Support For Medical Cannabis Is Broad And The Numbers From Michigan Make It Clear

By George Rohrbacher, NORML Board Member, medical marijuana patient

By a huge margin, 3,008,980 to 1,792,870, Michigan’s voters approved a ballot measure legalizing physician directed medical marijuana, making it America’s thirteenth state to legalize medical marijuana. State medical marijuana laws now cover over 25 percent of the nation’s population. Michigan became the first Midwest state to join this growing green fraternity.

click to enlarge

Michigan Voters Pass Medical Marijuana Initiative Into Law, 83-0

A review the Michigan State Auditor’s website and their county-by-county election results proves interesting reading. Medical marijuana won in every single county! All 83 counties in the state of Michigan—urban, suburban, or rural passed the measure, and by a margin of over a million votes. It had won in farming, logging, mining, and manufacturing counties! Everywhere the question was asked in Michigan on November 4, the electorate said yes to medical marijuana. In the state’s five largest urban counties, the margins were enormous, an eye-popping 2:1 vote for marijuana.

Medical marijuana received 130,000 more votes in Michigan than even the Obama victory did.

What a vote like this means is that in every part of Michigan, in every school district and voting precinct, every family and every church, in every community, that the people, one by one, have learned the undeniable truth of the utility of marijuana as a medicine—a ‘Truth’ with no expiration date.

The publics’ first-hand knowledge on the subject (over 100 million Americans have tried pot themselves) is finally overcoming the wall of 71-years of lies and distortions about medical marijuana by our federal and state governments. The American public is slowly re-learning the truth about marijuana as a medicine, one person, one patient, one family, one neighbor and one election at a time.

When Uncle Bob uses cannabis for his MS, and Mom needed pot when she underwent chemotherapy for breast cancer, and the kid next door uses it for his migraine headaches…the government can’t continue to lie to the voters anymore that pot is used only by ‘slackers who’re faking illness just as an excuse to ‘get high’. Sorry Congress and Executive Branch, America has seen too many instances where medical marijuana works, and works well. And, there are also now 17,000 scientific studies on the subject!

The great state of Michigan, as a microcosm of America, showed November 4th we, as a country, have passed our tipping point on medical marijuana. Knowledge is tyranny’s biggest enemy. In the 2008 election, the Michigan voters showed, no matter how thick the government lays on the propaganda, nothing can cover up the truth about marijuana as medicine.

-2008 MICHIGAN ELECTION RESULTS-

MEDICAL MARIJUANA (YES)

3,008,980 63%

MEDICAL MARIJUANA (NO)

1,792,870 37%

BARACK OBAMA 2,875,308 (57%)

JOHN MC CAIN 2,050,655 (43%)

-MICHIGAN COUNTIES WON-

MEDICAL MARIJUANA (YES) = 83 (100%)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA (NO) = 0 (0%)

BARACK OBAMA 48 Counties (57%)

JOHN MC CAIN 35 Counties (43%)

In 1937, when marijuana was outlawed against the American Medical Association’s recommendation, cannabis was a component of at least 28 patent medicines made by many pharmaceutical companies still in business today. This national prohibition not only removed cannabis from use as a medicine, but has also produced the social wreckage of 20 million arrests (with an additional 2,200 arrests daily) and today’s pot prohibition bill to taxpayers approaching $25 billion annually.

With the ever-growing national realization that cannabis is one of “the safest therapeutically active substances known to man…”, the American people are taking back their rights to cannabis as medicine, one state at a time. Starting in California in 1996, thirteen states (eight states via voter initiative – five via state legislation) have now taken back their rights to marijuana as a medicine. After this week’s massive victory in Michigan, it is a clear sign that this culture war over medical marijuana is finally over, and the American people (and science) have won—the citizenry refuse to be denied the use of pot in their medicines chest any longer.

President-elect Obama immediately upon taking office should seat a national commission to update the Shafer Commission and bring forward national legislation to address this vital health care and social issue.

Opening Remarks At NORML 2008: NORML Board Chair, Stephen Dillon, Esq.

“It’s Not Your Parents’ Prohibition”
Stephen W. Dillon’s Welcome Address
To The 37th Annual NORML Conference
October 17-18, 2008
Berkeley, California
Doubletree Hotel/Marina

I. Welcome/Introduction (Cannabem liberemus!)

Good morning! I am Steve Dillon, chairman of the NORML Board of Directors. I want to welcome all of you to our 37th Annual Conference in beautiful Berkeley, California. We are very glad you are here – California is still the ground zero in the government’s war on medical marijuana.

