Among the results of last month's elections was a startling cultural development: two states, Colorado and Washington, became the first to legalize the sale of marijuana for any purpose to adults over 21. This coincides with national polls that show increasing support for marijuana legalization. Yet on this issue, conservatives and liberals alike have balked at defending individual rights and states' rights.

Since 1996, when California allowed the medicinal use of marijuana, 17 more states and the District of Columbia have followed suit. A Washington Post-ABC News poll three years ago found overwhelming support for legalizing medical marijuana use: 81 percent were in favor. More recent CBS News and Quinnipiac polls have shown Americans almost evenly split on legalizing recreational sale of marijuana to adults, with supporters ahead by 3 to 4 percentage points. In 1969, only 16 percent favored legalization.

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A Question Of Priorities For Federal And State Officials

The preliminary reaction from the federal government regarding legally regulated marijuana in Colorado and Washington state seems fairly benign. During an exclusive interview with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama that aired on ABC's "20/20" on Friday evening, Barbara Walters asked him if marijuana should be legalized.

"I wouldn't go that far," Obama answered. "What I think is that at this point, in Washington and Colorado, you've seen the voters speak on this issue."

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You might think last month's presidential election proved one thing: That there are no longer any racial barriers to success in America.

But last weekend, author Michelle Alexander came to Detroit and told a spellbound audience that while she once shared that illusion, this happy image is anything but true. Instead, in a powerful speech and a best-selling book, she argues that America has created a new "racial caste system that is the moral equivalent of Jim Crow."

Now a law professor at Ohio State University, she told a posh banquet in Detroit's Renaissance Center that we've created a military-industrial-prison system "based on the mass incarceration of poor people of color, particularly black men."

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Well Greens, a medical marijuana dispensary poised to open its doors in Holly's Hamilton Plaza, 15190 N. Holly Road, won't be able to do it just yet after Holly's Village Council failed to approve its business license during a Nov. 20 council meeting.

Deemed to be non-controversial, the matter had originally been placed on the meeting's consent agenda for council's approval. However, the matter was discussed after Councilwoman Jackie Campbell asked that the issue be added to the agenda.

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At the Nov. 20 Algonac City Council meeting, City Manager Doug Alexander proposed a first reading of a proposed ordinance amendment to the marijuana ordinance.

City Attorney James Downey, Jr., in a letter to Alexander, stated his office had prepared a proposed ordinance in response to St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon for the city council's approval: "It was triggered by a review of the city code performed in connection with the transition of police services to the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department."

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The New Baltimore City Council is now left with no ordinance or moratorium addressing medical marijuana.

On Nov. 26 the council again turned down a proposed ordinance that would have allowed the growth and sale of marijuana in specified sites for caregivers and patients. This ordinance was more reflective of what the Planning Commission wanted; it did not allow the growth of marijuana in any place but the industrial district in the city.

The proposed ordinance was rejected by a 3-2 vote; council members Jeff Christie and Susan Burkhardt cast the opposing votes and Councilman Ken Butler was absent. A motion needs four votes to pass.

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A judge admitted skepticism but is allowing two men convicted of distributing marijuana to continue using the drug for medical purposes.

Dean Ferretti, 38, of Utica, and Kent Currie, 40, of Kimball Township, were sentenced to two years probation Thursday by Judge David Viviano of Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens.

Originally charged with four counts of delivering or manufacturing more than 45 kilograms of marijuana and operating a drug house, they pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of distribution of marijuana "without remuneration" and attempt to maintain a drug house, in a plea deal.

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Why the War on Drugs Is a War Against Black People

Attorney Michelle Alexander has been shaking things up across the nation over the past two years, yet you may not have heard of her. Her book, The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, takes on race and the War on Drugs in ways few people would dare to approach.

The point of her book is that there is a new Jim Crow system that traps many African-Americans in a permanent underclass. That system is driven by the War on Drugs which causes many young people to be stigmatized by felony records - for a victimless crime - that keep them from employment, education and housing.

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LANSING -- Supporters of marijuana decriminalization proposals passed in five Michigan cities say the move is a symbolic step toward better regulation, but residents still might want to wait before lighting up, according to law enforcement officials.

Ballot proposals expanding legal marijuana use beyond current state and federal laws earned voter approval by wide margins Nov. 6 in Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Ypsilanti.

Voters in Detroit and Flint supported decriminalization of less than one ounce of marijuana for those older than 21 and 19, respectively.

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At the Nov. 20 Algonac City Council meeting, City Manager Doug Alexander proposed a first reading of a proposed ordinance amendment to the marijuana ordinance.

City Attorney James Downey, Jr., in a letter to Alexander, stated his office had prepared a proposed ordinance in response to St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon for the city council's approval: "It was triggered by a review of the city code performed in connection with the transition of police services to the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department."

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As a filmmaker committed to addressing the injustices of the War on Drugs and its devastating impact on American communities, I awoke on Nov. 7 to a renewed sense of purpose.

Beyond working to support the movement for marijuana reform in Colorado, Massachusetts and Washington, I had traveled to California in the week leading up to Election Day to work for the passage of Proposition 36, a vital piece of legislation that reduces the severity of California's notorious "three strikes" law. By voting to amend the law so that offenders with two nonviolent "strikes" against them cannot henceforth receive a life sentence for a third strike that is petty or nonviolent, Californians have sent a resounding signal to the rest of the country: It is possible to retreat from the tragic excesses of America's criminal justice nightmare. The same state that helped lead the way into the darkness of draconian sentencing for nonviolent crimes has begun, it seems, to lead us back toward the light. And because every state has its own special brand of excess when it comes to the treatment of nonviolent offenders, as California goes, so, I hope, will go the nation.

