Charlie Cain
Detroit News

Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved the use of marijuana for medical reasons, while opponents of a proposal to ease restrictions on stem cell research research came close to conceding defeat, according to early returns and exit polls for The Detroit News, WXYZ-TV Action News and others.

With 60 percent of the actual vote counted, medical marijuana was being approved by a 63-37 margin, while the stem cell proposal was supported by a narrower 52-48 tally. Michigan would become the 13th state -- and first in the Midwest -- to legalize medical marijuana.

While backers said it would help as many as 50,000 residents ease the pain of cancer, Hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS and other illnesses, Proposal 1 drew widespread opposition from law enforcement, business groups and health organizations.

Dianne Byrum, spokesperson for Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care which championed the marijuana proposal, said the opponents' ads didn't work.

"This is a victory for the patients and their stories resonated with voters," she said. "The scare tactics from the opposition were over the top and not believable."

Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Bill Schuette, spokesman for the group opposing medical marijuana, said: "We waged a good fight and talked about the unintended consequences. But we were underfunded and came up short."

David Doyle, spokesman for MiCause which led the fight against the stem cell constitutional amendment, stopped just short of conceding defeat shortly before midnight.

"The trends don't look positive, so if they keep up it looks like Proposal 2 will pass," Doyle said. "We'll wait for all the votes but we're not optimistic."

Chris DeWitt, spokesman for Cure Michigan which backed the stem cell proposal, was watching the returns early this morning.

"It's looking good at this point and we're cautiously optimistic," DeWitt said.