I am honored and excited to be with you and our outstanding group of speakers and panelists. We have a great conference planned. There are lots of opportunities to learn, share, experience with each other, and recommit to ending the government’s prohibition of marijuana.

II. The theme of the conference this year is: “It’s Not Your Parents’ Prohibition“.

My parents were born during the government’s failed effort at alcohol prohibition (1919-1934). They learned about home-made beer and wine and even about secret stills for liquor in their basements. They shared with me some of the alcohol paraphernalia of my grandfather, Dr. John Dillon. He had a silver folding whiskey glass and a leather cigar case with fake glass cigars or containers for booze. My parents weren’t old enough to drink alcohol during the prohibition, but my grandparents did regularly. My parents didn’t think that their parents were criminals, only Al Capone and the gangsters who committed violent acts to support their illegal business enterprises.

There was an attitude of our citizens at that time that the government couldn’t really tell us that we couldn’t drink, we were Americans! It was fun to go to the speak-easy. It was a “forbidden fruit” that lead some people to drink alcohol just because we weren’t suppose to. However, people didn’t often get arrested for drinking a beer or having a glass of wine. People didn’t have their homes searched or seized or forfeited for home brew or wine. This marijuana prohibition is much worse than our parents’ prohibition. (1) unconstitutional/illegal, (2) more costly, (3) much longer/never-ending, (4) loss of freedom and property, (5) loss of opportunity, (6) loss of medicine and compassionate care of sick, (7) dishonest, (8) drug-testing.

What were the results of the American alcohol prohibition? It is undisputed that the prohibition was a complete failure. It certainly didn’t work to prohibit alcohol consumption by millions of Americans, from the very rich to the very poor. The prohibition resulted in an increase in organized crime and brutal violence. It resulted in corruption of our courts, police, and politicians. It misdirected our tax resources – it wasted millions of dollars that could have been spent to improve the lives of Americans.

The prohibition resulted in a growing disrespect for government and law enforcement. It led to countless deaths, not only from the gang violence in the streets trying to control the illegal market, but also from the deaths from tainted home-made liquor – “bathtub gin”. The prohibition made millions of American citizens “criminals” overnight, even though the vast majority had no intent to harm anyone, not even themselves. They had lost the right to choose.

Federal law enforcement officials like the FBI’s Hoover, used the prohibition as a reason to greatly increase the funding and power of their agencies; and they have never relinquished that power.

The alcohol prohibition was doomed because it was standing directly in the way of the citizens’ right to choose to use alcohol – even if it wasn’t good for them. There is a fundamental belief in America that we the people have the right to make decisions about how we live our life. That we are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – however we define it, as long as we don’t hurt others or interfere with their rights. The government’s marijuana prohibition was also doomed to fail for the same reasons.

III. The government’s 71 year prohibition of marijuana has also failed and is also counter-productive.

When the marijuana prohibition started in 1937, the government was trying to keep in place the federal law enforcement bureaucracy from the alcohol prohibition which ended just a few years before. The government picked marijuana to prohibit for a variety of reasons such as: (1) mostly blacks and Mexicans used marijuana (maybe 5000 users at the time). – racist, (2) most Americans were unaware of the benefits of marijuana, even though it was used in many patent medicines and treatments, (3) powerful lobbyists and their politicians protected the pharmaceutical industry, the paper industry, the oil industries from the competition for consumer dollars. The prohibition is still in place for all these reasons, mainly greed and control.

The marijuana prohibition has also resulted in an increase in organized, violent crime and gang warfare on our streets. It has resulted in corruption of police, politicians, and courts. It has wasted billions of our tax dollars each year; money that could be spent on education, or roads, or Social Security, or on protecting us from real crime or real terrorists. The marijuana prohibition has led to a strong disrespect for government, in general; and for school, police, and law enforcement officials, in particular.

One of the worst consequences of the marijuana prohibition is the loss of the truth about marijuana and its benefits. The government lies about marijuana. Drug Czar Walters regularly states that people aren’t getting arrested for marijuana possession. This is despite the fact that the FBI Uniform Crime Report for 2007 recently stated that 872,721 citizens were arrested last year. One arrest each 37 seconds! (90% for possession only) Last week on October 10, 2008 the 20th million arrest for marijuana in this country happened. Samuel Caldwell was the first federal marijuana prisoner. He was sentenced in October 1937 to Ft. Leavenworth for four (4) years for two (2) joints. He died in prison of stomach cancer. There are now at least 33, 655 state marijuana prisoners and 10,785 federal marijuana prisoners. One out of eight (1/8) inmates are there for a marijuana offense. The marijuana arrests last year were a record, up 5% since the year before. Marijuana arrests accounted for almost ½ (47.5%) of all drug arrests in the country. Our America, sweet land of liberty has 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world’s prison population.

