U.P. COMPASSION CLUB OFFERS ASSISTANCE

MARQUETTE - The U.P. Compassion Club would like residents to know they
are available to assist with obtaining legal medical marijuana for
those who are in need of it.

Ron Pihlainen, Marquette, vice president of Compassion At Last,
Medical Marijuana (CALMM), said he saw the several news items in the
Daily Press and Mining Journal of Marquette regarding the new Michigan
law. In the articles, Delta County Prosecutor Steve Parks discussed
the issue from a legal standpoint. An official from UPSET also talked
about problems he saw from a law enforcement angle. Pihlainen said
CALMM wanted to respond and let residents know they are available as
advocates.

"We don't understand why our local law enforcement entities are
against medical marijuana," he said. "As a compassion club, we want to
get the word out and educate the public."

"I just think this is something we need to speak to. We are always
told when we go to court that ignorance of the law is no excuse," he
said. "Basically what (police) are saying is they don't understand the
law, so they are just going to arrest everybody - bring 'em all in and
let the judge decide."

Pihlainen said CALMM is not an advocate of marijuana use as a
recreational activity.

"We are a non-profit organization, and we are the entity that will
educate the people in our locale," he said. "We do not support anyone
who is there for a buzz, we are totally medical. If anybody is coming
for any other reason than medical need, we will have nothing to do
with them. We are not partiers, we are patients."

CALMM can be reached by contacting Pihlainen at growupnmedicate@yahoo.com
or (906) 345-0151 or CALMM President Chris Nettleton at
upneds@hotmail.com or (906) 202-0443. At a recent medical marijuana
clinic held in Marquette, 38 people attended to see a doctor regarding
medical marijuana. Pihlainen, a medical marijuana patient, said he was
the third person in line in Lansing to get his card after the law
became active.