Health

Marijuana Clinic Offers Free Pot to Patients Who Register to Vote

Free marijuana in exchange for registering to vote? This is exactly what a Lansing, Michigan, clinic has been offering patients for the past month. Patrons who registered to vote in a local city council election were offered free pot — a curious move that has caught the attention of lawmakers and media, alike. WLNS-TV has an intriguing report that explores the legalities surrounding the controversial scenario:

Lansing’s Your Healthy Choice Clinic had been publicizing the “deal” on its web site, though the advertisement appears to have been removed. The prize for completing a voter registration form? A half gram of marijuana or an edible marijuana product.

Medicinal marijuana supporters, like other advocates, seek to lobby government officials, while gaining public support, to ensure that regulations remain friendly to their needs. This situation seems to illustrate an attempt at local advocacy and mobilization.

Supporters scored a major victory when Michigan legalized the drug to treat certain health problems back in 2008. Following this action, local communities adopted various rules and regulations to further monitor the use and distribution of the drug.

For instance, earlier this month the Lansing City Council has approved a cap on dispensaries that lay within city limits. Additionally, application fees of $1,000 have been adopted. It is these restrictions, among others, that proponents seek to limit, which is why the clinic is encouraging patients to vote for pro-marijuana city council candidates.

Some, like Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (R), though, believe that the clinic’s free marijuana campaign is wrong-headed. In a statement released by his office, he says:

“It was not the intent of the citizens to allow for shenanigans like this. Citizens were told this was a way to help seriously ill people, yet here again is an example of the law being exploited by those with their own agenda.”

According to StateNews.com, state Sen. Rick Jones, also a Republican, joins Schuette in his opposition to the clinic’s actions. Earlier this week, he commented on the matter, stating the following:

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to offer any enticement to vote for or against elected officials of any kind, whether they be local, state or federal,” he said. “I would say the same thing (about anything) — it would be inappropriate if somebody offered a beer.”

While the free marijuana (or medible, which is a name given to an edible version of the drug) is no longer offered on the site, the list of candidates still remains:

Michigan Marijuana Dispensary Offered Patients Free Pot if They Registered to Vote

The owner of the clinic, Shekina Pena, who is advocating for pro-medicinal marijuana candidates, has defended her actions. Since the drug was not given in exchange for actual votes, she believes that what the clinic has been doing is appropriate. According to WLNS, she says:

“We can tell them a little bit of information on what we have on there. Or we can refer them to their websites, because a lot of them have come in and dropped off the information. And we just kind of push it to the patients, and let them decide, it’s on them.”

It may be “on them,” but the perception that people who don’t normally vote are being enticed to do so with such a controversial incentive is certainly not sitting well with some lawmakers.

Comments (141)

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  • Hiswill
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:46am

    This must be Obama’s idea. How else wil he get re-elected unless the person is stoned out of his/her mind.

    Report Post » Hiswill  
    • aesaac
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 11:20am

      “And we just kind of push it to the patients” – something, alas, this POTUS did in Hawaii – and in exchange for all manner of welfare is done to garner Democrat votes -

      Report Post »  
    • banjarmon
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 11:27am

      Bet dim are doing this.

      Report Post » banjarmon  
    • ReddenBlack
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:16pm

      It’s stuff like this that really makes me want to live in california.

      Like tonight, I have to wait till my guy gets off work at 5 before I can get a sack. Plus none of the money that i give him is going to be taxed, so it doesn’t even pay down the national debt.

      When will the rest of the country wake up and realize that Marijuana is just a plant like tulips or apple trees, and let the good people of this country be free

      Report Post » ReddenBlack  
    • Pujols
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:18pm

      1st. This is a small amount of weed you better live close or it’s not worth it.
      2nd. If you need this pot you probably all ready have enough.
      3rd. People who do this just for a joint or two won’t vote anyway.
      4th. If anyone does vote the number will be very low.
      5th. I use to be a Lib and I didn’t vote one time.
      6th. When I desided I was a conservative in 1980 I have never missed a vote.
      7th. Talk to people you know. Find one who doesn’t vote and get them to vote.

