Latest News

Initiative Denied Ballot Placement; Sponsors Vow to Restart Campaign if Reforms Not Made

LANSING, Sept. 10 — Despite having more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, sponsors of the Michigan Drug Reform Initiative today lost their final round in an effort to overcome technical problems with petitions and see their initiative placed on the November ballot.

The Michigan Supreme Court today refused to hear the final appeal by initiative campaigners, but the sponsors of the measure are not giving up on their efforts to overhaul drug laws.

Maia Justine Storm, spokesperson for the Michigan Drug Reform Initiative campaign, said, “Today we lost a battle, and the people of Michigan lost as well.”

“While we are disappointed,” Storm said, “the need for a major overhaul of Michigan’s drug laws remains.”

News Item - Posted 09/10/2002

Over 450,000 Signatures Turned in to Qualify Initiative

Supporters Confident of November Ballot Placement

LANSING, July 5 -- Supporters of the Michigan Drug Reform Initiative have submitted 454,584 signatures of Michigan voters in support of their petition to overhaul the state's drug sentencing practices.

With just over 302,000 valid signatures needed for the measure to qualify for the November ballot, supporters are confident they have more than met the requirements.

News Item - Posted 07/05/2002

Drug reform push fosters legal debate

Macomb Daily, June 3, 2002


by Frank DeFrank, Macomb Daily Columnist

If you haven't been already, sometime in the next few months you'll likely be approached and asked to sign a petition to put a measure on the ballot that would reform Michigan drug laws.

Depending on whom you believe, the Michigan Drug Reform Initiative, a proposed amendment to the state constitution, will:

News Item - Posted 06/03/2002

Drug reform shifts focus to treatment, not jail

The Oakland Press, May 12, 2002


by John Wisely, The Oakland Press

PONTIAC - When Aaron Crank wants a signature on a petition to change Michigan drug laws, his pitch is quick and simple.

"I'm trying to give nonviolent drug offenders a chance at treatment instead of jail," said the 19-year-old art student from Bloomfield Hills. Crank said he supports the proposal on principle but circulates petitions for the $1.50 he earns for each signature.

Supporters and opponents of the proposal, known as the Michigan Drug Reform Initiative, also are motivated, and they agree there is nothing quick or simple about it.

News Item - Posted 05/12/2002

Sentencing Sanity May Make a Return

Detroit Free Press, Sunday, April 8, 2002


by Brian Dickerson, Free Press Columnist

Those who recognize that Michigan's approach to drug crime has been a well-meaning failure will have at least two opportunities this year to set the state on a new course:

* A proposed amendment to the state constitution would reserve draconian mandatory sentences for major drug traffickers, establish a commission to draw up new sentencing guidelines for most drug offenses and prescribe treatment instead of jail time for many nonviolent drug users.

News Item - Posted 04/08/2002

Trio's ballot measure would restructure war on illicit drugs

by Nolan Finley, The Detroit News, January 20, 2002

A major battle in the drug war will be fought this year in Michigan.

The fight will have little impact on the amount of narcotics on state streets. But it may push Michigan toward a more honest and rational approach to handling drug crimes and drug users.

Don't dismiss the Michigan Drug Reform Initiative as the work of a bunch of potheads intent on upending the state's drug laws. It's a highly organized effort financed by a trio of super-rich businessmen.

News Item - Posted 01/20/2002

Drug Crimes

Petition Raises Important Questions On Punishment

Detroit Free Press, January 3, 2002

Editorial


Sending fewer drug offenders to prison is not an idea most politicians have the courage to talk about -- even if it makes sense. So it's good that a California foundation will force the debate this year with a petition drive to amend Michigan's Constitution and scale back some of the state's tough mandatory drug-crime sentences.

The drive, just under way, by the Campaign for New Drug Policies aims to put the issue before voters in November 2002, targeting sentencing laws that require judges to impose minimums of up to life without parole.

News Item - Posted 01/03/2002

More Reform for Drug Laws

Legislature Should Allow Judges More Freedom In Sentencing

Grand Rapids Press, January 2, 2002

Editorial


Despite some reforms, Michigan's drug laws remain among the country's harshest -- needlessly so. Legislators making New Year's resolutions should put changing those overly punitive rules toward the top of their to-do lists.

Current sentencing guidelines don't discriminate between small-time street hustlers and the most heinous kingpins. Lawmakers should change that, allowing judges as much leeway in sentencing drug offenders as they have in jailing violent criminals.

News Item - Posted 01/02/2002

Press Release - 12/04/2001

New Report on Arizona Drug Treatment Law Encouraging for Prop. 36, Similar Measures

Treatment Compliance Over 60%, $6.7 Million Saved on 1st/2nd Offenders Alone

LOS ANGELES, December 4 — The sponsors of California’s Proposition 36 and several similar new ballot measures around the country today cheered the results of the second official report on Arizona’s Proposition 200, the forerunner of the California measure requiring drug treatment instead of jail time for first- and second-time drug possession offenders.

Dave Fratello, who managed the campaign for Proposition 36, said, “Arizona has the most experience with a law that grants a right to treatment instead of jail, and the state continues to have positive results. Treatment success rates exceed expectations, and Arizona is saving millions of dollars in jail and prison costs. That is the promise of measures like Prop. 36, and it is already the reality in Arizona.”

Ballot Language

The following is the official ballot language approved Sept. 3, 2002, by the state Board of Canvassers.

A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION TO ESTABLISH A COMMISSION TO DEVELOP NEW SENTENCING GUIDELINES FOR DRUG CRIMES AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR DRUG TREATMENT PROGRAMS

The proposed constitutional amendment would:

• Establish a "drug sentencing commission," appointed by Legislature and Governor, to develop new sentencing guidelines for drug crimes and new guidelines for probation and parole revocations for substance abuse, that replace existing statutory guidelines.
• Define "major drug traffickers" in terms of profit thresholds.
• Require courts to grant resentencing motions of persons serving statutory minimum sentences for drug crimes.
• Offer treatment instead of incarceration for drug use and possession offenders.
• Require state legislature to appropriate funds for: drug sentencing commission ($4.5 million first six years); treatment programs for drug offenders (at least $18 million annually and $9 million for start up). Prohibits veto of appropriations.