Michigan voters show overwhelming support for legalization, but local governments across the state \u2014 604 and counting \u2014 are creating bans to try and stop the recreational marijuana business. Are your rights in jeopardy?<\/p>\n
The Wolverine State became a forerunner for marijuana in the\u00a0Midwest<\/a>, as the first state in the region to legalize it medicinally in 2008. They continued that trend last November, going first with recreational 56-44.<\/p>\n But in the gap between medical and recreational sales, over 600 Michigan communities have opted out, banning the very businesses they\u2019d just voted for.<\/p>\n And while\u00a0It\u2019s not unusual<\/a>\u00a0for smaller towns to balk after a state legalization – especially in the puritan Midwest – these latest bans outline the development of an alarming administrative trend.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been made clearer over time that these governments are okay with sideswiping the will of their constituents, slapping bans on weed business out of fear and an ardent lust for control.<\/p>\n In September of 2018, A Michigan\u00a0public policy survey<\/a>\u00a0conducted by\u00a0CLOSUP<\/a>, the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy, found that 61% of Michigan residents supported legalization of recreational marijuana, while an overwhelming 79% of local officials did not.<\/p>\n This administrative bias continues to manifest in patterns of local policy.<\/p>\n Recreational marijuana legalization passed easy in Pontiac, Michigan\u2019s poorest locale, with 68 percent of the vote. But their city council jumped on banning recreational marijuana businesses straightaway, which simply doesn\u2019t add up for a place with a stagnant economy and a population in severe decline.<\/p>\n In an interview with\u00a0WUWM.com<\/a>, researcher\u00a0Tom Ivacko<\/a>\u00a0boils it down to peer-pressure and politics that results in gads of administrative red tape.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a chief of police or county sheriff feels it\u2019s important to follow federal law, and a county administrator or a city mayor feels it\u2019s important to follow state law, well, that\u2019s a tough place to be for public officials,\u201d Ivacko said. \u201cAnd so, opting out, you know, is a way to avoid those kinds of challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n Some experts say the bans are just precautionary measures, and that they\u2019ll subside in the sticks once the smoke clears. In an interview with the\u00a0Detroit News<\/a>,\u00a0Josh\u00a0Hovey<\/a>, a spokesman for the\u00a0Michigan Cannabis Industry Association<\/a>, says he understands, but ultimately sees a failing\u00a0strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of communities are taking a conservative approach and want to make sure they understand the ins and outs of the law,\u201d he said. \u201cWe expect many of them will begin to opt back in the near future, especially as they watch other communities that are successfully welcoming cannabis businesses and realizing that the problems they anticipated are not there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf they\u2019re familiar with the medical marijuana law, there\u2019s really nothing new or surprising in the recreational rules,\u201d he said. \u201cSo my question would be: what are you waiting for?\u201d<\/p>\n Democracy will prevail in the end, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIf communities are voting to ban, and they\u2019re doing it against how their community feels about legalization — then they risk a voter referendum,\u201d Hovey said. \u201cThen they risk a local law that\u2019s not how city officials would have written it themselves — far more liberal or relaxed than they would have written.\u201d<\/p>\n While not immune to midwestern conservatism and administrative pressure, larger Michigan towns, like Detroit, Lansing, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids, \u00a0are moving ahead with legalization.<\/p>\n “It’s no small thing that the second-largest city in the state is moving forward with this,” Andy Johnston, vice president of government and corporate affairs for the\u00a0Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce<\/a>, told MLive.com. “For better or for worse, we’ll be this hub in west Michigan when it comes to marijuana — so we need to make that work really well for the community.”<\/p>\n