by Tom Shields
August 16, 2008

One joint and you’re hooked for life and you go insane.

That was the message of a film called Reefer Madness that was mandatory for many high school students to sit through. Originally produced to educate parents on the evils of smoking Cubanos, the film showed how smoking pot could cause insanity, resulting in drug-induced suicides and deviant criminal behavior, like rape and murder. In fact, the star pothead in the flick ends up in a prison for the criminally insane.

Though the movie later became a cult film in the ’70s — and even a Broadway show in 2001 — its views on drug use were not far from the beliefs shared by most Americans, like my parents, in the ’50s and ’60s.

Smoke one joint and you’re hooked for life.

Yet, last week not a single soul showed up to protest or even offer a word of caution at the State Board of Canvassers meeting where testimony was given on the potential wording of the ballot proposal to allow for medical use of marijuana in Michigan.

What a difference 40 years makes.

Not only didn’t anyone show up at the hearing, no one has even filed a committee to oppose the proposal. No PTAs. No churches. No cop organizations. Not even the anti-smoking groups.

It would certainly appear that Michigan is on the verge of joining 12 other states in legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The same baby-boomers who used to pass the joint are now prepared to pass a law that will legalize the use of marijuana for any “medical condition” one can find a doctor to approve.

Our polling showed support of 67 percent by Michigan voters, with the strongest support coming from baby-boomers.

But does this issue deserve a closer look?

Before we join the ranks of Colorado, California, Maine and others, should we be taking a hard look at what we are getting ourselves into?

A little research shows that these state laws are all over the map. While they all basically decriminalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes, each state differs on the ugly details.

The rules to qualify as a user go from strict regulations that list only specific illness to a state like Colorado where you only have to prove that you “might benefit from its use.” All states require some kind of doctor’s approval.

While most states allow possession of an ounce or less, California lets you have up to eight ounces, and Washington lets you keep up to a 60-day supply — whatever that is.
Most states allow qualified users or suppliers to save a few bucks and grow their own, from a single plant up to a small forest of 24 plants in Oregon.

To get your supply, you don’t take a prescription down to Rite-Aid to pick up a dime bag each week. You get it the old fashioned way, with patients making their own arrangements to secure a supplier. And, there are different grades of weed, with names like Wonderberry, Train Wreck and Amsterdam Bubble Funk. When I was growing up, the only terms were good sh** and great sh**.

Those old dime bags appear to be a thing of the past too. The stuff now goes for $300–$800 an ounce. I wonder if Blue Cross will be picking up the tab some day?

It also appears that decriminalizing dope, even if just for medical use, does not solve law enforcement issues. It seems like your run-of-the-mill illegal drug dealer, who used to have the corner on the market, so to speak, is not all that happy with the new competition in town. The criminal element has invaded the medical marijuana market in a number of states. The bad guys are targeting both suppliers and users. Six people have been murdered in Colorado alone.

Michigan’s proposed law seems to be more liberal than those of other states. You would need a doctor’s approval to get a user card, though the reasons for qualifying are pretty loose. A user would be required to register to obtain an authorization card from the state. You could possess 2.5 ounces and grow up to 12 plants at a time.

But the use and possession of marijuana is still illegal under federal law. So that Michigan user card wouldn’t be good for getting you out of federal jail.

A look at the experience of other states with loose qualifications suggests there would be little anyone could do to prevent recreational pot users from being part of the system. A cottage industry of doctors willing to help patients qualify and people willing to sell pot has developed in other states. One Californian co-op became a for-profit business and did $50 million in sales the first three years of business. In the proposed Michigan law, doctors can charge a user for helping users get qualified, so we’d actually be creating an incentive for doctors to qualify patients. Just visit the potdoc.com website to see what we may be in for.

Before we change our drug laws without a fight, it is important to look at the unintended consequences of this or any other proposed law. Is there a reason why 38 other states have not adopted similar statutes? Are we opening a Pandora’s pot box we won’t be able to close? Besides helping 7-11 stores sell more munchies, are we really providing medical relief? And if we are, is this the right law? Are we creating more legal problems than we are solving? Are we crazy to virtually legalize a drug that we used to say drove people crazy?

As my dad use to say, there is a reason they call it dope.

Tom Shields is founder and president of Marketing Resource Group, a Lansing-based political marketing and public relations firm.