Tag Archives: michigan

It’s official – cannabis legalization has made the ballot in Michigan. Clifford Robinson played for the Detroit Pistons from 2001-2003 and lived in Michigan after his playing career was over. He has long supported cannabis reform efforts in the state of Michigan and is extremely happy that Michigan voters will see cannabis legalization on the ballot in November.

The Uncle Cliffy team, including and especially Clifford Robinson himself, want to extend a huge congratulations to cannabis advocates in Michigan for their successful signature drive! Now the hard work begins as the campaign effort in Michigan shifts from gathering signatures to educating voters about the benefits of legalization and the harms of prohibition.

Below is more information about the initiative making the ballot in Michigan via our friends at the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol:

The Michigan State Board of Canvassers approved today the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol’s petition to place an initiative that would legalize marijuana possession and consumption for all adults 21 years and older on the state’s November ballot. If approved by voters, Michigan would become the first state in the Midwest with an adult-use cannabis law.

“This November, Michigan voters will finally get the chance to eliminate Michigan’s outdated marijuana laws,” said Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol spokesperson John Truscott. “Just like with alcohol, it is clear that prohibition doesn’t work and that regulation and taxation is a far better solution.”

In addition to allowing adults 21 and older to possess and consume limited amounts of marijuana, the initiative would:

• License marijuana businesses that cultivate, process, test, transport and sell marijuana;
• Legalize the cultivation of industrial hemp (used to make textiles, biodegradable plastics, food, construction materials and even fuel);
• Protect consumers with proper testing and safety regulations for retail marijuana;
• Impose a 10 percent excise tax on marijuana sold at the retail level on top of the state’s 6 percent sales tax; and
• Give local governments the option of whether they want to allow marijuana businesses in their community.

“This is an important reform that will help end thousands of unnecessary arrests and redirect law enforcement resources to real needs – like combating violent crime and fighting the opioid epidemic – while also generating hundreds of millions of new tax dollars for our schools, roads and local governments,” said former Detroit Police Chief Ike McKinnon.

“This isn’t just my opinion,” McKinnon added. “I’ve talked to countless law enforcement officials throughout Michigan and the country who believe the same.”

Voter-initiated laws are required to collect 252,523 valid signatures to have an issue placed on the ballot. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol submitted more than 365,000 signatures to the state Elections Bureau in November last year. Elections Bureau staff estimate that more than 277,000 signatures were valid.

“When you look at the success of other states that have already legalized and regulated marijuana, it is clear this initiative is the path forward,” said Michigan NORML board member Brad Forrester. “States that have legalized and regulated marijuana have seen decreases in opioid-related deaths while also adding hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue each year.”

Other organizations supporting the coalition include the Marijuana Policy Project, the National Cannabis Industry Association, the ACLU of Michigan, the Drug Policy Alliance, the National Patients Rights Association and MILegalize.

“With polls showing nearly 60 percent of Michigan voters supporting legalization, it’s clear that the public is way ahead of the politicians on this issue,” said Jeffrey Hank, executive director of MILegalize. “The people are tired of the failed policies of the past and understand that creating reasonable, responsible regulations is the way forward to tens of thousands of new jobs and opportunities in Michigan. This November the people will make their voice heard!”

For more information about the ballot initiative, including full language of the proposed law, please visit www.RegulateMI.org.

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For more information about the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, please visit RegulateMI.org.

Clifford ‘Uncle Cliffy’ Robinson played for the Detroit Pistons from 2001 to 2003. Robinson enjoyed his time with the team and lived in Michigan long after his playing days with the Pistons were over. He has always loved the state of Michigan and has supported cannabis activists there, which is why he supports the legalization initiative which is working to put legalization on the 2018 ballot.

While living in Michigan Clifford Robinson witnessed the harms of cannabis prohibition firsthand. It’s beyond time that the state of Michigan got on the right side of history and freed the plant. New poll results are out which shows that an overwhelming majority of Michigan voters support cannabis legalization. Below is more information about the timely poll via our friends at Michigan NORML:

Michigan NORML and the EPIC-MRA research group have released the results of their 2018 survey of Michigan voters on marijuana legalization. Michigan voters support marijuana legalization at an all-time high rate of 61%.

The two groups have teamed up to ask the same question at the same time of year via the same company and same methodology in four polls over five years. “That’s up 4 points from the 57% majority voting “yes” in February of 2017, up 8 points from a 53% majority voting “yes” in March of 2016, and up 11 points from a bare 50% majority in 2014,” said pollster Bernie Porn of EPIC-MRA. (See attached graphic)

Michigan NORML Executive Director Matthew Abel was “extremely pleased” to see the results. The big increase in support for marijuana legalization was anticipated by long-time activists and MINORML Board members Rick Thompson and Brad Forrester.

“I’m not surprised. These results are the product of Michigan NORML’s effective advocacy for the past several years,” Forrester said.

“The poll results show support in areas of the state where it is traditionally more difficult to advance marijuana law reforms,” Thompson said. “Michigan’s medical marijuana program has proven to the entire state that cannabis is not something to be feared any more.”

The results are especially promising for the proposal to legalize the adult use of cannabis in Michigan. The Committee to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol submitted more than 360,000 signatures to the state on November 20, 2017 to place the proposal on the 2018 general election ballot. “This poll is a direct measure of public acceptance of that proposal,” Thompson added.

