Fresh from a string of victories at the local level, Michigan medical marijuana activists aided and abetted by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) announced Wednesday they are launching an initiative campaign that would add Michigan to the ranks of medical marijuana states.

The Ferndale-based Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care will have six months to gather 304,101 valid voter signatures to place the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act on the 2008 ballot. The group said Wednesday it planned to gather 550,000, and MPP announced it would pay a dollar per signature.

The act would allow people suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other diseases to grow and use small amounts of marijuana for the relief of pain. The act would set up a registry program for patients and caregivers.

Since 2004, voters in five Michigan cities have passed ballot initiatives allowing for medicinal marijuana use, including Detroit, Ferndale, Flint, Ann Arbor and Traverse City.