Offense Would Be Civil Infraction MARQUETTE - Marquette might be years away from people being able to smoke marijuana on their front porches, but in the meantime, the focus of a citizens' initiative is to decriminalize the possession of small quantities of the substance. Brian Bloch - a local criminal defense attorney with Bloch & Doby - is spearheading the effort to have the city enact an ordinance making the possession of 2.5 ounces or less of marijuana punishable as a civil infraction with a $100 fine. [continues 861 words]
Proposed Marquette City Statute Meets Resistance at Public Hearing MARQUETTE - Marquette city officials will tweak the city's proposed medical marijuana dispensary ordinance after a number of citizens said they had concerns with it. At a public hearing Monday about half a dozen people spoke out about the ordinance. Most of them said it was too restrictive. "Your proposed ordinance seeks to make it more restrictive. It is unenforceable. It is not in keeping with the wishes of this community," said Marquette resident Brian Bloch. He said according to voting records about 72 percent of the residents in the city voted in favor of Michigan's Medical Marihuana Act in 2008. [continues 554 words]
MARQUETTE - A Marquette County assistant prosecutor briefed the Marquette City Commission about the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act at a special meeting last week. Commissioners said they had the meeting to develop a better understanding of how the law affects the community. Matt Wiese, chief assistant prosecuting attorney for the county, explained who is entitled to a medical marijuana card, how they can get it and other elements of the act such as how it affects someone within a drug free school zone. [continues 397 words]
More than 4,200 Americans have been killed in Iraq since that country was invaded in 2003. More than 4,000 people have died this year alone in another war, this one much closer to home. Drug-related murders in Mexico - at more than 4,000 for the year - are a concern north of the border. They involve a bloody trade in illegal drugs flowing into the United States. Some killings by Mexican drug lords have involved Americans, and some have occurred on our soil. [continues 215 words]
It appears that American teenagers are getting the message about illegal drugs. Unfortunately, many of them don't seem to understand that some legal drugs also can be dangerous. Each year the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research conducts in-depth interviews with about 50,000 teenagers from throughout the country, on a variety of topics. Use of drugs for "recreational" purposes is one of the subjects covered. According to this year's study, about 35.9 percent of high school seniors reported using some type of illegal drug during the past year. That's far too high, but at least progress is being made. The rate in 1997 was 42.4 percent. Only about 1.7 percent of the seniors reported having used marijuana during the past year, compared to 4.7 percent a decade ago. [continues 127 words]
After Sept. 11, 2001, the nation's "war on drugs" dropped out of the headlines, replaced by a campaign against international terrorists. That suited many policy makers fine, because of the heat they took occasionally from the "treatment, not enforcement" crowd. Their argument for many years has been that government resources ought to be devoted to helping drug addicts kick their habits, not to arresting drug pushers. News last week indicated that the two campaigns -- against terrorists and drug lords -- are linked. [continues 102 words]
LANSING (AP) -- An effort to legalize marijuana for medical use in Michigan cleared a key procedural hurdle Wednesday. A state elections board approved the form of petitions being circulated by the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care. The group still needs to collect at least 304,101 valid signatures of Michigan voters within six months to send its issue to state lawmakers. If state lawmakers vote to accept the proposal, it becomes part of Michigan law. If the Legislature doesn't vote on the measure or rejects it, the initiative would appear on the November 2008 ballot. [end]
FERNDALE (AP) -- A group says it plans to collect 550,000 signatures within six months to get a medical marijuana initiative on next year's statewide ballot. The Coalition for Compassionate Care announced Wednesday that the Michigan Medicinal Marijuana Act would allow patients to grow and use small amounts of marijuana for relief from pain associated with cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other diseases. If 304,101 signatures are validated, the initiative would go to the Legislature, according to Dianne Byrum, a spokeswoman for the Ferndale-based group. The act would appear on the November 2008 ballot should lawmakers reject it or not vote on it. Current Michigan law prohibits marijuana use for any reason but 12 other states permit medicinal use by patients. [end]