“In 2014 Michigan NORML triangulated a path to legalization,” Forrester stated. “We thought 2020 would be our year but voters seem ready for it now.”

“A growing number of Michiganders realize the failure of marijuana prohibition and the waste of law enforcement resources that has gone along with it. Regulation and taxation is a far better solution and we look forward to giving the voters the opportunity to vote on the issue in November of this year,” said Josh Hovey, spokesperson for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol turned in more than 360,000 signatures today calling for its marijuana legalization initiative to be placed on Michigan’s November 2018 ballot. The state Board of Canvassers approved ballot language on May 18 of this year. Shortly afterward, the campaign began its 180-day statewide signature collection effort using both volunteer and paid signature collectors.

“Collecting enough signatures to get on the ballot is always a massive undertaking and we’re thrilled to have gathered more than 100,000 signatures beyond the 252,000 required by the state,” said Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Spokesperson Josh Hovey. ”Just like with alcohol, marijuana prohibition has been a huge failure. Instead of wasting law enforcement resources on a substance that is proven to be less harmful than either alcohol or tobacco, our initiative creates a tightly regulated system that will generate significant revenue for the state that will help fund our roads, public schools and local governments – three of Michigan’s most underfunded needs.”

If ultimately passed by Michigan voters in November 2018, the initiative would:

• Legalize personal possession, cultivation and use of limited amounts of cannabis for adults 21 and older;
• Legalize the cultivation of industrial hemp (used to make textiles, biodegradable plastics, food, construction materials and even fuel);
• License marijuana businesses that cultivate, process, test, transport and sell marijuana;
• Protect consumers with proper testing and safety regulations for retail marijuana;
• Tax marijuana at retail levels with a 10 percent excise tax and 6 percent sales tax; and
• Local governments will have the choice of whether and where to allow marijuana businesses in their community. (This takes marijuana sales out of neighborhoods and into a regulated spaces where IDs are checked and products are tested for safety.)

The campaign is proud to have the support from both national and local advocacy organizations including the Marijuana Policy Project, the National Cannabis Industry Association, the ACLU of Michigan, the Drug Policy Alliance, the National Patients Rights Association, Michigan NORML and MI Legalize.

“It is unconscionable for our state to continue to spend tax dollars to arrest, prosecute and crowd the courts and our jails with people arrested for marijuana possession. To make matters worse, this war on marijuana has been waged with staggering racial bias,” said Kary L. Moss, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan. “When our community members are arrested for possessing even tiny amounts of marijuana, they can be disqualified from public housing and student financial aid, lose or find it more difficult to obtain employment, lose custody of their child, and be deported. There is nothing practical or fair about the continued aggressive policing of marijuana.”

For more information about the ballot initiative, including full language of the proposed law, please visit www.RegulateMI.org.

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For more information about the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, please visit RegulateMI.org.

Source – Campaign press release

Clifford Robinson played for the Detroit Pistons from 2001 to 2003. Michigan has always been one of Cliff’s favorite places, with Cliff having lived in Michigan well after his playing days there were over. Michigan is an amazing state, but unfortunately has been living under cannabis prohibition for quite some time now. As is the case everywhere that cannabis prohibition exists, cannabis prohibition has failed in the state of Michigan.

Cannabis arrests make up almost 1 out of every 10 arrests in Michigan, with African Americans being four times as likely to be arrested for cannabis compared to Caucasians. The court costs of enforcing cannabis prohibition in Michigan on people that are caught with a personal amount (excludes arrests for large scale trafficking, large possession, incarceration, etc.) is a staggering $64,000,000 annually. These are some of the many reasons that cannabis needs to be legalized in Michigan.

Fortunately there is an effort underway to end cannabis prohibition in Michigan in 2018, and the campaign is picking up momentum. Yesterday the campaign announced that it would cross the 200,000 signature mark this week, putting the campaign over halfway towards their signature goal. The Uncle Cliffy team would like to commend the Michigan legalization campaign on its hard work, and we look forward to supporting the campaign as we move towards Election Day 2018. Below is a press release about the campaign’s milestone achievement. Go get ’em Michigan!

Whoa, we’re halfway there

Actually, we’re more than halfway there. This week, we will pass the 200,000-signature mark – meaning we’re well on our way to reaching our goal of collecting 366,000 signatures. 252,523 of these signatures need to be validated to get on the ballot in 2018 and end cannabis prohibition once and for all!

With your help, we can keep printing and distributing petitions throughout the summer and continue paying for professional signature collectors to ensure the job gets done.

And if our proposal to end marijuana prohibition is approved by voters, Michigan would become a national leader in cannabis reform by:

• allowing personal possession, cultivation and use of cannabis for adults 21 and older;
• legalizing the cultivation of industrial hemp;
• licensing cannabis businesses that cultivate, process, test, transport and sell marijuana;
• protecting consumers with proper testing and safety regulations for retail cannabis; and
• taxing cannabis at retail levels with a 10 percent excise tax and six percent sales tax, which will support K-12 public schools, roads and local governments.

We’re livin’ on a prayer – and in the immortal words of Bon Jovi, “Take my hand and we’ll make it, I swear!” Will you take our hand and ensure we have the resources we need to reach our goal by donating $25, $50 or $100 today?

Source: Michigan legalization campaign