Uprooting a Campaign?

The Coalition Against Legalized Marijuana or CALM is jumpstarting efforts to keep pot illegal in Arkansas. Organizers say they never thought the group pushing legalization would get close to getting enough signatures on a petition for a ballot initiative. But, they now realize an out-of-state donor is funding canvassing efforts which means CALM has to do more. Director Larry Page is planning town hall meetings, rallies and a grass-roots phone chain to educate Arkansans about what his group sees as the dangers of legalizing the drug. He claims that the proposed act would lead to unregulated abuses of marijuana and do nothing to really help the sick. Page advocates the use of marinol, which is a synthetic version of the active ingredient in pot. Many current users of medical marijauna say the synthetics cost upwards of one thousand dollars a month and aren`t covered by Medicaid or social security. Patients also say marinol doesn`t give the same kind of relief that the natural plant offers.