As I never tire of saying, I'm a registered Michigan marijuana patient now, and I continue to look forward to the day when our voters decide to legalize marijuana once and for all. It took a long time to get from marijuana as a narcotic to the $5 fine for possession in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and East Lansing almost 40 years ago, and much longer for us to progress to the legalization of medical marijuana in 2008. Let's not stop now!

On a strictly personal note, I'd like to invite my readers to join me in celebration of my 70th birthday on Oct. 2, at the Hastings Street Ballroom. This is an entirely unanticipated event, but I'm going to give thanks and try to stay around as long as I can. Sometime this winter will mark 50 years since I smoked my first joint, and on Dec. 10, we'll celebrate the 40th anniversary of the John Sinclair Freedom Rally with a jubilant reunion concert at Masonic Temple.

Finally, I'll be honored with the High Times Lester Grinspoon Lifetime Achievement Award at the Medical Cannabis Cup gathering at Bert's Warehouse Theatre in Eastern Market on Sunday, Oct. 16 — at 4:20 p.m.

I'd love to see all of you there, and if you bring your patient cards, we can light up together and be somebody.

—New Orleans

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