Michigan cannabis legalization advocates have raised half a million dollars to get on 2018 ballot
LANSING, Mich. Faced with an unreceptive Legislature, advocates for marijuana legalization, guaranteed paid sick leave and a host of other bills are banking that you will embrace them at the ballot box if the proposals make it there.
Organizers so far have launched seven initiatives for the November 2018 statewide election and need to collect hundreds of thousands of valid signatures to qualify. Circulators are working the crowds at summer festivals, park concerts and other places with pedestrian traffic.
Michigan already allows for the use of marijuana for medical reasons. A proposal that appears likely to go before voters next year would make it the ninth state to legalize the drug for recreational use.
Adults 21 and older could possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and grow up to 12 plants at home. A 10 percent tax on marijuana would be assessed, in addition to the 6 percent sales tax.
The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol says it has collected 200,000 signatures in three months. It needs about 252,000 valid signatures in a six-month window.
The committee raised $518,000 through late July, including $200,000 from Troy-based tobacco retailer Smokers Outlet Management, which is now Wild Bills Tobacco, and $100,000 from pro-marijuana group MI Legalize 2018. Kevin McCaffery of Ann Arbor, the president of RBK Enterprises, has given $125,000 to MI Legalize.
The Coalition ...