Americans will smoke pot if they want to, just like past Americans drank alcohol if they wanted to. About ½ of the adult population has tried marijuana. Over twenty (20) million regularly use it. Twelve (12) states have medical marijuana laws and dozens of cities and towns have decriminalized marijuana possession or have made it the lowest priority of law enforcement. More states are passing and considering eliminating the ban on hemp and hemp products, also.

The American public knows that marijuana isn’t’ harmful to them like alcohol or nicotine, which are legal, regulated, and taxed. The government itself has recognized and reported the truth in the past about marijuana and its effects; such as the Shafer Commission in 1972 and DEA Administrative Judge Francis Young’s decision in 1988. Many medical studies and reports from all over the world, for thousands of years, have told us about the relative safety and medical benefits of marijuana.

The American public has responded to numerous polls indicating that marijuana prohibition should end. The Zogby poll (3/22/07) found that over half of all Americans support decriminalization. The Time/CNN poll (2002) found that 72% of Americans wanted decriminalization for possession and 75% favored allowing states to provide for medical marijuana. We have come to the point where it is totally illogical and counterproductive to prohibit marijuana. About 80% of the voters in the medical marijuana states voted for change.

IV. We know prohibitions don’t work. 10 year effort/strategy (1998-2008) UN report on drug eradication concluded recently that despite the 10 year plan-drugs are cheaper, better, and more available.

This continuing, disastrous violation of our fundamental rights is destroying our land and darkening our spirits. A quote regularly attributed to President Abraham Lincoln is …..”That prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes….a prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.”

Our first marijuana law in 1619 was in Virginia. It mandated that each farmer must grow it. Our Founding Fathers grew it and used it. Presidents George Washington and Jefferson wrote about it. President Jefferson said “that the freedom and happiness of man are the sole objects of all legitimate government.” He also reminds us that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” They risked their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to defend their liberty. What will we do?

V. Conclusion

Our government must be forced to change direction and end this disastrous marijuana prohibition! We need to elect new leaders and restore our freedom to choose for ourselves. Just like the alcohol prohibition, we must recognize that the prohibition has failed and restore our liberty and freedom – end the costly damage to us, and our constitutional rights.

It is important to remember that the government needed to pass the 18th Amendment to try to regulate alcohol. There is no constitutional amendment giving the federal government the power to prohibit marijuana. The states have the right to continue to make laws regarding cannabis as long as they don’t violate our fundamental liberties contained in the bill of rights.

It is time for a change! It is time to take action to end prohibition. We are the people! We are the majority. We have the truth on our side, and we have the courage to stand up for our rights. What are we waiting for? If we wait for someone else to fight for our freedom, we will lose it.

As Simon Weisenthal, a Holocaust survivor said “Freedom is not a gift from god. If you want freedom, you must work for it every day.”

I look forward to working with you all in this battle. We are winning! And we will win! We will look back sometime soon, and be glad we spoke truth to power and to re-legalize marijuana. Thank you for attending and participating in our conference. I know you will enjoy this opportunity to rekindle the flames of liberty and justice in each of us and in our country

And let us go forth from this place, committed anew to the cause of liberty for all people, the next year we may celebrate in a world made better by our efforts..

Time To Get To Work!

We’ve had our celebrations; now the real work begins.

In Massachusetts, where 65 percent of voters mandated an end to minor marijuana possession arrests, police and pundits are already calling on lawmakers to amend — or even repeal — the new law. Therefore, if you reside in Massachusetts, it is critical that you contact your state elected officials, as well as Democrat Gov. Deval Patrick and Attorney General Martha Coakley, and demand that they fully implement the will of 1,938,366 registered voters of the commonwealth of Massachusetts who voted “yes” on 2.

As for the rest of us, now is the time to make your voice heard federally. The election of Barack Obama, coupled with Democrat control of both the House and the Senate, presents a unique and critical opportunity for federal marijuana law reform. Voters on Election Day demonstrated overwhelmingly that they favor political reform in this country, and that reform includes new directions in marijuana policy.

Obama’s transition team has established a website, http://change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople, asking for “our ideas” and “help” to “solve the biggest challenges facing our country.” Unfortunately, neither the ‘war on drugs’ nor ‘marijuana’ appears on the “the agenda.”

