Michigan marijuana-legalization group submits required signatures for Nov. ballot initiative.
By Noelle Skodzinski
A measure looks likely to be headed to the November ballot in Michigan to legalize and regulate marijuana like alcohol. The group behind the measure, MILegalize, filed more than 354,000 signatures June 1 in Lansing, Mich., says Matthew Abel, senior partner at Cannabis Counsel, P.L.C., executive director of Michigan NORML, and a member of the board of directors of MILegalize.
The Washington Times, however, raised a question about whether the state will consider the signatures as valid “because a bill presented to Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday [May 31] would stop such groups from counting signatures older than 180 days. Current law allows the group, MI Legalize, to count older signatures toward the roughly 253,000 they need to put the measure before voters. However, neither Snyder’s office nor the Secretary of State’s office would say whether the bill before Snyder would apply to the legalize marijuana group,” reports the Times.
Matthew AbelIn a special Guest Column that Abel (pictured at right) wrote in Cannabis Business Times’ March/April issue, he explains that the Michigan legalization proposal is “the most liberal marijuana legalization efforts in the United States.”
According to his column:
“The MILegalize proposal avoids setting up any state agency with authority to regulate the program, based on past experience with the reluctance of the state government to further the will of the citizenry. MILegalize would allow any city, township, village or Native American Indian tribe to entirely ban cannabis businesses or pass ordinances licensing any type or size of cannabis business.
"The proposal removes criminal penalties for any violation except for transferring cannabis to minors, or driving under the influence. It protects medical patients (who have been prosecuted far too frequently), allows for production of industrial hemp and legalizes recreational marijuana use for adults.”
Abel also writes, “Nearly 56 percent of Michigan voters supported legalization efforts, while 40 percent were against legal marijuana, a Michigan Public Radio Poll found in September 2015.
Read Abel’s full column here.
