With less than 24 hours until Election Day, Michigan’s Proposal 1 is supported by a 2 to 1 margin, according to the latest polling results. No wonder our opponents are desperate.
Currently, more than one-in-five Americans reside in a state that recognizes the use of medical cannabis under a doctor’s supervision. If Michigan voters approve Prop. 1 on Tuesday, that percentage will be just shy of one-in-four (23.5 percent).
To put this percentage in proper perspective, consider this: In 2000, virtually the same percentage of voting age Americans (24.5 percent) voted for George Bush. After a slightly higher percentage (28 percent) re-elected Bush in 2004, the President and the mainstream media claimed a “re-election mandate.”
Why then will neither the media nor politicians in Washington — including our allies in Congress — declare a similar mandate regarding the medical use of cannabis?
Clearly America has spoken. Why isn’t Washington listening?
Why isn’t Washinton listening? Because power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Or the fact that if cannabis hadn’t been outlawed, uncle sam wouldn’t have been able to stuff his prisons with minorities to recover the slave labor lost post-Civil war by replacing it with prison labor. Or the fact that a multitude of corporations would never be able to compete with industrial hemp: cotton, food, tobacco, medicine, oil…
tinyurl.com/1mn
tinyurl.com/potconviction
Don’t get me wrong, I agree with this article’s message, “Why isn’t Washington listening?” I just don’t agree with the logic behind the comparison, “more than one-in-five Americans RESIDE in a state that recognizes…” and “virtually the same percentage… VOTED for George Bush.” Thats not proper!
Would some one please lead a fight to get to vote in Florida ! Veteran needs medicine that the VA denies !
Washington isn’t listening because they are making to much money from the lobiest of the cigarette, alchohal, oil and drug companies.Also if they made it legal they would have not even half the jail and prison populations that they have now and the economy would really be S.O.L., and we know it’s wrong but we’re not running the country.
I am proud to say that my father and some of our family will now be saying “yes” on prop. 1 after I showed them a few articles from this site. Thank you NORML for helping my voice to be heard in Michigan (even though I reside in Texas).
Steveyboy there is no hope for Florida they have consistently tightened weed laws and will continue to do so.
My honest advice is to leave the state Florida doesn’t want you and more importantly has nothing to offer.
A side from wanting to imprison anyone who doesn’t fit the model of a trailer dwelling retiree or a 9to5 fishing on Saturday church on Sunday redneck. Florida really dosn’t meet anyone other than the above’s needs the payscale is very low and the cost of living is high.
At least it’s high when you consider how low the pay scale is. If you are here living on a pension and or social security you are probably making more than the working people of Florida.
I’m guessing your family probably got to Florida when someone retired and the rest of the family piled in like lemmings.
There’s a whole country out there in most of it people make more money and live free-er lives then we do get out while you can.
i am proud to say i smoke weed!
I’m from Flint, Michigan and an avid Marijuana supporter.
I was born into a regular, everyday family. We went on picnics, road our bikes, had block parties; I can say I never grew up in hate, or poverty, or sin, we are a Christian family. The one thing I grew up with, that many kids didn’t: was Marijuana.
My father smoked, and his family before him. My mother smoked, and her family before her. My grandmother, my uncles, my aunts. My brother began smoking in High School with no penalty- as did I.
It enlightened us. It cured us. It calmed us.
While parents were punishing their children for something as simple as Marijuana- I was smoking with my mother, doing homework, and having a blast.
Marijuana has helped me to look past the hazy smoke in daily life, look deeper into the world- and today- my vast knowledge of Marijuana has helped me sway many people into voting for Preposition 1.
Why hide my BORN FAMILY TRADITION AND CULTURE from the GOVERNMENT? Why PUNISH people who FEEL BETTER in their mind, body, and soul who smoke Marijuana? Why arrest 100 people EVERY HOUR for just having a little bud?
This shit needs to stop.
Vote Prep 1 today.
For tomorrow will be a brighter day.
And if Prep 1 does not pass,
The people of Michigan are stupider than I already believe them to be.
COME ON MICHIGAN!
