Michigan voters will have the opportunity to legalize cannabis for adult use this November after the State Board of Canvassers approved the petition launched by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.
What’s in the initiative:
- Create a taxed and regulated recreational cannabis system, allowing adults 21-and-older to possess and consume cannabis.
- Legalization of industrial hemp.
- Licensing for cultivators, processors, testing laboratories, transporters and retailers.
- A 10 percent excise tax on retail sales in addition to the state’s 6 percent sales tax.
- Municipal control to ban cannabis operations.
“When you look at the success of other states that have already legalized and regulated marijuana, it is clear this initiative is the path forward. States that have legalized and regulated marijuana have seen decreases in opioid-related deaths while also adding hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue each year.” – Michigan NORML board member Brad Forrester in a press release
The measure has the support of former Detroit Police Chief Ike McKinnon.
“This is an important reform that will help end thousands of unnecessary arrests and redirect law enforcement resources to real needs – like combating violent crime and fighting the opioid epidemic – while also generating hundreds of millions of new tax dollars for our schools, roads and local governments. This isn’t just my opinion. I’ve talked to countless law enforcement officials throughout Michigan and the country who believe the same.” – McKinnon in a statement
Two Michigan polls have found majority support for the reforms. A January poll by Local 4 and the Detroit News found 56.6 percent favored legalization. An EPIC-MRA poll commissioned by Michigan NORML in March found 61 percent support.