It’s up to us — the cannabis community — to make it part of the agenda.

Please contact the Office of President Elect Obama and demand that our next President engages in a national dialogue on marijuana policy. Below are three suggested ways Obama can take immediate, practical steps to reform America’s antiquated and punitive pot laws:

1. President Obama must uphold his campaign promise to cease the federal arrest and prosecution of (state) law-abiding medical cannabis patients and dispensaries by appointing leaders at the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the US Department of Justice, and the US Attorney General’s office who will respect the will of the voters in the thirteen states that have legalized the physician-supervised use of medicinal marijuana.

2. President Obama should use the power of the bully pulpit to reframe the drug policy debate from one of criminal policy to one of public health. Obama can stimulate this change by appointing directors to the Office of National Drug Control Policy who possess professional backgrounds in public health, addiction, and treatment rather than in law enforcement.

3. President Obama should follow up on statements he made earlier in his career in favor of the decriminalization of marijuana by adults by calling for the creation of a bi-partisan Presidential Commission to review the budgetary, social, and health costs associated with federal marijuana prohibition, and to make progressive recommendations for future policy changes.

On Election Day, voters in Massachusetts, Michigan, and throughout the country gave President Elect Obama and the incoming Congress a mandate to end the Bush drug war doctrine. Now let’s get down to business to assure that our message is implemented.

Truth Prevails!

The politics of compassion have overcome the politics of fear.

Tonight, Michigan became the thirteenth state to legalize the physician supervised possession and use of cannabis. According to early returns, more than 60 percent of Michigan voters decided in favor of Proposal 1, which establishes a state-regulated system regarding the use and cultivation of medical marijuana by qualified patients.

Voters endorsed the measure despite a high profile, deceptive, and despicable ad campaign by Prop. 1 opponents — who falsely claimed that the initiative would allow for the open sale of marijuana “in every neighborhood, just blocks from schools.” (In fact, Proposal 1 does not even allow for the creation of licensed cannabis dispensaries.)

Michigan’s new law goes into effect on December 4th, at which time nearly one-quarter of the US population will live in a state that authorizes the legal use of medical cannabis.

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, some 65 percent of voters (and virtually every town) decided “yes” on Question 2, which reduces minor marijuana possession to a fine-only offense. Like in Michigan, voters rejected a high-profile, deceptive ad campaign by the measure’s opponents, who argued that it would increase adolescent drug abuse, permit large-scale marijuana trafficking, endanger workplace safety, and sharply increase traffic fatalities.

Question 2 is expected to become law in 30 days — making Massachusetts the thirteenth state to decriminalize the personal possession and use of cannabis. (Note: Under state law, politicians have the option of amending the new law.)

NORML celebrates both victories and recognizes that neither would have been possible without the grassroots efforts of Michigan and Massachusetts state activists — who laid the groundwork for both campaigns by successfully passing a series of similar, municipal initiatives over the past several years.

Wednesday Morning Update:

Victories in four pro-marijuana law reform measures in local elections were announced overnight:

Citizens in Fayetteville, Arkansas voted in favor of initiative question #16, which instructs city police to make the enforcement of minor marijuana offenses a low priority. The initiative passed with nearly 66 percent support.

Not too surprisingly the citizens of Berkeley, California voted again to affirm an initiative that ‘eliminate limits on the amount of medical marijuana patient or dispensary can possess’. Measure JJ passed with 61 percent support.

Hawaii County also passed a lowest police priority marijuana initiative.

Also, the Massachusetts PPQ results regarding medical marijuana, which readily passed as expected, are online here.

Unfortunately for reformers the Drug Policy Alliance-sponsored Prop. 5, which sought progressive criminal justice law reforms for non-violent offenders (and would have changed the legal status of a minor marijuana citation from a criminal to civil offense) did not prevail at the polls, losing with 40 percent support.

Once again, voters have rejected the Bush doctrine on drugs. They’ve rejected the lies put forward by drug warriors and law enforcement, and demonstrated — overwhelmingly — that truth, compassion, and first-hand experience are more persuasive than the deception and scare tactics of those who would take away our freedoms and confine us in cages.

In short, it is the cannabis community, not the Drug Czar, that is shaping America’s marijuana policy, and tonight we go to bed knowing that millions of Americans will wake up tomorrow with a better, brighter, and more tolerant future than they had today.

Is It Time To Start Using The “M” Word? (And No, I Don’t Mean Marijuana)

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?