Cannabis advocates in Michigan have collected almost half of the signatures necessary to place an initiative to legalize recreational cannabis on next year's ballot. To date, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA) have collected over 100,000 signatures supporting the legalization vote. In order to get the question onto the 2018 ballot, the group needs to collect 252,523 valid signatures within six months.
If the measure makes it onto the ballot and is approved by voters next November, it would legalize personal possession, cultivation, and use of limited amounts of cannabis for adults 21 and over. Michigan officials would be allowed to license canna-businesses to cultivate, process, test, transport, and sell cannabis. The cultivation of industrial hemp would also be legalized.
The measure would tax recreational cannabis sales with a 10 percent excise tax and a 6 percent sales tax. The revenue from these taxes would be funneled into public schools, roads, and local governments, and the measure would also put in place consumer protections such as testing and safety regulations for all retail cannabis sold in the state.
“The support we are seeing across the state has been fantastic. We are getting calls and emails everyday from people who understand that marijuana prohibition is a massive failure and asking where they can sign and how they can help,” said CRMLA spokesperson Josh Hovey. “If we can keep up this momentum, we will have all signatures in four months rather than the six months required by state law.”