NORML,
Thanks for all you do. Our government and the powers that be, only serve their own limited purposes. When we can light up and move from paranoia and into a new free society, we the people, will have truely spoken.
Dustin:
I smoke weed too. And I am proud to say that I have a college degree, a good job and have yet to shoot heroin, smoke crack or snort meth. Nor have I killed anyone. In fact my greatest crime was getting high and eating all of my g/f’s valentine day candy.
I believe that the reason our congress won’t listen to the people is simple, they don’t care what we think.
In their eyes we don’t matter. All we’re supposed to do is pay our taxes and shut up!!! Look what we’re doing with our war on drugs, for example, we’re going into countries, Jamaica, Columbia, Holland, etc. that
5 to 10 years ago we never would have interferred
with their country(s) policies on drugs.
Yet, because of an old 1928 U.N. resolution on drugs
this is where we are today, the U.N. being mostly
communist anyway. We don’t need this anymore.
Vote out the Congressmen/Senators, even the President
who won’t listen. The Constitution stills says:
WE THE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!
A photo in the Los Angeles Times the other day had the past 5 governors of the state hob knobben each other in opposition to prop. 5 which will fund redab. and parole for nonviolent inmates. Their sponsors in the prison guard union who have grown big and fat over this endless supply of nonviolent small time dope peddlers. There aren’t many jobs for these young men who would really try to do something different if it were available. They are young business men and most are pretty smart and they’re not going to sit around and wait. I was sickened by the govs. photo I will vote to fund any and all rehab. and I want to be taxed so that there are programs for our youth to have real hope. Please comment If I’m wrong.
I am also a habitual marijuana user. I have a masters degree and a very good job. By the way Dustin it is proposal 1…not preposition 1. Other than that all great posts thus far, it is time that we speak up about the government fobidding us to do something in the privacy of our own home. It’s not like I am asking to light up a joint in a movie theatre or a restaurant. THe benefits far outway the drawbacks, I am a perfectly functioning human being, with a normal life and an education that smokes every day, several times a day and does not infringe on anyones’ rights. What exactly has it done so far????Make me happy, NOT turn me into a criminal.
sorry dustin i meant christian
If the M word is “Michigan”, USE IT, BABY….Prop 1 passed!
Steveyboy, I’m with you. I am going to try to get something going in Florida. Go to http://christianscan.wordpress.com and leave a message there so we can keep in touch.
washington doesnt wanna listen becuase every motherfucker in there is old and half retarded and they are all paraniod something bad is gonna happen if they do it,, but in all reality american people want this now that obama is in the big seat i think he will listen to the people we just have to make our voice heard! i think michigan and mass.had there voice heard yesterday its about time other states follow suit
In the article it is said that “Michigan became the thirteenth state to legalize the physician supervised possession and use of cannabis”. The link in this statement leads to a list of thirteen states but Michigan isn’t one of them. Doesn’t this make Michigan the fouteenth state?
To Paul:
It’s because Maryland — unlike the other twelve states — hasn’t legalized the medical use of marijuana. Maryland is not a medical marijuana state, but it did enact an affirmative defense law, which is described on the page — hence the confusion.
We will update the NORML website when these laws go into effect.
Laura @ norml
Tim,
Obama chose joe biden as his VP. Biden is the architect of the some of the most draconian aspects of our current drug war.
Obama “doubts the efficacy,” of medical marijuana, and he is not sure if he will stop medical marijuana dispensary raids and patients prosecutions.
Do not believe for a second that the Obama administration will deliver or even propose or even discuss any change to the status quuo.
You will hear, again, this would be sending the wrong message to children.
This will probably be said over and over by biden, as VPs need an assignment, and Obama wants to distance himself from your belief that he was going to ring in a new period for cannabis and its users.
Forget it. It isn’t going to happen.
And for all you people who blame G W Bush for the status-quo, please remember that it was Clinton and his incredi-lying drug czar who tripled marijuana arrests during the first 3 years of his administration through a program of grants that militarized police forces across the country for the purpose of conducting a war on cannabis and its users. They were successful.
The annual numbers have been only marginally increased yearly during the Bush administration.
So Clinton tripled arrests, and Bush just improved on the year on year totals.