      IF WE ALL GET AT LEAST 1 PERSON TO VOTE WE (THE USA) WILL WIN.

      Report Post »  
    • getalong
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:22pm

      Ditto!

      Report Post »  
    • wesleyapril
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:23pm

      Pujols glad to see your on our side.

      Shaking head, what can one say? :)

      Report Post »  
    • loriann12
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:26pm

      I could be stoned out of my mind and still not vote for him.

      Report Post »  
    • the wireworker
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:28pm

      it’s ok people….they won’t be able to find the voting booths….

      Report Post » the wireworker  
    • ReddenBlack
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:39pm

      @THEWIREWORKER

      I smoke everyday, and I don’t have any trouble finding my polling place.

      It’s always funny to me….

      Stupid Teabaggers like yourself love to say that don’t smoke pot, but yet in the same breath they pretend like they know what it’s like to be high.

      I guess their vicodin prescription for their “back pain” (lol) makes them lazy, but trust me when I say that stoners get by just fine in life.

      I’ve been smoking a qtr a week for a decade. Never been arrrested for anything, voted in every election I’ve been able to.

      And yep, I’m voting democrat every chance I get.

      If the teabaggers really believed in personal liberty, why won’t they support the legalization of marijuana? Not legalizing driving while high, but buying pot in a store and smoking it in your own house.

      If your not allowed to decide what to put in your own body at your own property, then what is liberty?

      ReddenBlack  
    • jkendal
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 1:46pm

      “I’ve been smoking a qtr a week for a decade. Never been arrrested for anything, voted in every election I’ve been able to.

      And yep, I’m voting democrat every chance I get.”

      Well now there’s your proof. Smoking dope really does make you stupid (there‘s a reason why it’s called ‘dope’). Anyone who would vote for the party that’s directly responsible for the destruction of our economy MUST be high…..

      Report Post »  
    • jkendal
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 1:51pm

      By the way, why do you stupid leftists come to this forum? You obviously don’t like it. I think it‘s because your lives are so miserable and you just don’t have the guts to admit that your party is responsible for it – so you come here and try to make the rest of us miserable…..

      Report Post »  
    • BCBORNCRAZY
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 2:37pm

      Nobody stoned are going to vote for Obama. Keep dreaming. Obama does nothing for stoners. Stoners vote Ron Paul So idk which rock your hiding under

      Report Post » BCBORNCRAZY  
    • the wireworker
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 2:38pm

      REDDENBLACK,

      You have no idea who you are speaking at.

      first off, your marijuana high hasn’t brought you any extra enlightenment.
      I can tell by the way you have to use the term “teabaggers” and bring things to their basest level. but hey why not, people like to hide behind their username and avatar.

      second, a quarter a week for a decade,,,,pffft…i used to smoke a quarter a day for 3 decades….but i am not glorifying it. i woke up.

      I will say a prayer for you!

      Report Post » the wireworker  
    • Conservealiberty
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 3:34pm

      Why the typical hate? Why have we let them create marijuana as a political issue when it’s clearly a personal rights thing. It splits conservatives right down the middle. I commercial fish in Alaska and my captain is a 64 year old nam vet. I have
      Never met such a passionate patriot in my
      Life, all he does is talk politics and where’s the budget, and he’s smoked pot his whole life and while serving the army as a 1st seargent in the 2 years he was there. My point, pot should have nothing to so with personal politics, it just breeds ignorance and hate, and god knows we need more of that.

      Report Post »  
    • valricoslash
      Posted on July 30, 2011 at 11:32am

      Sounds like voter fraud to me. And, if you get caught smking rope, and are convicted, does this make it illegal for you to vote? Personnally I don’t want some pot head going to the poll is a stuper voting for whomever his handlers tellhimto vote for, or worse yet via absentee ballot wher there is absolutley no control over whether or not the person actually voted or simply signed a form that some socialist filled out. I beleive national elections shuld be held on saturdays with no eary voting and no absentee voting except for medical reasons. If you can’t make it to the polls with your photo ID, then you don’t need to vote. Period.

