MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATES SPEAK OUT

An Estimated 1,500 Turn Out for Rally at State Capitol

When the medical marijuana wears off, Vietnam vet Spike Tyson is
reminded of his war wounds, including the shrapnel in his left leg.

The Lansing man feels the pain come in waves in his leg, shoulders and
hips - rising, tearing pain that makes him moan for hours. He says he
can't take other pain medication because of failing kidneys.

Within two weeks, the 60-year-old expects to feel that agony again.
From his jacket pocket, he pulls out a glass container containing
one-quarter of an ounce of medical marijuana - all of the herb he has
left.

Tyson said he can't buy more because the Lansing dispensary he
frequented has closed under a 2-week-old court ruling.

"I'm not as worried about it as my wife," Tyson said. "She doesn't
like to hear me screaming."

Wheeling around the Capitol lawn Wednesday in a motorized chair, Tyson
was among an estimated 1,500 medical marijuana advocates who converged
outside the building. Most gathered to picket for patient rights and
protest newly proposed laws they believe will weaken a 2008 ballot
measure that authorized medicinal marijuana use.

The state court of appeals ruled in August that dispensaries no longer
can legally sell medical marijuana to patients and that patients
generally must wait up to a month after applying for a state-issued
card before growing plants.

Protesters also were incensed about a package of bills unveiled last
month and supported by Attorney General Bill Schuette that they
believe will weaken patient rights.

Among other things, those bills would require stricter doctor-patient
relationships and in-person examinations before a patient could get
authorization to use marijuana. Other proposals would define who could
be licensed as a caregiver and regulate or zone dispensaries, if
they're allowed at all.

Cheers rose in the crowd when advocates announced they were launching
an effort to collect signatures on petitions to recall Schuette. Among
those supporting the recall was Steve Sharpe of Jackson County, who
held a sign critical of Schuette that read: "Ignorance of the Law is
No Excuse."

"He's trying to judge from his office. He's not upholding the law,"
said Sharpe, 52, a building contractor and a medicinal marijuana
patient. "If he was upholding the law, we wouldn't be out here today."

Schuette's staff said he merely is doing his job.

"The attorney general's job is to enforce the law," said John Sellek,
spokesman for Schuette. "We support and will enforce the court's
decision that dispensaries are illegal." Several advocates say they
are worried about how patients are going to acquire medical marijuana
now that many dispensaries, including more than 20 in Lansing, have
closed recently.

Robin Schneider, a Lansing advocate, said she worries patients are
going to have to turn to illegal dealers.

"Where do you want us to go next?" Schneider said. "We are not going
away."

From the podium, advocates told stories of how they believe patients
have been untreated unfairly by authorities as they try to grow
medical marijuana in their homes.

Mike Rodriguez, 36, of Kalamazoo, said he agrees authorities have been
too heavy-handed.

"If you're going to regulate it, regulate it," said Rodriguez, a
caregiver who grows marijuana for three patients, including an HIV
patient and a person with throat cancer. "Don't throw patients in jail
for buying marijuana."