Has your county prosecutor been naughty or nice? A voters guide to the Michigan 2012 primary and general election.

By. Richard C. Clement
Cannabis Crusader

The August primary is very important to participate in, especially if you support the decriminalization and economic utilization of the cannabis plant. Some of the offices that are an immediate concern are the County Judgeships, Sheriff, Prosecutors, and Commissioners. These offices impact the day to day operations and lives of citizens living within their borders. In 2008 the citizens of the State of Michigan overwhelmingly voted to approve the use of Marijuana for Medical reasons in a bi-partisan manner.  

Medical Marijuana received more votes than President Obama and John McCain in Michigan. This affirmative vote for Marijuana is a clear indication that citizens of both parties can come together as one on a single issue for the common good. All is not lost and there are some pretty good people still around.

A threat to weed anywhere is a threat to weed everywhere!
Make it your Duty to STOP Bill Schuette.

In selecting a county prosecutor, you need a standard of measurement on who to vote for regarding cannabis reform. The standard of measurement is to count the number of Cana-businesses in your County. If there is a place that you can go in your county to get meds, then your county prosecutor is ok. David Leyton in Genesee county is the gold standard of measurement. There are viable cana-business in that county with no local or county interference. Others of notable mention include Stuart Dunnings III of Ingham County, Kym Worthy of Wayne County and Henry C. Zavislak of Jackson County. If there are no places of cana-business in your county or, the businesses that were there were shut down and never reopened, then it is a very high probability that your county prosecutor should be voted against.

             If you are reading this and live in Michigan, count the number of dispensaries in your county then, ask your county prosecutor the following question:

1. “Do you support the will of the people regarding Medical Marijuana as voted by the people?"
2. “If elected will you support the law by not conducting and supporting raids using county resources?”

            If there answer is NO, then they have to GO! If the answer is YES, that is the person we need to protect the weed. If no other viable candidate is on the ballot, then write in a viable candidate’s name. To help us out I would like you to count the number of cana-busnesses in your county. If there are none, then post your county name in the comment section for the record. If your county prosecutor is friendly, then write that in the comment section also. For write-in candidates,  consider the fact that the  person's name being written in has to be a lawyer licensed in the State of Michigan and, must be living in the area by January 1st, 2013. If you don’t know your prosecutor (and you should) the following list of county prosecutors and contact information is available below.

Candidates in GREEN are the alternative, cannabis friendly candidates for office for prosecutors who are flagged with a NO.

