Posted on 09/07/2001 9:47:20 AM PDT by fod
Marijuana Laws Hurt People and Help Drug Dealers!
Families of the sick and dying, not big government, should decide whether compassionate medical use of marijuana for serious ailments under a doctors care is right for them. The Personal Responsibility Amendment Ballot Initiative Petition Drive is an attempt to bring balance and clarity to the "War on Drugs" in Michigan by focusing on drug education and treatment as the best way to prevent abuse, and by legalizing hemp farming and decriminalizing compassionate medical and adult private use of homegrown marijuana kept responsibly away from kids, cars, and the public. This will stop the exposure of normal cannabis users to drug dealers! PRA will earmark all asset forfeiture proceeds for funding education and treatment programs in order to reduce this burden on the taxpayer. Master
Article 1, Section 25:
A) Education and treatment programs, which offer a more acceptable approach to preventing drug abuse than arresting adults who use marijuana in the privacy of home, shall receive the gross proceeds of all drug, alcohol, and gambling related asset forfeitures, including federal funds or resources derived from illicit drug law enforcement through adoption of state forfeitures or otherwise. These proceeds shall never be retained or used by or for state or local law enforcement or prosecuting agencies, nor shall they be used for any purpose other than licensed programs providing drug, alcohol, gambling, and tobacco abuse awareness education and treatment.
B) Compassionate medical marijuana use shall not be prohibited by law for treatment of serious and debilitating medical conditions such as persistent nausea, vomiting, wasting syndrome or loss of appetite associated with chemotherapy or radiation cancer therapy, or the treatment of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or in reducing intra ocular pressure associated with glaucoma, or for controlling seizures, pain, or persistent spasms associated with debilitating diseases, such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other similar conditions, so long as it is used only in private and directly under a treating physician's written advice, with written consent of a custodial parent or guardian in the case of a minor or incompetent person. Medical professionals shall not be compelled to accept or reject marijuana use as medicine. Use, possession, and dispensing of medical purpose marijuana may be subject to reasonable time, place, and manner regulations.
C) The right to farm and manufacture non-intoxicating industrial hemp for intrastate markets shall not be prohibited. The State of Michigan shall encourage and promote the cultivation, production, and sale of non-intoxicating industrial hemp, defined as cannabis sativa hemp containing less than .05% of the active ingredient THC, for the sake of forest and soil conservation, the environment, and the farm economy.
D) A person shall not be arrested, incarcerated, prosecuted, suffer asset forfeiture, injunction, license sanctions or other legal prohibitions with respect to the private use and possession of a personal amount of marijuana by a competent adult at least 21 years old, so long as it is kept within the curtilage of a private residence, in a manner and location not readily accessible by minor children, and does not exceed seeds, seedlings, plant waste, 3 mature plants, and 3 ounces of dried usable marijuana (defined as genus cannabis). The legal immunities established by this subsection and by subsection (b) hereof do not apply with respect to: i) incidents involving operation of any motor vehicle or dangerous machine, ii) any commerce or commercial activity, iii) enforcing private contract or property rights, iv) any claim of tangible injury to the person or property of another, v) any incarcerated person, or vi) to any parole, probation, or bond condition.
E) Each provision and subsection of this section is independent and severable; findings and rulings with respect to one can have no effect on the validity of any other. Any person may obtain injunctive relief, in a Circuit Court for the county where that person resides, to prevent or redress any violation of any provision of this section, and costs and actual attorney fees shall be taxed against the enjoined party if such injunctive relief is granted.
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