Tim Beck, pro-marijuana activist who worked for passage of the MMMA: Beck was more bodacious about the MMMA than any other panelist, and he was the guy behind the petition for the proposed ordinance to decriminalize marijuana in Detroit that the Election Board would not put on the November ballot. "It's been two years of MMMA and there haven't been problems. Marijuana is not out of control. Attorney General Mike Cox made a decision early on that it is up to the local authorities. Ann Arbor, Detroit, Traverse City, Ferndale, god help you if you live elsewhere." Regarding electrical concerns in grow rooms he said, "There are more fires created by Christmas trees in people's homes than from marijuana grow operations." At one point he chose to play devil's advocate and call for the outright legalization of marijuana statewide to clear up any problems with the current law.

Nobody else took up the banner on that one. Weisberg pointed out that any thoughts of legalization were a "much longer way off than dealing with the MMMA in the next two years." All panelists seemed to agree that activists fighting for their right to medical marijuana need to be good ambassadors who don't lose their cool at meetings and get into screaming arguments. The message was to educate yourself on the law and its issues, and talk calmly and rationally with others. And that seemed to be the rule for the evening — despite nearly a century of drug war rhetoric, people came together and had a rational conversation. No smoke screens, just straight talk.

> Email Larry Gabriel