Pubdate: Fri, 10 Oct 2008
Source: Flint Journal (MI)
Copyright: 2008 Flint Journal
Contact: http://www.mlive.com/mailforms/fljournal/letters/
Website: http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/836
Author: Kristin Longley, The Flint Journal
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

MICHIGAN VOTERS TO DECIDE BALLOT QUESTIONS ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE, 
STEM CELL RESEARCH

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- Andy Heglas watched as terminal cancer, 
chemotherapy and radiation treatments assaulted his friend, Steve, 
who struggled with nausea, pain and loss of appetite.

The cancer started in his lungs, or maybe his bones -- no one knows 
for sure -- but it spread to both those areas and then his liver and 
brain before eventually taking his life in April.

He had several prescription drugs for various side effects, but 
Heglas said smoking marijuana was often the only way Steve could 
control his nausea and pain. Even though Flint voters last year 
approved a measure to legalize the drug for health reasons, federal 
and state laws still criminalize marijuana use.

"It didn't bring him back, but it made him that much better," said 
Heglas, 52, of Flint Township. "If it was legal, I'm sure it would 
have been a little easier on him."

Heglas is supporting a statewide proposal to legalize medical 
marijuana, one of two ballot initiatives that have battle lines drawn 
and emotions running high leading up to the Nov. 4 election.

The second proposal, if approved, would change state law to allow 
people to donate embryos left over from fertility treatments to be 
used for stem cell research. The embryos would otherwise be thrown 
away as medical waste.

Both proposals are hot issues, tangled in arguments of science, 
faith, morality and emotion.

Opponents of Proposal 1, the medical marijuana proposal, include many 
in the law enforcement community. They say there are too many holes 
in the ballot language and are afraid it would open the doors to more 
illegal drug use.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said he doesn't object to 
marijuana use for health reasons, but he has not seen credible 
evidence that shows smoking the drug is beneficial.

"There is some evidence that in pill form it might help someone but 
that's not what this ballot initiative is," he said, referring to a 
drug called Marinol, which has some of the same ingredients as 
marijuana. "I have grave concerns about it."

But supporters, like Heglas, say marijuana helps treat nausea, pain 
and other symptoms of hundreds of diseases. They say it's important 
to prevent seriously ill patients from going to jail for smoking pot.

Twelve states already have approved medical marijuana use, according 
to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"I have trouble understanding why alcohol is legal but marijuana 
isn't," Heglas said. "It's new territory for everybody, but it's so important."

Even if the measure does pass it, it will remain a largely symbolic 
vote -- much like Flint's was last year -- because anyone using 
marijuana could still be prosecuted under federal laws.

For those on both sides of Proposal 2, the issue is about life.

Supporters say the ballot measure could put state researchers at the 
forefront of an emerging science that might discover cures for a host 
of illnesses. Opponents say the research is unethical because it 
involves the use and destruction of human embryos.

Patricia H. Walworth of Mundy Township said she and her husband, who 
has multiple sclerosis, are supporting the measure in the hope that 
it will lead to a cure of debilitating diseases like MS. She points 
out that the proposal language states that the embryos would be 
thrown out anyway.

For her, it's also an issue of self-preservation -- her mother and 
grandmother both suffered from Alzheimer's disease before they died.

"I don't want to be in the same spot they were in for the last 20 
years of their lives," said Walworth, 65. "I feel like my position on 
this is pro-life."

But opponents say life begins at conception and the earliest stages 
of life should be as equally protected as those walking on Earth.

Judy Climer, president of Flint Right to Life and Black Americans for 
Life, said there are many success stories involving adult stem cells, 
which should be used instead.

"Everyone started out as an embryo -- you were an embryo, I was an 
embryo," she said. "We're all people. Do we not have any respect for life?"
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake