Several state and municipal initiatives to liberalize marijuana laws will be voted on this November. Below is a summary of these measures.

• Medical Marijuana
• Personal Use

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Statewide Initiatives

ARKANSAS
If approved, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act would allow qualified patients to possess and cultivate marijuana for medicinal purposes under the authorization of their physician. Patients diagnosed with the following illnesses are afforded legal protection under this act: "cancer; glaucoma; positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or the treatment of these conditions; or a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe pain; severe nausea; seizures, including those characteristic of epilepsy; or severe or persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohn's disease." Patients (or their primary caregivers) may legally possess up to six marijuana plants and one usable ounce of marijuana. The proposal also establishes a confidential state-run patient registry to issue identification cards to qualifying patients.
INITIATIVE STATUS: State election officials announced in early September that campaigners failed to turn in the required number of valid signatures to qualify for the Nov. 2, 2004 ballot.

MONTANA
If approved, the Montana Medical Marijuana Act (I-148) would allow qualified patients to possess and cultivate marijuana for medicinal purposes under the authorization of their physician. Patients diagnosed with the following illnesses are afforded legal protection under this act: "cancer; glaucoma; positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or the treatment of these conditions; or a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe pain; severe nausea; seizures, including those characteristic of epilepsy; or severe or persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohn's disease; or any other medical condition or treatment for a medical condition adopted by the department [of public health] by rule." Patients (or their primary caregivers) may legally possess up to six marijuana plants and one usable ounce of marijuana. The proposal also establishes a confidential state-run patient registry to issue identification cards to qualifying patients.
INITIATIVE STATUS: Campaigners have qualified the Montana Medical Marijuana Act for the November 2, 2004 ballot.

OREGON
If approved, the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (aka OMMA2) would amend the state's existing medicinal marijuana law to allow qualified patients to legally possess up to ten marijuana plants at any one time and one pound of usable marijuana. The proposal would also allow state-certified nurse practitionersand naturopaths to recommend marijuana to their patients, and expands the definition of a qualifying medical condition to include "any other medical condition for which, in the determination of the attending physician, the medical use of marijuana would be beneficial." The proposal also mandates the state legislature to promulgate rules to license and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries "to ensure that medical marijuana is available to qualified patients."
INITIATIVE STATUS: Campaigners have qualified the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act for the November 2, 2004 ballot.

Municipal Initiatives

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
If approved, the Patients Access to Medical Cannabis Act would establish new municipal guidelines enhancing the amount of medicinal marijuana qualified patients may legally possess without penalty. The proposal would replace Berkeley's 10-plant medical cannabis limit with an amount in accordance with an individual "patient's needs," as defined by the patient and his or her physician. The proposal also calls on the city to distribute medical marijuana if federal officials close Berkeley's four private medicinal cannabis dispensaries.
INITIATIVE STATUS: Campaigners have qualified the Patients Access to Medical Cannabis Act for the November 2, 2004 ballot.

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
If approved, the Ann Arbor Medical Marijuana Act would amend the Ann Arbor city charter to allow qualified patients to possess and cultivate marijuana for medicinal purposes under the authorization of their physician. The proposal would mandate "no incarceration, probation, nor any other punitive or rehabilitative measure" for qualified patients, and establish an "affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that the use or intended use of the marijuana or cannabis relieves, or has the potential to relieve, the pain, disability, discomfort or other adverse symptoms of illness or medical treatment, or, restores, maintains or improves, or has the potential to restore, maintain or improve, the health or medical quality of life of the user or intended user or users of the marijuana or cannabis."
INITIATIVE STATUS: Campaigners have qualified the Ann Arbor Medical Marijuana Act for the November 2, 2004 ballot.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN
Sixty percent of city residents voted August 3, 2004 in favor of Proposition M: The Detroit Medical Marijuana Act. The measure amends the Detroit city criminal code so that local criminal penalties no longer apply to any individual "possessing or using marijuana under the direction ... of a physician or other licensed health professional."

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
If approved, the Minneapolis City Charter Amendment would amend the Minneapolis city charter "to require that the City Council shall authorize, license, and regulate a reasonable number of medicinal marijuana distribution centers in the city of Minneapolis as is necessary to provide services to patients who have been recommended medicinal marijuana by a medical or osteopathic doctor licensed to practice in the state of Minnesota to the extent permitted by state and federal law."
INITIATIVE STATUS:
The Minneapolis City Council have refused to place the Minneapolis City Charter Amendment on the November 2, 2004 ballot -- arguing that the proposal fails "to relate to the general governance of the city," Petitioners have announced plans to legally challenge the Council's decision. 