Prosecutor Name	COUNTY	Contact Information	4:20 Friend?
Thomas J. Weichel	ALCONA	tweichel@northland.lib.mi.us
Karen Bahrman	ALGER	Click Here
Frederick L. Anderson	ALLEGAN	Click Here
Ed Black	ALPENA	Click Here
Charles H. Koop	ANTRIM	prosecutor@antrimcounty.org
Curtis Broughton	ARENAC	Click Here
Joseph P. O'Leary	BARAGA	Click Here
Thomas E. Evans	BARRY	Click Here
Kurt Asbury	BAY	Click Here
John B. Daugherty	BENZIE	Click Here	NO
Arthur J. Cotter	BERRIEN	acotter@berriencounty.org
Terri A. Norris	BRANCH	Click Here
Susan K. Mladenoff	CALHOUN	Click Here	NO
Victor A. Fitz	CASS	Click Here
John Jarema	CHARLEVOIX	jaremaj@charlevoixcounty.org
Daryl P. Vizina	CHEBOYGAN	Click Here
Brian A. Peppler	CHIPPEWA	Click Here	NO
Michelle J. Ambrozaitis	CLARE	Click Here	NO
Charles D. Sherman	CLINTON	Click Here	YES
Everette E. Ayers	CRAWFORD	prosecutor@crawfordco.org
Steve Parks	DELTA	Click Here
Stephanie S. Brule	DICKINSON	Click Here
Jeffrey L. Sauter	EATON	prosecutingattorney@eatoncounty.org	YES
James R. Linderman	EMMET	Click Here
David S. Leyton	GENESEE	Click Here	YES
Aaron W. Miller	GLADWIN	prosecutor@gladwinco.com
Richard B. Adams	GOGEBIC	radams@gogebic.org
Al Schneider	GRAND TRAVERSE	Click Here
Keith J. Kushion	GRATIOT	prosecutor@co.gratiot.mi.us
Neal A. Brady	HILLSDALE	Click Here
Michael Makinen	HOUGHTON	Click Here
Timothy J. Rutkowski	HURON	Click Here
Stuart J. Dunnings, III	INGHAM	padunnings@ingham.org	YES
Ronald J. Schafer	IONIA	Click Here
Gary W. Rapp	IOSCO	grapp@ioscocounty.org
Melissa A. Powell	IRON	mpowell@iron.org
Larry J. Burdick	ISABELLA	pao@isabellacounty.org
Henry C. Zavislak	JACKSON	prosecut@co.jackson.mi.us	YES
Jeffrey R. Fink	KALAMAZOO	Click Here
Kirk  A. Metzger	KALKASKA	Click Here
William A. Forsyth	KENT	Click Here
Donna L. Jaaskelainen	KEWEENAW	dlj_law@jaaskelainenpc.com
Michael J. Riley	LAKE	Prosecutor@co.lake.mi.us	NO
Byron J. Konschuh	LAPEER	bkonschuh@lapeercounty.org
Joseph T. Hubbell	LEELANAU	Click Here
Jonathan L. Poer	LENAWEE	lencopa@lenawee.mi.us
David L. Morse	LIVINGSTON	lprosecutors@co.livingston.mi.us
Peter Tazelaar II	LUCE	Click Here
Fred Feleppa	MACKINAC	Click Here
Eric J. Smith	MACOMB	Click Here
Ford K. Stone	MANISTEE	Click Here
Gary L. Walker	MARQUETTE	Click Here
Paul R. Spaniola	MASON	prosecutor@masoncounty.net
Peter Jaklevic	MECOSTA	PA@co.mecosta.mi.us
Daniel E. Hass	MENOMINEE	Click Here
Michael Carpenter	MIDLAND	Click Here
William Donnelly, Jr	MISSAUKEE	prosecutor@missaukee.org
William P. Nichols	MONROE	Click Here
Andrea Krause	MONTCALM	akrause@co.montcalm.mi.us
Terrie J. Case	MONTMORENCY	montpros@i2k.com
Tony D. Tague	MUSKEGON	Click Here	NO Marc Curtis(YES)
Robert Springstead	NEWAYGO	roberts@co.newaygo.mi.us
Jessica R. Cooper	OAKLAND	info@oaklandprosecutor.org	NO
Terry L. Shaw	OCEANA	Click Here
LaDona Schultz	OGEMAW	Click Here
James Jessup	ONTONAGON	Click Here
James J. Sims Il	OSCEOLA	oscprosatty@osceolacountymi.com
Kathleen Solomon	OSCODA	prosecutor@oscodacountymi.com
Brendan Curran	OTSEGO	Click Here	YES
Ronald J. Frantz	OTTAWA	prosecutor@miottawa.org
Richard K. Steiger	PRESQUE ISLE	Click Here
Mark Jernigan	ROSCOMMON	Click Here
Michael D. Thomas	SAGINAW	Click Here
James V. Young	SANILAC	jyoung@avci.net
Timothy R. Noble	SCHOOLCRAFT	Click Here
Randy O. Colbry	SHIAWASSEE	scpa@shianet.org
Michael Wendling	ST. CLAIR	countypa@stclaircounty.org
John L. McDonough	ST. JOSEPH	Click Here
Mark E. Reene	TUSCOLA	Click Here	NO
Juris Kaps	VAN BUREN	Click Here
Brian L. Mackie	WASHTENAW	mackieb@ewashtenaw.org
Kym L. Worthy	WAYNE	Click Here	YES
Mark Smathers	WEXFORD	mark@wexfordcounty.org

 Vote Weed 2012, your community is depending on you!

