Michigan House scorns medical marijuana patients

The Michigan House of Representatives chose to vocally support states' and cities' arrest and imprisonment of cancer and MS patients Tuesday, passing a resolution against medical marijuana in a 96-7 vote. One of the resolution's most ludicrous rationales was the claim that advocating to stop the criminalization of medical marijuana patients "exploit[s] the suffering of sick people by deceptive media campaigns."

Since the resolution—H.R. 226—was introduced in March, many states have continued their merciless prosecution of the sick and dying: Arkansas has moved forward with the prosecution of a 57-year-old MS patient for marijuana cultivation, Ohio convicted a 65-year-old cancer patient—who had lost 80 pounds from chemotherapy—of a felony for marijuana cultivation, and Montana is prosecuting a woman suffering from a severe immunosuppressive disorder who is allergic to prescription pain pills. Please let your representative know that you oppose the House's cruel and misleading resolution.

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H.R. 226, sponsored by Rep. Alma Stallworth (D-8th House District), attempts to justify the criminalization of medical marijuana by: claiming that Marinol is an adequate substitute (ignoring the fact that its oral delivery makes it ineffective for many nauseated patients and that patients cannot control its dosage effectively); calling marijuana a gateway drug (an assertion that even the Institute of Medicine has questioned); and stating that some medical organizations oppose smoked medical marijuana (ignoring the fact that medical marijuana need not be smoked and that prominent medical organizations support medical marijuana, including the Rhode Island, New York, Florida, and New Mexico medical societies; the American Nurses Association; and many other national organizations.)

In one day, H.R. 226 went from the Committee on Health Policy to the House floor—giving representatives little time to review the resolution and voters no time to contact their legislators. The House floor leader, Mary Waters (D-4th House District), suspended a rule that requires a one-day wait between a committee vote and a floor vote.

This resolution was passed at a time when voters in Detroit and Ann Arbor will have the opportunity to vote on medical marijuana ballot initiatives. Voters have a much better record on medical marijuana than politicians—no medical marijuana initiative that got on the ballot has ever failed. Detroiters will vote on a medical marijuana initiative on August 3, and Ann Arbor voters do so in November.

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