FIGHT LOOMS OVER DETROIT MEDICAL MARIJUANA MEASURE

Detroit voters will go to the polls in August to decide whether to
legalize the medicinal use of marijuana in Michigan's largest city,
and supporters and opponents alike are gathering their forces for what
looks to be a hotly contested political battle. The Detroit Coalition
for Compassionate Care (http://www.mmdetroit.org), sponsor of the
proposal, seeks to amend the city code sections dealing with
controlled substances and drug paraphernalia to carve out an exclusion
for medical marijuana users.

"The provisions of this division [of the city code] shall not apply to
any individual possessing or using marijuana under the direction,
prescription, supervision, or guidance of a physician or other
licensed medical professional," says the amendment. Similar language
would amend the city code's paraphernalia section to allow medical
marijuana users to possess their medical marijuana delivery systems
(pipes, bongs, rolling papers).

The Detroit Coalition has already garnered endorsements for the
measure from some of the city's biggest political figures, including
US Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D), mother of Detroit Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick, US Rep. John Conyers (D), and Detroit City Councilwomen
Maryanne Mahaffey and JoAnn Watson. The coalition has also raised more
than $35,000 (and counting) for its war chest, including funds from
the Marijuana Policy Project (http://www.mpp.org) said coalition head
Tim Beck.

It will need every cent to fend off a challenge from the drug
warriors, Beck said. "We are in a good position at this point, but
that could change," he told DRCNet. "Detroit is demographically
similar to Washington, DC, where voters passed a medical marijuana
initiative with 69% of the vote, but the political dynamics are
different now. In the days of Clinton there was no substantive
opposition, but now, with drug czar John Walters, it's radically
different. We have two local groups, the Partnership for a Drug-Free
Detroit (PDFD) and the Empowerment Zone Coalition, Inc., that are
receiving federal funds and are determined to fight this to the bitter
end."

PDFD did not return DRCNet calls requesting comment, but one of its
spokesmen, Andre Johnson, told the Detroit Free Press last week the
partnership would actively oppose the measure by campaigning on talk
radio shows, television, town hall meetings, and other means. Medical
marijuana "is dangerous," Johnson said, adding that studies show that
communities with medical marijuana laws have higher teen drug use rats.

PDFD is already mobilizing. Thanks to some undercover work, the
Detroit Coalition has obtained a copy of a talking points memorandum
prepared by PDFD and handed out to its activists. Under the heading
"Reasons that the Medical Marijuana Initiative is BAD FOR DETROIT,"
the memo warns that the measure is "the latest attempt by drug
legalizers to deceive people and exploit the suffering of sick
people." It then goes on to lay out the reasons medical marijuana is
not good for Detroit (and DRCNet reprints them verbatim so reformers
can see what they are up against):

"1. IT IS DANGEROUS. According to the National Cancer Institute,
inhaling marijuana smoke for any purpose is a health hazard, because
it contains over 400 potential carcinogens. In fact, smoking marijuana
delivers up to five times the amount of tars and carbon monoxide as
tobacco cigarettes into the body, causing severe lung damage, which is
not helpful to someone suffering from cancer or AIDS."

"2. IT HURTS AIDS PATIENTS. Studies by the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases reveal that HIV-positive marijuana
smokers progress to full blown AIDS twice as fast as non smokers, and
have an increased incidence of bacterial pneumonia."

"3. IT IS BASED ON POLITICS, NOT FACTS. Medical decisions should be
made by medical experts, not voters. You wouldn't ask your neighbor to
perform heart surgery, so it makes no sense to have our neighbors
decide whether a substance such as marijuana has any medical benefit."

"4. IT IS DECEPTIVE. Marijuana is an intoxicant, therefore it is not
surprising that sincere people will report relief of their symptoms
when they smoke it. Heroin also makes people feel better, but no one
would suggest using heroin to treat a sick person. There are effective
means of pain relief which are not dangerous to the patient."

"5. IT CAN BE DONE SAFER WITH SCIENCE. Marinol, a synthetic form of
the active ingredient in marijuana smoke, has been approved by the FDA
as an anti-nausea agent for chemotherapy patients, as well as an
appetite stimulant for AIDS patients suffering weight loss. Unlike
smoked marijuana, Marinol is a stable, well defined, safe substance.
Scientists are currently working on other, safe chemical derivatives
of marijuana. This scientific approach has worked with other
substances. For example, aspirin was originally found in willow bark;
scientists synthesize aspirin in laboratories instead of having
patients chew willow bark or smoke a piece of a tree to cure a
headache. Likewise, raw opium is dangerous, but medical science safely
uses its derivatives in morphine, Demerol and Oxycontin."