Marijuana legalization has passed in Michigan.
Proposal 1 garnered 57.7 percent of the vote, with 53 percent of the precincts responding.
At 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol campaign declared victory. Supporters gathered at the Radisson hotel in downtown Lansing Tuesday night to celebrate the win.
"This was a campaign for facts versus fear," said Josh Hovey, spokesman for the Coalition. "Voters looked at the facts ... and were able to make a smart policy decision."
Michigan is now the 10th state to legalize recreational marijuana in the U.S. -- and the first in the Midwest. The law allows for recreational use for adults 21 and over in the privacy of their own homes, and requires the state to create a regulatory structure to license businesses.
The law will take effect after the results of the election are certified by the Board of State Canvassers, which will likely occur in December.
Tim Beck was stunned Tuesday night. Beck has been advocating for marijuana policy reform in Michigan for two decades, and helped get the 2008 medical law on the ballot.
"I'm trying to let it settle in," Beck said about the win. "This has been my life for 16 years."
The Mitten state now joins the ranks of Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Alaska, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Washington D.C. Also Tuesday night, voters in North Dakota were also deciding the fate of a recreational marijuana ballot proposal.
"I've been campaigning for it all my life," said Vaughn Schneider, 75, of Bath Township. "I never thought I'd see it. It's long overdue."
To many marijuana advocates, the result of the Tuesday, Nov. 6, election was the end of prohibition.
"I knew it was going to happen, but not this soon," said Delores Saltzman, 80, of Lake George.
Saltzman has become the face of the Proposal 1 campaign, after she was arrested for marijuana possession at her home in July after her marijuana card expired. After the arrest and serving jail time, Saltzman said she made her peace with the stigma about smoking marijuana and decided to advocate for legalization.
"It's a weight off of my shoulders," Saltzman said.
Scott Greenlee, president of the opposition group Healthy and Productive Michigan, issued the following statement: "Obviously the results of today's election were not what we hoped for. It is important to note that more Michiganders voted no on Proposal 18.1 than on the other two proposals.
While our side lost tonight, it is important to recognize the level of responsibility that now rests on the shoulders of those who have voted yes."
Kevin Sabet, director of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said the anti-legalization side won't be finished even if the final numbers make marijuana legal, citing that it's still technically against federal law.
"We are currently looking at legal options," Sabet said Tuesday night.
The anti-legalization group has a press conference planned for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning in Lansing.
The battle for recreational marijuana started quietly, as a group of drug policy reform advocates, marijuana lawyers and the ACLU gathered signatures to put the measure to a vote.
Faced with the possibility of a statewide ballot issue, the Republican-dominated Michigan legislature mulled an adopt-and-amend plan to adopt the proposal put forward by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, and then make changes. But lawmakers failed to act by a June deadline -- and so Proposal 1 headed to the ballot.
"I don't think Proposal 1 is a big deal," said Republican voter Carol Rupp as she exited her polling station in Saginaw Tuesday. " I think a lot of people who are in prison for nonviolent crimes are because maybe they had a little bit for their own. I don't do it myself, but I have friends that do and I don't have a problem with it."
Campaigning was quiet during the summer months, as outside money poured in to the fight in Michigan. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is backed by the national group, Marijuana Policy Project.
The opposition -- Healthy and Productive Michigan -- is backed by Smart Approaches to Marijuana, also a national group. They push for decriminalization over legalization.
In September and October, the opposition campaign hit full stride: holding press conferences with community leaders across the state and speaking at public health forums. Healthy and Productive Michigan amassed a long list of county sheriffs and prosecutors who opposed Proposal 1, and multiple chamber of commerce organizations joined in. DTE Energy executives, as well as Michigan businesses including Haworth, Dow Corporation and Gordon Food Services.
Proposal 1 garnered 57.7 percent of the vote, with 53 percent of the precincts responding.
At 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol campaign declared victory. Supporters gathered at the Radisson hotel in downtown Lansing Tuesday night to celebrate the win.
"This was a campaign for facts versus fear," said Josh Hovey, spokesman for the Coalition. "Voters looked at the facts ... and were able to make a smart policy decision."
Michigan is now the 10th state to legalize recreational marijuana in the U.S. -- and the first in the Midwest. The law allows for recreational use for adults 21 and over in the privacy of their own homes, and requires the state to create a regulatory structure to license businesses.
The law will take effect after the results of the election are certified by the Board of State Canvassers, which will likely occur in December.
Tim Beck was stunned Tuesday night. Beck has been advocating for marijuana policy reform in Michigan for two decades, and helped get the 2008 medical law on the ballot.
"I'm trying to let it settle in," Beck said about the win. "This has been my life for 16 years."
The Mitten state now joins the ranks of Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Alaska, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Washington D.C. Also Tuesday night, voters in North Dakota were also deciding the fate of a recreational marijuana ballot proposal.
"I've been campaigning for it all my life," said Vaughn Schneider, 75, of Bath Township. "I never thought I'd see it. It's long overdue."
To many marijuana advocates, the result of the Tuesday, Nov. 6, election was the end of prohibition.
"I knew it was going to happen, but not this soon," said Delores Saltzman, 80, of Lake George.
Saltzman has become the face of the Proposal 1 campaign, after she was arrested for marijuana possession at her home in July after her marijuana card expired. After the arrest and serving jail time, Saltzman said she made her peace with the stigma about smoking marijuana and decided to advocate for legalization.
"It's a weight off of my shoulders," Saltzman said.
Scott Greenlee, president of the opposition group Healthy and Productive Michigan, issued the following statement: "Obviously the results of today's election were not what we hoped for. It is important to note that more Michiganders voted no on Proposal 18.1 than on the other two proposals.
While our side lost tonight, it is important to recognize the level of responsibility that now rests on the shoulders of those who have voted yes."
Kevin Sabet, director of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said the anti-legalization side won't be finished even if the final numbers make marijuana legal, citing that it's still technically against federal law.
"We are currently looking at legal options," Sabet said Tuesday night.
The anti-legalization group has a press conference planned for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning in Lansing.
The battle for recreational marijuana started quietly, as a group of drug policy reform advocates, marijuana lawyers and the ACLU gathered signatures to put the measure to a vote.
Faced with the possibility of a statewide ballot issue, the Republican-dominated Michigan legislature mulled an adopt-and-amend plan to adopt the proposal put forward by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, and then make changes. But lawmakers failed to act by a June deadline -- and so Proposal 1 headed to the ballot.
"I don't think Proposal 1 is a big deal," said Republican voter Carol Rupp as she exited her polling station in Saginaw Tuesday. " I think a lot of people who are in prison for nonviolent crimes are because maybe they had a little bit for their own. I don't do it myself, but I have friends that do and I don't have a problem with it."
Campaigning was quiet during the summer months, as outside money poured in to the fight in Michigan. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is backed by the national group, Marijuana Policy Project.
The opposition -- Healthy and Productive Michigan -- is backed by Smart Approaches to Marijuana, also a national group. They push for decriminalization over legalization.
In September and October, the opposition campaign hit full stride: holding press conferences with community leaders across the state and speaking at public health forums. Healthy and Productive Michigan amassed a long list of county sheriffs and prosecutors who opposed Proposal 1, and multiple chamber of commerce organizations joined in. DTE Energy executives, as well as Michigan businesses including Haworth, Dow Corporation and Gordon Food Services.
No comments:
Post a Comment