Irvin Rosenfeld has been smoking 10-12 joints of federally supplied medical marijuana a day for 25 years - he said it has saved his life.
"Without my medical cannabis, I would be homebound, I would most likely be unemployed and I would be a drain on society," said Rosenfeld, a 54-year-old stockbroker from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
He smokes to alleviate excruciating muscle pain from a disease that causes tumors to form on the ends of his bones. It also relaxes his tight muscles, allowing him to move without tearing a vein and forming a fatal bloodclot.
Michigan voters may have the chance to allow seriously ill people, like Rosenfeld, to legally use medical marijuana as soon as 2008.
On May 23, the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care announced a statewide effort to collect 550,000 signatures in six months to get an initiative on the 2008 ballot.
"It's about people that are suffering and are going to jail because they have chosen, as their course of treatment, medical marijuana," said Dianne Byrum, spokeswoman for the Ferndale-based coalition.
Byrum is a former Democratic leader in the state House. She represented the Ingham County area.
Marijuana can ease the suffering of people with diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS, she said.
Documented evidence exists that shows marijuana can alleviate the symptoms of some illnesses, said Dennis Martell, health education services coordinator for Olin Health Center. However, there also is potential harm when you inhale any kind of smoke, he said.
"If it gets to the ballot, people should learn as much as possible, then vote from an educated perspective," Martell said.
After 304,101 signatures are validated, the initiative will go to the state legislature. If it is rejected, or not voted on at all, it will appear on the 2008 ballot, Byrum said.
If passed, the initiative would allow qualified patients to use and grow a limited amount of marijuana for medicinal purposes upon the recommendation of a doctor.
It also would create a registry for patients, along with an ID card system, that would allow them to be identified by law enforcement officers.
Leo Madarang, vice chair of the MSU College Republicans, said he has reservations about legalizing the drug for medicinal purposes.
While he thinks marijuana could be beneficial for people with glaucoma or cancer, he said loopholes may be abused, and people may become "more addicted."
"There isn't enough medical evidence, that I know of, that says medical marijuana is the best cure for diseases," Madarang said.
Five Michigan cities have passed local initiatives decriminalizing the use and prescription of medical marijuana: Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ferndale, Traverse City and Flint.
Considering how favorably residents have voted for medical marijuana on recent polls, Michigan has a good chance of becoming the 13th state to legalize it, said Scott Hendrickson, president of MSU College Democrats.
"Petitioning the people for causes like the legalization of medicinal marijuana is the responsible way to approach these issues," he said. "Doctors should be allowed to use any means necessary to help their suffering patients."
Rosenfeld said smoking marijuana for 2 1/2 decades has not diminished his health.
He was one of seven participants consented to use marijuana by the Food and Drug Administration's Compassionate Investigational New Drug program, which dates back to 1978.
In 2001, he and three others from the program underwent rigorous health evaluations, and none of them were found to have serious problems, according to the study.
Rosenfeld said it is not fair that elderly and suffering people are being criminalized for smoking their pain away.
"They're not criminals," he said. "No one asks for a debilitating disease.
"No one says, 'Let me catch something so I can use this drug.' But when you do catch a disease, when you do come down with something and the best medicine makes you a criminal, that's just not right."
