Flint, MI: Flint voters overwhelmingly decided on Tuesday in favor of a municipal initiative shielding medicinal cannabis patients from local prosecution.

Sixty-two percent of Flint voters approved Proposal 1, which amends city law so that the possession of cannabis and cannabis paraphernalia by authorized patients is no longer a criminal offense.

The initiative's proponents, the Flint Coalition for Compassionate Care and Michigan NORML, submitted approximately 2,000 signatures from local voters last August to qualify the measure on the 2007 ballot.

"While we expected to win, the victory margin was rather surprising," said Michigan NORML President Tim Beck. "It seems [that] public support for medical marijuana, at least in Michigan, is now deeply entrenched."

Since 2004, four other Michigan cities ­-- Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, and Traverse City --­ have each passed similar initiatives.

Backers of the initiative believe that the local efforts will encourage state legislators to consider the issue. In January, representatives introduced House Bill 4038, which would allow authorized patients under a physician's supervision to possess up to three ounces of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. The bill is now before the House Judiciary Committee.

House members tabled a similar medical marijuana proposal last year.