But what role does the Congress play in drug law creation and lack of reform?
When were most of the draconian drug war measures passed? And which party was in control when that happened?
You people who blame the Bush admin or Republicans have been caught in a trap set for you by both Democrats and Republicans, who, working in a bi partisan fashion, want we in the reform movement to be pointing fingers at each other and trying to blame the other and his/her party.
This fix-the-blame (on Republicans) game diverts the energy of reform advocates and the volunteers and contributors it needs to do just that… fixing blame on one party.
The fact is that continued prohibition is supported and loved and cherished by both parties equally.
Go look up who was in control of the congress in 1961, 1971, 1986, 1989, and during the Bush Administration.
Then try and blame Bush (whom I am not a particular fan of, as I need medical marijuana, and his lie about what he thought before 2000 that the states should be allowed to do with it was not matched by the actions of the Bush administration while in office.)
This threat to my personal safety drove me from the USA to the Netherlands from 1993 to 2007, when I decided that Medical Marijuana in California was here to stay.
Notice I left in 1993, when the tripling of marijuana arrests and the militarization of the local police forces through federal grants began.
People. Stop wasting your time trying to blame the other party. That is what they want us to do. Why dance to the music they set on?
They are both equally responsible.
Eric Johnson
I am living in Michigan and I totally support medical marijuana. I am thrilled that it passed! Has anyone had any healing experiences with hemp oil?
Steve
medical marijuana check out this : phoenixtears.ca
Maryland is not really a Medical Marijuana State in the true sense. You WILL be arrested and you are guilty unless you can prove that your illness requires Marijuana for medical purposes. If your case is not presented in a way that the court decides in your favor you will be arrested. You can click on Maryland’s State on the NORML site and see it under the Medical Use section where it’s better worded than how I wrote it.
On a separate note, during prohibition, Joe Kennedy, JFK’s father was a bootlegger, which in today’s world would be like a “dope dealer” yet he could amass great wealth and the Kennedy’s became very rich and even his son was allowed to run for President. I doubt that any candidate that ever sold pot, or grew it or whose family amassed their fortunes that way today would have the same out come.How many High Driver’s do you hear about killing folks on the road, when drunk drivers kill thousands a day. Where’s the common sense in that. Drunks get into liver issues as well, fights, alcohol poisoning, but we turn a blind eye to that reality. In the worse case of someone who smoked too much is they will fall asleep or instead of causing a bar room brawl will eat all the peanuts set out along the bar!!!
Yet, today, we could even using the freekin’ drug lobbyist , make MJ a Cash crop, allow it for medical use and help to greatly reduce the debt instead of wasting valuable resources on this bogus drug war. I am disabled and on 4 opiate/narcotics that will eventually kill my liver and kidney’s but they’d rather use drugs far more dangerous with horrible side effects than wake up and realize the incredible value of Medical Marijuana. Even the American Academy of Physicians favor it but the legalization of it will hit many road blocks for years to come. I will never be able to get off these horrible meds, even though I am grateful to have a doctor willing to help me, in light of the DEA’s absurd policies.It’s sad that they would rather risk addiction, more serious and costly health issues for long term opiate/narcotic users than to legalize Marijuana for medical use.
But special comment to Lib Mac:It’s OK if you smoked the last bit but eating all the candy…that was criminal!!!!! : )
People need to realize that there is not a single politician in D.C. that really even “knows” or “cares” about what THE PEOPLE actually think or support!
Obama could have a real impact on change by decriminalizing marijuana (and all other drugs for that matter). Besides. . .how else is he going to fund all of the wonderfully Socialist government programs that he plans to enact? Think of how massive the economy would become if marijuana were legalized?
Now think of how massive the economy would become if the Fair Tax were also enacted?
Willie Nelson for President \m/
it never fails to amaze that a country that likes to boast in its democracy and freedom .that someone like myself that has both bipolar and a condition that destroys my liver. That I and millions like me like to sit at home and smoke and play music. But hey lets mix guns and alcohol . Oh and lets forget about in corporate america that are so worried about gettting sued because someone does pot , but then tanks the company and still walk away with a retirment bonus the size of the universe
I smoke weed too. I’m a single mother of two boys ages 3 and 6 and it helps me be more open to there imagination. Everyone knows how kids could be; there imagination makes them be the person they’ll become in the futhure.
