NILES — Tucked away in an outlet on the southern outskirts of the city is a store called Lush Lighting. As its name suggests, it specializes in selling LED lights and other products to help plants grow more efficiently.
Though it may not look like it from its modest facade, owner Matthew Johnson said his store, and others like it across Michigan, could soon be in for a huge spike in business.
Under a series of new medical marijuana laws passed in 2016, cities and townships in Michigan are deciding whether or not to allow medical marijuana businesses into their communities. Locally, a few are climbing on board.But voters across Michigan may soon have an even bigger decision to make about the drug.
On the heels of the recent medical marijuana industry overhaul here, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol is pushing to put a question on the 2018 ballot that would make recreational marijuana legal for adults 21 and older.
The proposed law would decriminalize the possession of 2.5 ounces of marijuana in public and allow for up to 10 ounces to be kept under supervision in private.
“This is the most responsible way to regulate marijuana,” said Josh Hovey, a spokesperson for the coalition. “There are already those out there who are operating medical marijuana business. Burying our heads in the sand and ignoring the adult-use side of the marijuana market isn’t going to solve any problems.”
The bill also creates a structure for the recreational marijuana industry that’s much like the medical industry as state licenses would be issued to growers, processors, transporters, testing facilities and retailers.
Townships and cities would again choose whether or not to allow recreational marijuana businesses.
“Our initiative would have a very similar approach to (the medical marijuana laws passed in 2016),” Hovey said. “… All of the work they’re doing now will give them a fairly good position to be in when the adult-use comes into play.”
Michigan first legalized medical marijuana in 2008. But marijuana advocates here know the leap from medical to recreational legalization can be considerable.
In 2016, the group MI Legalize put forward a similar petition effort to legalize recreational marijuana. It failed to make the ballot, however, because of a lack of valid signatures of support within the legally required 180-day window.
MI Legalize took the case to the Michigan Supreme Court, but the Court declined to hear the appeal.
This time, Hovey said the coalition has contracted with National Petition Management — a professional signature collecting organization — to obtain the necessary signatures.
“We learned a lesson from (MI Legalize),” Hovey said. “And we’re working with them to collect signatures through their volunteer effort.”
Hovey added that the coalition is working with other marijuana advocacy groups in the state and across the country, including the Marijuana Policy Project — a national advocacy group that works for legalization.
The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol needs 252,523 signatures for the petition to get on the ballot, and those signatures must be collected within 180 consecutive days over the course of a 250-day window. The effort began May 18.
Hovey is confident the measure will get to voters in November 2018 and, he says, the coalition should have the necessary signatures by early this fall.
According to filings with the Michigan Secretary of State’s office, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol has received more than $368,000 in donations this year — mostly from the Marijuana Policy Project. The filings also show the coalition has spent a little more than $300,000 in marketing, consultation and signature collection since the start of 2017.
Locally, some individual business have taken up the cause, as well.
MI Legalize’s website has a list of “petition hubs,” businesses where supporters of the ballot initiative can sign the petition. Lush Lighting in Niles is one of those hubs.
Johnson said he’s collected more than 100 signatures since May and has more plans in place to raise awareness.
“We’re throwing a party for MI Legalize on July 22,” he said. “We hope to collect a couple thousand signatures.”
Not everybody, however, shares Johnson’s excitement. The Chippewa Valley Coalition for Youth and Families, for one, is opposed to the measure and cites the negative effects marijuana has on youth.
Charlene McGunn, director of the group, points to data from recent studies she says shows marijuana use among youths increases in areas where the drug is legal.
McGunn said the ballot drive’s language designating tax revenue from marijuana sales to fund education is “laughable.”
“Legalizing a drug that’s going to undermine our youth is hardly the way to pay for our schools,” McGunn said.
Michigan District 78 state Rep. Dave Pagel of Berrien Springs said he would not support the ballot initiative.
“I don’t see the need for it,” Pagel said, “and I think there’s a lot of potential downside.”
Still, if the question does make the 2018 ballot, recent polls suggest the measure has a solid chance of passing.
A poll conducted in January and February of this year by the Educational, Political, Industrial, Consumer Market Research Analysis (EPIC-MRA) found that 57 percent of respondents would support a bill legalizing recreational marijuana.
Similarly, a poll conducted in May by Marketing Resource Group found 58 percent of respondents supported legalization.
Local towns deciding
Here in southwestern Michigan, Niles, Buchanan and Galien Township have recently opted into the medical marijuana laws, and Milton Township is considering making the jump, as well.
The first state licenses for medical marijuana will likely be issued in December.
In both the medical and proposed recreational marijuana systems, local governments that opt in stand to receive a portion of the tax revenue generated.According to the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol, the new recreational industry would have a 10 percent excise tax imposed on it, on top of all other taxes.
In Colorado — one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana — recreational sales reached nearly $900 million in 2016, bringing in almost $200 million in tax revenue for the state.
The Coalition hopes legalization in Michigan could produce similar results.
“This is going to be a very important industry for the state of Michigan,” Hovey said. “We’re estimating this will be hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue that’s generated for our schools, our roads and our local governments.”
According to the ballot initiative, 30 percent of the tax revenue will go to towns and municipalities that allow marijuana businesses within their jurisdictions. The other 70 percent will be divided equally between K-12 education and infrastructure repairs.
If the recreational question makes the ballot and is passed, Matthew Abel, an attorney for Cannabis Counsel specializing in marijuana laws, says the time gap between the medical and recreational laws going into effect will help the process run smoothly.
“Hopefully the kinks will be worked out,” Abel said.
Hemp included, too
For many advocates of recreational use, the most important component of the bill is decriminalizing marijuana.
“Nobody should go to jail for a plant,” Johnson said.
Abel agreed and said many in law enforcement know marijuana isn’t a real threat to communities, but use it as a “cash cow” to help their budgets.This ballot initiative “frees up law enforcement for criminal activities, not moral issues,” Abel said. “Prohibition of cannabis is not a positive thing.”
Another provision in the ballot initiative is the legalization and regulation of industrial hemp production.
Johnson said opening the doors for industrialized hemp may have an even bigger mpact on Michigan’s economy since hemp can be used to manufacture stronger and more environmentally friendly plastics.
“The first state that truly embraces hemp production,” Johnson said, “is going to have an enormous GDP.”
While booming hemp and recreational marijuana industries in Michigan are far from realities, they could be on the horizon. The most pressing step for the coalition right now is gathering the required signatures.
“We’re already well ahead of schedule in terms of the number we’d thought we’d have at this point in time,” Hovey said. “And people keep on stepping up to help.”
credit:southbendtribune.com