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI
If approved, the Missouri Medical Marijuana Initiative would amend the Columbia city criminal code so that "adults who obtain and use marijuana and/or marijuana paraphernalia for medical purposes pursuant to the recommendation of a physician shall not be subject to any arrest, prosecution, punishment, or sanction." Patients diagnosed with the following illnesses are afforded legal protection under this act: "cancer, HIV/AIDS or symptoms of multiple sclerosis, chronic severe pain, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine headaches, or any other serious medical condition for which marijuana provides relief and for which a duly licensed physician has recommended such use." The proposal also mandates that all such cases regarding the medicinal use of marijuana "shall only be referred to the Municipal Prosecuting Attorney, and no other prosecuting attorney, and the Municipal Prosecuting Attorney shall not refer the matter to any other prosecutor."
INITIATIVE STATUS: Campaigners have qualified the Missouri Medical Marijuana Initiative for the November 2, 2004 ballot.

PERSONAL USE

Statewide Initiatives

ALASKA
If approved, The Alaska Cannabis Decriminalization & Regulation Act would mandate that "persons 21 years or older shall not be prosecuted, be denied any right or privilege, nor be subject to criminal or civil penalties for the possession, cultivation, distribution, or consumption" of marijuana for medicinal, industrial, or recreational purposes. The proposal also encourages the state legislature to establish a system to regulate marijuana "in a manner similar to alcohol or tobacco."
INITIATIVE STATUS: Campaigners have qualified The Alaska Cannabis Decriminalization & Regulation Act for the November 2, 2004 ballot.

NEVADA
If approved, the Regulation of Marijuana Amendment would remove criminal and civil penalties for "the use or possession of one ounce or less of marijuana by a person who has attained the age of 21 years," and direct the state legislature to "provide by law for a system of regulation for the cultivation, distribution, sale, and taxation of marijuana."
INITIATIVE STATUS: Campaigners failed to turn in enough valid signatures to qualify the Regulation of Marijuana Amendment for the November 2, 2004 ballot, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in September.

Municipal Initiatives

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
If approved, the Oakland Cannabis Regulation and Revenue Ordinance would establish new municipal guidelines directing "the Oakland Police Department to make investigation, citation, and arrest for private adult cannabis offenses the lowest law enforcement priority, effective immediately upon passage of this ordinance." The proposal also mandates the city of Oakland "to tax and regulate the sale of cannabis for adult use, so as to keep it off the streets and away from children and to raise revenue for the city, as soon as possible under state law."
INITIATIVE STATUS: Campaigners have qualified the Oakland Cannabis Regulation and Revenue Ordinance for the November 2, 2004 ballot.

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
If approved, the Practical Law Enforcement Amendment (aka the PLEA) would amend the Tallahassee city charter to mandate "the City of Tallahassee Police Department, City Attorney's Office, City Manager, and all other law enforcement agencies acting in the city [to] make the investigation, arrest and prosecution of marijuana offenses [involving possession of under 20 grams], where the marijuana was intended for adult personal use, the city's lowest law enforcement priority."
INITIATIVE STATUS: A federal judge ruled in September that the initiative may not appear on the November 2, 2004 ballot because the local initiative process may not be used to enact a municipal ordinance.  City election officials had previously certified that petitioners had gathered a sufficient number of valid signatures from registered voters to qualify for the ballot.

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI
If approved, the Missouri Smart Sentencing Initiative would amend the Columbia city criminal code to reduce misdemeanor penalties on the possession of marijuana and/or paraphernalia to a fine-only offense. The proposal reads, "When any law enforcement officer suspects any adult of possession of a misdemeanor amount of marijuana and/or possession of marijuana paraphernalia, that person shall not be required to post bond, suffer arrest, be taken into custody for any purpose nor detained for any reason other than the issuance of a summons, suffer prosecution, suffer incarceration, suffer loss of driver's license, or any other legal punishment or penalty other than: the issuance of a summons and, if found guilty, a fine of up to $250." The proposal also mandates all such cases regarding the misdemeanor possession of marijuana "shall only be referred to the Municipal Prosecuting Attorney, and no other prosecuting attorney, and the Municipal Prosecuting Attorney shall not refer the matter to any other prosecutor."
INITIATIVE STATUS: Campaigners have qualified the Missouri Smart Sentencing Initiative for the November 2, 2004 ballot.