Ferndale and Traverse City, Michigan: Voters approved two municipal level marijuana-related initiatives in Michigan on Tuesday. Proposal D in Ferndale, which exempts medical use patients from local criminal penalties if they are acting with their physician’s recommendation, was approved with the support of 61% of the voters; and Proposal 3 in Traverse City, which requires the police to make the prosecution of medical cannabis patients the town’s lowest law enforcement priority, and exempts authorized caregivers from criminal prosecution, was approved with support of 63% of the voters. Similar measures were passed by Ann Arbor (by 74%) and Detroit (by 60%) in 2004.
Tim Beck, Executive Director of Michigan NORML said “With the approval of these two medical use initiatives, and the approval of similar initiatives in Detroit and Ann Arbor last year, it is crystal clear where the voters stand.”
“The handwriting is on the wall,” Beck continued. “Serious change in public policy is coming to Michigan, through either the legislature, or a statewide ballot initiative, if necessary.”
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at 202-483-5500; or Tim Beck, MI NORML Executive Director at 313-881-8995. Full text of the Traverse City municipal initiative can be found at http://www.compassionatemi.org/Welcome.html – full text for the Ferndale initiative can be found at http://www.ferndalecares.org