Stop Voter Supression in Detroit before Wednesday May 9th 2012

Hon. Dave Bing,
Mayor City of Detroit

Hon. Charles Pugh

President City Council of Detroit

1 Woodward Ave

Detroit, MI 48226

Contact (click here(City Council members and Mayor Dave Bing )) of the City of Detroit and ask them to stop practicing Voter Suppression by letting the voters decide the issue of Marijuana use in the City of Detroit on the August 2012 ballot.

We are requesting that you direct the legal counsel of the City of Detroit to discontinue the efforts to stop citizens from voting on the use of marijuana within the City.  The Lawyers and the fees associated with them are costing the city a lot of money. An appeal to the State Supreme Court is a form of voter suppression that is on par with Voter ID laws, and other tactics to reduce voter participation. In the long haul, the City will lose and, that would be a complete waste of resources and Detroit taxpayer’s hard earned dollars.  This issue should be on the ballot to let the people decide regardless of what the council and the Mayor have to say about it.

The State of Michigan will be trying to take control of the City in some way, shape or form because of money. In the big picture Medical Marijuana has generated over 12 million dollars for the State in registration fees alone.  Empty buildings in Detroit have been revitalized by the cannabis community to have clubs, businesses, and events that bring revenue and visitors to the City of Detroit.  Unlike churches in the city, Cannabis businesses pay property taxes and utilities like DTE and Consumers Power, unlike churches paying NO property tax at all.

It is imperative that the elected officials of the City of Detroit drop all legal challenges to the city-wide ballot proposal being on the ballot and, let the people vote in August 2012. Please act on this request by directing City of Detroit’s legal counsel to not file an appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court.

Sincerely,

Richard C. Clement

Director of Outreach & Technology Programs

Michigan Chapter of the National Organization for

the Reform of Marijuana Laws

www.minorml.org

cc:  MINORML Board of Directors,

Detroit City Council Members

Open Letter to Mayor Dave Bing and the Detroit City Council: Stop Voter Suppression in Detroit

The following letter was sent to the Elected leadership in the City of Detroit on the behalf of the citizens right to participate in the direction of the city.

Hon. Mayor Dave Bing
Hon. Charles Pugh – City Council President
1 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48226

Subject: Dropping the City’s lawsuit blocking the people’s vote on Marijuana in the City of Detroit.

We are requesting that the Mayor’s office and the Detroit City Council drop their legal challenge at the Court of Appeals to the Detroit Marijuana Ballot initiative. We want the issue to be voted on and decided by the voters in the August primary election of 2012. The Lawyers and the fees associated with them are costing the city a lot of money that can be used elsewhere. To continue this action is a form of voter suppression that is on par with Voter ID laws, and other tactics to reduce voter participation. In the long haul, the City will lose in the Supreme Court and that would be a complete waste of resources and Detroit taxpayer’s hard earned dollars. The issue will be on the ballot to let the people decide regardless of what the council and the Mayor have to say about it.

The State of Michigan will be taking control of the City in some way, shape or form because of money problems. Medical Marijuana has generated over 12 million dollars for the State in registration fees alone. Empty buildings in Detroit have been revitalized by the cannabis community to have clubs, businesses, and events that bring revenue and visitors to the City of Detroit. Unlike churches in the city, Cannabis businesses pay property taxes and pay on utilities like DTE and Consumers Power unlike the church paying NO property taxes at all.

It is imperative that the elected officials of the City of Detroit to drop all legal challenges to the city-wide ballot proposal and let the people vote in August to decide the issue. Therefore please act on this by directing your legal counsel to withdraw the Motion for Reconsideration filed with the Michigan Court of Appeals at your earliest convenience.


Sincerely,

Richard C. Clement
Director of Outreach & Technology Programs
Michigan Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
www.minorml.org
cc: MINORML Board of Directors,
Detroit City Council Members