I would just like to praise all of the commenters on this site for having a surprising amount of courtesy for each other here. Far too often article commentary on the internet turns to mindless insults and rampant misinformation. I haven’t commented on an article in months before now. Furthermore, I am a native of Florida who has traveled extensively around the country and alas, even though I love the pristine gulf beaches i grew up on every other aspect of the state is exactly as watch zeitgeist portrayed it. Anyone under 55 who isn’t a member of law enforcement or the military, or jewish/cuban has absolutely no representation within the government. We deal with vastly inflated cost of living, vastly deflated salaries, no union/labor representation, and to call our legal statutes draconian would be like calling Adolph Hitler “a bit troubled”. Having said that I hold a small glimmer of hope that eventually the conservative majority will die off and a changing of the guard will occur and shape Florida as a liberal and progressive paradise to rival California, Oregon, Vermont, and Massachusetts. I also wanted to briefly commend Eric Johnson on his comment on the absolutely non-partisan war on “drugs” There were only two candidates in either primary that favored the repeal of prohibition Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. Clearly neither of these candidates stood a chance at being elected despite massive popular support. Biden is a drug nazi and Obama hasn’t openly declared support for decriminalization despite several comments indicating that he smoked pot and did not regret the experience. If we are to win our personal freedoms back we must shout louder than the lobbyists’s money and that is a daunting task.
The draconian policies of the state of Florida makes me a criminal and many more like me is that I use a sacred medicine for my chronic myofascial pain,a muskeletal disease, as it works better for me without the side effects of the pharmacueticals and opiates, the only side effect I suffer is arrest.I can’t help that this medicine works better than others that I have been prescribed.Why would they take this of path of punishing the diseased with lock & key, when we are punished enough with disease, all for relieivng our suffering?
One word greed.
It is my decision what I should put in my body and brain.Skin inwards is my domain not the goverments or an institutions.
Governor Crist is for a no helmet law saying it is a personal decision. Now think about that,Why would he not than be for decriminalization and or at least medical marijuana?
If the outside of your skull and head is a personal decision then is it not a personal decision for the inside of your skull and head?
We are truly living in a prison without bars.
The actuality and reality of my situation and many others like me that will continue to be labeled criminals and second class citizens for relieving our suffering from our aliments and disease by using an effective medicine, marijuana .There has been enough research done on this plant and medicine more so than any other plant or medicine in the history of pharmacopia.Enough is enough ! The reason no Doctor in this State will not prescribe marijuana is there is not only no standard for medical marijuana because, no Doctor is willing to set a standard here in Florida for fear of governmental reprisal, truly a catch-22.
My disease is now it does not wait or care for research or study.
The time is over for research and study, it has been done.
I have tried all the prescription drugs and have had suffered many side effects from using them including functionability.
When I use Marijuana to treat my disease I do not suffer from such side effects.
Marijuana has provided me the safest and best releif from my disease without loss of functionablity.It is extremely important that this issue is addressed for I am tired of suffering the only side effect from marijuana, arrest.
The draconian measures that are currently in place only support the use of our precious resources in a wasteful way, the price mechanism for its continued prohibition and the prison industry complex.
The current policy must be rethought in the direction of harm reduction instead of harm induction.It is time that the State of Florida show common sense and compassion instead of wasting tax dollars for a god given right to self preservation.
Why is the law much more damaging than marijuana?
We are more discriminated than anyother group,all because of the way we relieve our suffering by a sacred medicinal plant given to us by our creator.
Florida has shamed the creator and his creations.
We must act now here in Florida to pass compassionate and sensible laws regarding medical marijuana as we cannot continue on this path of ruining lives that are already ruined by disease.
“Whenever the offense inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigor of penal law is obliged to give way to the common feelings of mankind.”
Edward Gibbon,
“The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The rule of law has become the law of rule.
Those that rule the law will become zealots, jingoes, and hypocrites.
Ray DiPasquale
comment# 28 Ray DiPasquale