Pompo

Patient's story led state to OK medical pot in '79
10/25/08|Detroit Free Press| by Megha Satyanarayana



Michigan is no stranger to medical marijuana.

In 1979, after moving testimony from Deb Negen of Kentwood on how marijuana spared her the vomiting and nausea of chemotherapy, the state House of Representatives passed the Michigan Marijuana as Medicine Act by a vote of 100-0. The Senate followed with a strong vote in favor of the bill, 33-1. The bill was signed into law Oct. 22, 1979.

That same morning, Keith Nutt of Beaverton, a cancer patient who also had testified to the Legislature, died.

But what happened after is a mystery. The Michigan branch of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws claims the goodwill of the bill foundered because the federal government, which at that time supplied the drug under a short-lived federal program, stalled and sent poor-quality supplies. The law lapsed in 1987, and in 1994, proponents walked up to 100 miles to Lansing in favor of reinstating it, or at least having medical use exempt from tougher drug laws on the books. Their efforts failed.

Negen, now Deb Brink, is an advocate for this year's Proposal 1.