      Report Post » valricoslash  
    • MIBUGNU2
      Posted on July 31, 2011 at 10:19am

      @ ReddenBlack

      I’ve been smoking a qtr a week for a decade. Never been arrrested for anything, voted in every election I’ve been able to.
      And yep, I’m voting democrat every chance I

      Well arn’t WE just Special, How many times a day do you struggle to the
      Polls on election Day ?, Sound like a SOCA. libo F’N pot-head. HUH ??

      Report Post » MIBUGNU2  
  • nysparkie
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:44am

    Just great….man can I cop bag. Vote, vote? like for who man? Where do I vote? {giggle}…..Wow man, sure I’ll vote for whoever you say for a bag man {giggle}. Righteous man, ya I am headin there like right now.

    Report Post » nysparkie  
    • nysparkie
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:46am

      “Stoner comes back”. Like hey man. I voted. Cool ya know. Can I get another if I, like, go vote again?

      Report Post » nysparkie  
    • 1chicagoan
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 11:48am

      You can only vote again (& again & again….) if you live in Chicago!

      Report Post »  
    • MIBUGNU2
      Posted on July 31, 2011 at 10:28am

      BO’s Base, Potheads and illegals, That’s CHANGE we can count on…

      Report Post » MIBUGNU2  
  • Hemingway in Cuba
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:44am

    The more likely scenario is that they get free weed and don’t vote.

    This program has “high” expectations and not very good prospects for results. I bet Ms. Pena could get a government grant.

    Here is another example of government regulation dictating people’s behavior. Prohibition on marijuana is a lot of regulation again AK-47s. People who want them are going to get them. (Yes, I know you can buy an AK with government permission, but you get the point)

    “Compromise is a word found only in the vocabulary of those who have no will to fight — the lazy, the cunning, the cowardly — for they consider themselves defeated before they start.” St. Josemaria Escriva

    Report Post » Hemingway in Cuba  
  • TX_45_ACP
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:43am

    I guess they have realized that they need people to be high on drugs to vote for Obama. What a sad and pathetic move…

    Report Post » TX_45_ACP  
  • bimzer
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:41am

    OK,
    it is time to mobilize,
    Every Business that has a political foe Big OIL, Energy etc… should exchange some service for registering… how about a month free electricity, two tanks free gas, a couple of air tickets, some food, fertilizer from ConAgra…free cell phones to change regulations there…. Google could pay for everyones internet…..then they could then gather data on the whole world and sell it to governments… or the highest bidder as well as getting their agenda passed by the legislature…
    Just thinking,

    Report Post »  
  • nightbird
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:40am

    Too bad they were not handing out common sense. The pot head liberal mush heads could use that more than anything. Nice work Obama!

    Report Post »  
  • MBA
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:38am

    Hey holder–are you going to ignore this? Not only are they selling dope-they are bribing voters. You guys are disgustinng p o s’s. I’m going to go puke now,

    Report Post »  
    • ReddenBlack
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:14pm

      You know, marijuana is a great way to cure nausea, you should try that.

      You would feel better

      Report Post » ReddenBlack  
  • JERSEYJUDE
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:36am

    If you have to be bribed to vote you shouldn’t be voting. That’s not American

    Report Post »  
  • BetsyRoss1513
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:33am

    But wait!! Didn’t the DEA just announce that cannabis has no medicinal value?

    Report Post » BetsyRoss1513  
    • Mizurax
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:36pm

      Heh. So you’re saying that the DEA wants to promote ideas in favor of keeping weed illegal. The same DEA who enforces the laws against weed. Who, if weed was legalized, would have less to do and would probably incur sizable layoffs… Who would have thought.

      Report Post »  
  • dthomps6
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:32am

    That’s dangerously close to bribing voters even though no freedom loving American would be against legalized pot.

    Report Post » dthomps6  
  • mohavegreen
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:31am

    Didn’t know Chysler had a plant, UAW a hall or BO a recruiting center in Lansing. Learn something on Blaze everyday.