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The city of New Baltimore has said no to medical marijuana, for now.

At the Nov. 14 meeting the council finally took action on a proposed ordinance, after about two years of having a medical marijuana moratorium. The ordinance, which was turned down by a 4-3 vote, would have allowed the growth of up to 12 marijuana plants per cardholder in the industrial center and the growth of up to six plants in a residence.

It was the growth of plants, specifically in a home, that drew the most criticism from council members. Mayor Pro Tem Florence Hayman and council members John Dupray and Karl Rutledge initially voted against the ordinance, leaving a 3-3 vote. Mayor Larry Smith cast the deciding dissenting vote.

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FLINT, MI -- A group of law enforcement officials who favor the legalization of marijuana criticized the city of Flint for continuing to arrest adults caught with weed despite voters last week approving the decriminalization of the drug.

Voters last week approved an amendment in the city ordinance that removes penalties for anyone 19 years or older who have less than an ounce of marijuana on private property. But a day later, the city issued a statement saying police would continue to make arrests.

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Last Week's Votes Give Massive Momentum to the Anti-Prohibition Movement

Can you get a contact high from election results? It does seem possible with the euphoria among activists over last week's votes on cannabis issues.

"It clearly gives massive momentum to the anti-prohibition movement," says Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "It again challenges the federal government and sets precedent for other states to very soon follow."

The votes were historic for cannabis activists in Michigan and across the nation. All of the ballot proposals in Michigan cities - Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Ypsilanti - passed. Voters in Colorado and Washington state made groundbreaking decisions to end state-level prohibition in favor of regulating and taxing cannabis in manners similar to alcohol and tobacco. Massachusetts brought the total of states with medical marijuana laws to 18.

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KALAMAZOO, MI -- Calls already are flooding city offices requesting information about receiving a license for a medical marijuana dispensary since the charter amendment's 2-to-1 passage on Tuesday, but city officials and proponents say it won't be that easy.

The citizen-initiated charter amendment allowing three medical-marijuana dispensaries had 13,569 votes in favor to 7,542 no votes, according to unofficial results.

"At this point it's a little premature and also there are some open questions in the (language) itself," said Kalamazoo City Attorney Clyde Robinson.

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Detroit - Detroit voters overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to decriminalize personal use of marijuana, but users may not want to breathe easy just yet.

State and federal law still deem the drug illegal, and there's disagreement about whether the change will mean anything.

On the same day voters in Flint, Grand Rapids and Colorado and Washington approved similar measures, Detroit passed Proposal M 65-35 percent, allowing those 21 and older to possess less than an ounce of marijuana without prosecution.

"We knew we were going to win," said Tim Beck, chairman of the Coalition for a Safer Detroit, which lobbied for the change in Detroit.

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Douglas - The Douglas city council will take another look at proposed regulations of medical marijuana -- two years after the process to draft the guidelines began.

A special workshop meeting is set for 6 p.m. Monday at city hall, 86 W. Center St., to talk about the ordinance and licensing of medical marijuana activities. The council could take the first step to approving the proposals at its 7 p.m. meeting.

The city does not have a zoning rule for caregivers and growers, said Ryan Kilpatrick, director of community development. The proposal creates a medical marijuana overlay district that allows operations on commercial zones along Blue Star Highway, mostly south of Center Street, and in light industrial districts on the south side of the city.

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Marijuana Law Reformers Aim for Long-Term Change on Election Day

The stakes are high for marijuana laws in next Tuesday's elections. Three states are voting on some form of a tax-and-regulate law, and two states are voting on medical marijuana. In Michigan, where voters said yes to medical marijuana in 2008, there are proposals in five cities that would further mitigate legal penalties for marijuana possession and use.

Detroit's Proposal M seeks to legalize possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana on private property by adults 21 and older. In Grand Rapids, Proposal 2 calls for making possession or use of marijuana a civil infraction punishable by a fine of up to $100. Kalamazoo voters will decide on amending the city charter to allow up to three marijuana dispensaries in the city. And in Flint and Ypsilanti, there are questions on the ballots that, if approved, would direct police to make enforcement of marijuana-possession laws their lowest priority.

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Now, I don't know who the mayor pro tem of the city of Escanaba is, but I can truly say that this man sounds like a political "sound bite". In the Oct. 19 edition of the Daily Press, the front page headline read: "Council: Change medical pot law." Mayor Pro-Tem Brady Nelson has been spearheading changes to the Medical Marijuana Act because he is concerned about "marijuana use in Escanaba and its' contribution to the local drug problem"; he's concerned about "public safety and the affects of drug abuse such as violence, damage and break-ins." This all sounds a little like the 1930's film: "Reefer Madness!" He went on to say that "local marijuana concerns include break-ins at legal growers and pot smoke going into other's airspace including a day care" (according to Public Safety).

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Possessing Less Than Ounce Would Be Decriminalized

Detroit - A proposal to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in Detroit has residents deeply divided over how it would affect a city struggling with high crime and shrinking resources.

The ballot question, known as Proposal M, would allow adults over age 21 to possess less than an ounce of marijuana on personal property without criminal prosecution. It's one of six issues facing city voters Nov. 6.

The proposal splits Detroiters. Proponents say Detroit, a city that's among the most violent in the country and is in the midst of a financial crisis, no longer has the police resources to go after people smoking small amounts of marijuana at home.

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