Michigan to vote on marijuana legalization this fall

SANDUSKY — The marijuana legalization movement flowered in the western U.S. and sunk roots into the East Coast, but it hasn't penetrated the Midwest or South yet.Ohio's northern neighbor, however, may be about to change that.Michigan voters this fall will decide the fate of an issue put on the fall ballot by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.Adults would be allowed to "grow their own," raising up to 12 plants at each residence. But the state also would set up a system of retail stores where marijuana users could buy marijuana and marijuana edibles, similar to the pot stores now operating in states such as Oregon and Colorado.Public use of marijuana would be banned and laws against driving while intoxicated would remain in place in Michigan. If the question passes, Michigan would collect a 10 percent excise tax on marijuana sales, along with the state's 6 percent sales tax.While medical marijuana has been legalized in many states, including Ohio, the number of states where use is legal for all adults is much smaller.Marijuana use for all adults is legal in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Nevada, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine and Washington, D.C.So far, however, only western states such as Oregon, Washington, California and Colorado have retail marijuana stores similar to liquor stores. Most eastern states where marijuana is legal are not far along yet in opening stores, and Congress has blocked sales in Washington, D.C.The first eastern state with pot stores is likely to be Massachusetts. The state missed a July 1 date for the first stores to open, but the first retail outlets likely will open in the next few weeks, according to reports in Massachusetts newspapers.Ohio's next attempt to fully legalize marijuana doesn't seem likely to happen until at least 2019.It's too late to get anything on the ballot for this fall, but a group that seeks to legalize marijuana has obtained approval for its ballot language and could mount a drive to get on the ballot next year, said Sam Rossi, a spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.A spokesman for Ohio Families for Change, Jonathan Varner, didn't return a phone call asking for comment about his group's legalization effort.Ohio voters in 2015 rejected a legalization state question by a wide margin, with about 65 percent of the voters opposed.While many voters likely just weren't ready for legalized pot, many Ohioans who favored legalization criticized the ballot issue, which was written to provide an apparent windfall for a small group of Ohio businesses. Proponents had argued that limiting the number of businesses would allow for tight regulation of the industry.A spokesman for the Michigan legalization group, Josh Hovey, said his group has learned from the Ohio failure and from more successful legalization efforts in other states.The Michigan proposal opens up the industry to a wide range of businesses — not just various classes of cultivators and retail outlets, but also "marijuana microbusinesses," similar to microbreweries. Those small businesses would be allowed to grow up to 150 plants and sell the harvest to consumers.Hovey said his group isn't releasing internal polling yet but said other polls suggest the proposal has a good chance of passing.If it is approved, however, it will be over the opposition of Healthy and Productive Michigan, a group that has organized to lead opposition to legalized marijuana."Legalization in Colorado has produced negative consequences – pot gummy bears marketed to kids, more stoned people on the roads, and more positive workplace drug tests and overall marijuana prevalence," the "Vote No" group said. "As such, the majority of localities in Colorado have now banned sales."Marijuana use has gone up sharply in Colorado, particularly among young people, the group said.If Michigan voters give the proposal a thumb's up, possessing and growing pot would become legal by December 2018, but retail outlets likely wouldn't open until 2020 or so. Tourists from Ohio and other neighboring states could drive to Michigan to sample the product, but taking Michigan marijuana across state borders would still be illegal and would be "strongly discouraged," Hovey said.Hovey said that while pot consumers would likely be pleased with the initiative, there are also protections for local communities that don't want legal pot. Communities can ban or strictly regulate marijuana sales, he said.Reach reporter Tom Jackson at jackson@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @jacksontom.Kerry Durrell, 61, inspects marijuana held by "budtender" Pierce Hunter at Urbn Leaf, a marijuana store in San Diego, Calif. Marijuana sales are legal in California. Marijuana remains illegal in all of the Midwest, but could be legalized in Michigan in November.