Dozens register for medical marijuana in Michigan

Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Dozens register for medical marijuana
Crowd gathers in Lansing on first day to apply for legal use
Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Lansing -- They laughed and hugged, posed for group photos and celebrated that they were finally going to be allowed to legally use marijuana to treat their medical problems.

No one wore a bigger smile when dropping off an application Monday to join the Michigan Medical Marijuana Registry than Renee Wolfe, a 48-year-old mother of four sons who has been illegally using pot for 30 years.

"Marijuana allows me to eat, allows me to live a fairly normal life," said Wolfe, an Ann Arbor resident who used a wheelchair to roll into the Michigan Department of Community Health building to apply. She has battled multiple sclerosis since 1979.

"I'm able to walk better when I smoke," she said.

Monday was the first day the state accepted applications for the program to allow people with "debilitating" medical conditions to use marijuana.

A group of 55 people chartered a bus to take them from a Lansing café to a nearby state office building to pay $100 and file paperwork, including a certificate from a Michigan-licensed physician that they have a medical condition that could be helped through the use of marijuana. Under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program, the state will issue picture ID registration cards to those who qualify. The cards should be in the hands of patients by the end of the month.

Backers of the law estimate that as many as 50,000 Michiganians will register. By the close of business Monday, 101 had applied.

Medical conditions that qualify for the new program include cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and Crohn's disease. It also covers those with wasting syndrome, severe and chronic pain or nausea, seizures and persistent muscle spasms.

In November, nearly two-thirds of voters decided Michigan should join a dozen other states to allow medical marijuana use.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who opposed the measure, said the state will work to make sure things go smoothly. She remains cautious, however.

"It's a gateway drug, and it's got to be done very carefully," she said, referring to the distribution of medicinal pot.

Under the law, a registered user can possess up to 2.5 ounces of pot. The law is silent on where they are to get the marijuana. But the law makes clear the state will play no role in making the drug available.

Why not let everyone use it?


Seems like a double standard that people can register to smoke it

But if the cops bust me with weed in my car

I am going to jail

gs78 wrote:

Why not let everyone use it?


Seems like a double standard that people can register to smoke it

But if the cops bust me with weed in my car

I am going to jail

While I think the majority of people are in favor of marijuana, not everyone votes. A lot of the people who would support such legislation (especially young people) don't vote.

Get out and vote people!

catbox_9 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

Why not let everyone use it?


Seems like a double standard that people can register to smoke it

But if the cops bust me with weed in my car

I am going to jail

While I think the majority of people are in favor of marijuana, not everyone votes. A lot of the people who would support such legislation (especially young people) don't vote.

Get out and vote people!

They are too busy for voting for American Idol

gs78 wrote:

Why not let everyone use it?


Seems like a double standard that people can register to smoke it

But if the cops bust me with weed in my car

I am going to jail

But that would never happen since your a person who abides the law and would never do such horrid things.

gs78 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

Why not let everyone use it?


Seems like a double standard that people can register to smoke it

But if the cops bust me with weed in my car

I am going to jail

While I think the majority of people are in favor of marijuana, not everyone votes. A lot of the people who would support such legislation (especially young people) don't vote.

Get out and vote people!

They are too busy for voting for American Idol

We've got to come up with a way to phone/text in political votes. The technology has to be there. It'd be tricky because we don't want people stuffing the ballot box, but people should vote. There's polling places every 10 feet on election day and they'll even mail the ballot to you if you're too lazy to go vote yourself. Come on people!

gdennis59 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

Why not let everyone use it?


Seems like a double standard that people can register to smoke it

But if the cops bust me with weed in my car

I am going to jail

But that would never happen since your a person who abides the law and would never do such horrid things.

Or if the cops don't find it stashed in the glove compartment or trunk

catbox_9 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

Why not let everyone use it?


Seems like a double standard that people can register to smoke it

But if the cops bust me with weed in my car

I am going to jail

While I think the majority of people are in favor of marijuana, not everyone votes. A lot of the people who would support such legislation (especially young people) don't vote.

Get out and vote people!

They are too busy for voting for American Idol

We've got to come up with a way to phone/text in political votes. The technology has to be there. It'd be tricky because we don't want people stuffing the ballot box, but people should vote. There's polling places every 10 feet on election day and they'll even mail the ballot to you if you're too lazy to go vote yourself. Come on people!

Perhaps more absentee votes or online voting from your PC


I don't know


But more people should vote

I did notice that there are some states where you have to have a reason to be an absentee voter. In California anyone can vote absentee and they mail you your ballot about a month in advance. The only problem is you have to pay for the stamp (or drop it off at a polling place which defeats the purpose of voting absentee).

catbox_9 wrote:

I did notice that there are some states where you have to have a reason to be an absentee voter. In California anyone can vote absentee and they mail you your ballot about a month in advance. The only problem is you have to pay for the stamp (or drop it off at a polling place which defeats the purpose of voting absentee).

Have the Government pay for postage


I am sure Obama can include it in the Stimulus

I don't mind paying the 42 cents for postage but I never have stamps since I use them so rarely. You should be able to just right IOU in place of postage and have them mail you a bill at the end of the year for all the postage you owe. Then you'd only need one stamp to mail in that bill (or 0 stamps if you pay it online or over the phone).

You can print postage off the computer but unless it's for a package that's a pain in the ass.

catbox_9 wrote:

I don't mind paying the 42 cents for postage but I never have stamps since I use them so rarely. You should be able to just right IOU in place of postage and have them mail you a bill at the end of the year for all the postage you owe. Then you'd only need one stamp to mail in that bill (or 0 stamps if you pay it online or over the phone).

You can print postage off the computer but unless it's for a package that's a pain in the ass.

Bottom Line

People need to

Yeah!

And I think I should right the postage IOU idea to my congressmen. Hell, I'll even pay 45 cents instead of 42 cents for the convenience of getting one bill at the end of the year. That way everyone wins.

gs78 wrote:

gdennis59 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

Why not let everyone use it?


Seems like a double standard that people can register to smoke it

But if the cops bust me with weed in my car

I am going to jail

But that would never happen since your a person who abides the law and would never do such horrid things.

Or if the cops don't find it stashed in the glove compartment or trunk