Michigan’s voter-approved cannabis legalization initiative takes effect on December 6, 2018, exactly ten days after the election results were certified by the state Board of Canvassers, The Detroit Free Press reports.
Michigan voters delivered on a successful cannabis legalization bid during the 2018 midterms — the state’s legalization plan will allow for adults 21+ to possess up to up to two and a half ounces of cannabis, allow the home cultivation of up to 12 plants, and will establish a taxed-and-regulated cannabis marketplace.
Michigan prosecutors have already quietly begun dismissing low-level criminal cannabis charges. Last week, Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith issued a memo to his staff instructing them to begin the process of dismissing all charges that would have been allowed under the new law — according to the report, Oakland County’s prosecutors and have done likewise.
“Now that Proposal 1 has passed, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is committed to following the law regarding the prosecution of marijuana cases. … Although the law is not retroactive, in the coming weeks we will assess the tickets that have already been charged, as well as those pending review, taking the new law into consideration.” — Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, in a statement.
“It’s a huge relief, it was a two-year process for this campaign, but there are people who have been working on this issue their entire adult lives,” said Josh Hovey spokesperson for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.
According to Sally Williams, director of elections for the Secretary of State, Michigan voter turnout this year broke records with more than 4.3 million ballots cast. “For a gubernatorial year, we smashed the record for turnout,” Williams said. “It looked more like a presidential year.”