Hemp Evolution: Cannabis Activist Information & Marijuana Resources

Pot projections
Little change expected from Flint vote approving medical marijuana

Burton, MI Mar 13, 2007 -- Since she began smoking marijuana, breast cancer survivor Barbara Hoos, 54, has gained pain relief from debilitating tendinitis and back problems.

But she's lost a lot, too.

By court order, she can't visit her granddaughter because, in the eyes of the law, she's a habitual drug user.

"I know there are others out there, and they won't tell even their doctors because they're afraid of what might happen to them," Hoos said.

Her habit came to light after her medical records indicated she used marijuana as a pain reliever.

If the legalization of medical marijuana in cities such as Flint creates a health care revolution, it will be a quiet and unpublicized one, said patients and police. At least that's been the experience in other cities.

"I'm not saying we look the other way," said Steve Postema, city attorney for Ann Arbor, where medical marijuana was legalized in 2004. "We're simply not running out to find people. But those who claim to use it for health reasons are likely doing it in private anyway."

Marijuana usage - whether recreational or medical - remains illegal under both state and federal laws.

Flint voters on Feb. 27 approved legalizing smoking pot under a doctor's care in spite of some concerns it would drive up crime.

In other places, similar votes have had little impact on arrests or court cases.

Ann Arbor has not had a case in which medicinal use has been claimed as a defense in a marijuana arrest, Postema said.

Flint police did not return calls for comment on whether there has been a rise in marijuana arrests or claims of smoking pot for health reasons since the vote.

Detroit, Traverse City and Ferndale also approved local laws to legalize use of marijuana for medical reasons under a doctor's care.

"I don't think anyone is in the mood to test it, and we haven't gone out of our way to catch them," said Ferndale Police Chief Michael P. Kitchen, whose city's law was changed two years ago.

"Literally, it had no impact, and we never expected it to."

Traverse City Prosecuting Attorney Alan Schneider said a resident was arrested for marijuana possession two or three years ago and claimed it was for medical use.

"Eventually they pled out, which is what usually happens with these first-time cases," said Schneider. "They paid a fine. Other than that, there's been no other change in arrests."

Pro-marijuana groups hope to take the issue statewide as more and more cities change laws to legalize medical marijuana. Eleven U.S. states already consider it a legal drug.

Medical marijuana has become a trendy national issue as baby boomers face increasing health problems and look for alternative ways to treat them.

But Debbie Amey, community program manager for the American Cancer Society's Flint chapter, said her office has gotten no inquiries about the use of medical marijuana.

Sue Arnot, senior manager of programs at the Southeastern Region of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, said the group occasionally is approached about the subject, noting, "whenever it's in the media, we get responses."

Canada has approved the use of a marijuana-derivative medication, a mouth spray called Sativex, for MS symptoms, but marijuana's use in the U.S. remains complex.

The MS society agrees that new therapies are needed to treat the disease's stubborn and often painful muscle spasms and tremors, but there's insufficient evidence, other than anecdotal, that marijuana works. And it's illegal.

Supporters say marijuana can make a difference for cancer survivors, plus those suffering from MS, arthritis, AIDS and a host of other illnesses.

The driving force behind the local marijuana initiative was Charles Snyder III, 29, a bone disease patient who was arrested for six drug offenses in 2005.

He and Hoos argue that such prescription painkillers as OxyContin and Vicodin are the new leaders in drug addiction, not illegal ones such as marijuana.

Both claimed the medications caused fatigue, while marijuana works better to relieve pain and help them eat.

Hoos said she began using marijuana daily to alleviate nausea during chemotherapy for breast cancer six years ago.

"Until the law sees the difference between sick patients and the kid on the street with his hat turned sideways, people will continue to needlessly suffer because they don't have legal access to marijuana," Hoos said.

But a cancer specialist said pills with the same active ingredient as marijuana are available legally and without lighting up.

Dr. Paul Adams, a hematologist-oncologist at Genesys Hurley Cancer Institute, said the medical marijuana issue has ignited some patient questions, but "really only in a joking mood."

As for a rise in marijuana use, he said he hopes it doesn't happen.

"The drug Marinol has the active ingredient found in marijuana and works quite well to relieve nausea and increase appetite," Adams said. "There's no medical reason to inhale."