53-47 for stem cells -- several questions
remained Wednesday. Among them:

Q: Will easing Michigan's law on embryonic stem cells lead to new
jobs and find cures and therapies for juvenile diabetes, cancer,
multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and
other maladies?

A: It depends on who's answering.

Paul Long, vice-president of public Policy for the Michigan Catholic
Conference, which spent $5 million unsuccessfully trying to defeat
the measure, said the only states that have seen job growth are those
where tax dollars have been invested in the research. Nothing in the
measure approved here calls for the spending of public dollars.

Long also notes that in the decade of embryonic stem cell research,
not a single medical breakthrough has been recognized by the Food and
Drug Administration.

But University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman, where limited
embryonic stem cell research is ongoing, said voters opened the way
for "an exciting new era" that "will strengthen our ability not only
to improve the health of our communities, but also to boost the
intellectual and economic vitality that is critical to the future of
our region."

Q: Where are seriously and terminally ill patients in Michigan going
to get their medical marijuana?

A: The new law doesn't address that. In the other 12 states where
medical marijuana is legal, only New Mexico has the government
helping to secure the drug for patients. Michigan's law simply states
that a patient can possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana or grow 12
plants in a secure facility. Law enforcement officials say the drug
will have to be obtained in the illegal market and that despite the
new law, Michigan patients will still be lawbreakers in the eyes of
federal agencies.

Q. Can I start smoking medical marijuana today?

A. Not legally. "There is no medical marijuana program in Michigan
until about April 4," said James McCurtis, spokesman for the Michigan
Department of Community Heath.

He said the law won't take effect until Dec. 4, and then the state
has four months to develop rules and regulations to run the program,
which will include the issuance of state ID cards for the estimated
50,000 patients who might qualify under the new law.

Q. Will the easing of embryonic stem cell research lead to human cloning?

A. Probably not.

Nothing in the constitutional amendment, which will take effect 45
days after the election on Dec. 19, alters the 1978 Michigan law that
bans human cloning.

But critics of the measure, such as the Catholic Church and Right to
Life of Michigan, say there is nothing to prevent a future
Legislature from lifting that ban.

Q. Is the medical marijuana law just the first step in a broader
agenda to legalize pot use for all adults?

A. Perhaps. A quarter of the U.S. population now lives in a state
that allows medical marijuana, so attitudes about its broader use
could change. The Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington D.C.,
spent about $1.7 million on the ballot proposal here.