    Report Post » mohavegreen  
  • dcwu
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:31am

    Free pot!
    Is this another Obama program?
    It should draw good labor to the area, attract industry, and revive its economy.
    Right?

    Report Post »  
  • trolltrainer
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:28am

    A HALF a GRAM? FREE? Woo Hoo!!! That is like what, 2 hits? Oh, thank you guys…I will rush right out and register…

    Report Post »  
    • ReddenBlack
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:19pm

      LOL

      They did give you option of a brownie too…

      Plus, if it’s anything decent, .5 gram will get you fairly high. Unless you weigh like 300 pounds

      Report Post » ReddenBlack  
  • sWampy
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:27am

    Wow a new way for liberals to buy votes, they will have the names, know they will be to stoned to vote, so they can vote for them, vote early, vote often. ;-/

    Report Post »  
    • Re-Founding Sons
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 11:57am

      FYI people, not all pot smokers are liberals!!

      Report Post » Re-Founding Sons  
    • Mizurax
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 12:24pm

      Exactly. I’m a conservative and I smoke. The weed ban is no different than prohibition. Stop believing the lies about weed.

      Report Post »  
  • lovenfl3
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:27am

    That just proves my theory that a person would have to be stoned out of their minds to have voted for Obama. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtwXCyZCPqM

    Report Post » lovenfl3  
  • don young
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:25am

    I bet this is funded by the unions which is part of obamas team.

    Report Post »  
    • USALakota
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 11:06am

      I agreed. It’s unbelievable what they will try or do to get what they want. They are dangerous.

      Report Post »  
  • libh8er
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:22am

    Oh great!…. We need more ‘dopers’ to vote.

    Report Post » libh8er  
  • flfshrmn
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:20am

    I kind of feel for the people of Michigan. That whole progressive “Central planning” project just tanked badly. If I had to live there I would be smoking ALOT of pot too!

    Report Post » flfshrmn  
  • salvawhoray
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:20am

    I only smoke the right weed.
    and vote the “Right” way.

    Report Post » salvawhoray  
  • JOE
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:18am

    This is nuts isnt it illegal like the POT they give out federal govt ………This is what Obama team is planing on in elections and it has to be fought he will aim for young to out vote old …………

    Report Post » JOE  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:18am

    This is more than blatant hypocrisy; this is criminal offenses across the board, the usage of gifts and giving of drugs for the gaining of political advantages is bribery and graff in so many areas. And as is usual, nothing will now be done about this — now if the Black Panthers were the ones doing it, and the press released the story, the administration would come after the press so hard and fast for all manner of racism charges that their hair would ignite from air friction.
    http://artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm (cat folk gallery)

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • harumph
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:17am

    Bribery certainly worked for Barry & company. They’re just duplicating it on the State level. They’ll get a lot of libertarians to vote democrat because of it.

    Report Post » harumph  
  • Bowmaster
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:16am

    The liberals have to get the underbelly of society to vote or they know they are done!

    Report Post » Bowmaster  
    • republapig
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 4:44pm

      You ever accidentally hit your nipple with a bowstring? Hertz, donut?

      Report Post » republapig  
  • jessieH
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:16am

    Yea, but if you register as a Republican, all you get is ditchweed.

    Report Post »  
  • atechgeek
    Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:13am

    Hire a conservative, Fire a liberal.

    Let them smoke themselves even more stupid. We will win in the end.

    Report Post »  
    • Deafmark
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 10:31am

      that a good thing ..they wont remeber when to vote they are stoned haaha….

      Report Post »  
    • love the kids
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 11:23am

      Isn’t this exactly like the McDonalds happy meal situation? The govt. should be trying to stop this from every angle.

      Report Post »  
    • Hemingway in Cuba
      Posted on July 29, 2011 at 1:08pm

      @LOVE THE KIDS: Pot is low in calories, unless you count the bag of Doritos you have to eat too.

      Michelle O’B. would not object.

      Report Post » Hemingway in Cuba  
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