Michigan medical marijuana initiative certified for the November ballot

I am excited to announce that yesterday the Michigan government officially certified that MPP's Michigan campaign committee — the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care (MCCC) — collected enough signatures to qualify a medical marijuana initiative for the statewide November ballot. You can read more about this milestone here.

The roughly half a million signatures counted by the state had a whopping 80.2% validity rate, far exceeding what was needed to qualify for the ballot. I hope you’ll consider making a donation to MCCC today so that we can run a robust campaign the rest of the year and ensure that the measure passes in November.

The official word that we gathered enough signatures to send the initiative to the voters in November culminates a monumental effort in the state. Thanks to the hard work of MPP and MCCC staffers, local activists, volunteers, and supporters for the past nine months, Michigan is close to becoming the 13^th medical marijuana state — and the first in the Midwest.

The initiative will now be transmitted to the Michigan Legislature, which has 40 days either to pass it into law or to send it to voters in November. Because the legislature has considered multiple medical marijuana bills in recent years and none has ever gained traction, Michiganders — who support protecting patients from arrest by a nearly 2 to 1 margin — are all but certain to vote on the issue at the polls later this year.

Most importantly, Michigan patients are now one enormous step closer to being able to use medical marijuana without the fear of arrest and jail. If passed by a majority of voters on Election Day, the initiative will allow Michigan patients to use, possess, and grow their own marijuana for medical purposes with their doctors’ approval.

The most recent polling shows that 61% of Michigan voters support medical marijuana access, and we’ve hired a top-notch consulting firm and a full-time campaign manager to translate that public sentiment into a new law that protects patients. But we need your financial support to succeed, so please make a donation to the campaign today.

I’m grateful for your support.

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2008. This means that your monthly pledge to MPP will be doubled.