For many years people have been debating whether recreational use of marijuana should be legal. In many states marijuana is legal for medical use and in some states it is legal for recreational use as well. Michigan has proposed a Marijuana Legalization Initiative (Michigan). Michigan Proposal 1, the Legalization of Marijuana Initiative is on the ballot as an indirect initiated state statute on November 6 (Michigan). The proposal states that those the ages 21 and over cna use marijuana recreationally and be able to grow the cannabis plant in their residency (Michigan). “The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol, a political action committee, is leading the campaign in support of Proposal 1” (Michigan). This political action committee is leading the campaign for the legalization of marijuana in Michigan because they believe that it is less harmful than tobacco and alcohol and that it would help fund their roads, public schools and local governments (Michigan). This is currently on the ballot and waiting to be voted upon by the people of Michigan on November 6, 2018.
There are two perspectives to this issue. Those who support recreational use of marijuana would vote yes on the ballot, these are usually committees advocating for the legalization of marijuana. Those who are against the legalization of marijuana would vote no on the ballot, these people are government officials, and organizations. Younger voters are supportive of the initiative and voters of ages 65 and above are against the use of recreational marijuana(Haddad). One interest group supporting the legalization of marijuana is The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol committee. They have created a unified coalition of cannabis reform and social justice advocates to develop ballot language that borrows from the best practices used by the states that have legalized before Michigan. (CITE!) The have also collected more than 360,000 signatures to place the issue on the november ballot (CITE!!!!!) They have many organizations and committees within as members of “its initiative drafting committee” (Michigan). Some would say that the legalization of marijuana is a good idea because it would stop the use of illegal drug sales. Those like Josh Hovey, the spokesperson for Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, would say, “Marijuana prohibition has become a huge failure. Instead of wasting law enforcement on a substance that is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, our initiative creates a tightly regulated system…” (Moore). The supporting side has contributed a great deal of money towards the legalization of marijuana (Michigan). The opposing side would be those who do not want recreational use of marijuana to be legalized. This group is Healthy and Productive Michigan. They are the leading campaign in opposition to the ballot initiative (Michigan). “The ballot proposal puts the public at risk and will be vigorously opposed” (Michigan) (Roberts). Many campaigns such as “Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action (SAM Action)” have donated a generous amount of money opposing the legalization of marijuana. (Michigan). The legalization of marijuana still remains a controversial topic today and we are still waiting to see the results of the ballot initiative in Michigan in November of 2018.
The legalization of marijuana is a ballot initiative in Michigan.There are two sides, those who oppose the legalization and those who support it. A group on the opposing side would be Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action or, SAM Action. This organization’s goal is “to ‘promote health-first, smart policies and attitudes that decrease marijuana use and its consequences.’” (Michigan). Its main goal is to help improve health policies without the use of marijuana. They also want to educate citizens on the “science of marijuana”. “Smart Approaches to Marijuana envisions a society where marijuana policies are aligned with the scientific understanding of marijuana’s harms, and the commercialization and normalization of marijuana are no more.”(SAM). An organization that supports the legalization of marijuana is, NORML. NORML or, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, is an “organization that ‘supports the removal of all criminal penalties for the private possession and responsible use of marijuana by adults, including the cultivation for personal use, and the casual nonprofit transfers of small amounts.’”(Ballot). This shows that they want marijuana to be legalized and for the chargers on those who were sentenced for possession of marijuana to be dropped.
Both organizations have gone to far lengths to influence the legalization of marijuana. SAM Action has created a educational resource to advocate their standing point on the legalization of marijuana. People can sign up for “SAM Training” classes. (SAM) “Trainings are now available for all age groups associated with non-profit organizations, corporations, healthcare, clinicians, social workers, counselors, schools, law enforcement and local community groups around the country who want to educate their communities and employees on all issues surrounding marijuana.” (SAM) This shows that the extent they have gone to to help gain supporters to their side on the issue. This group providing educational classes about marijuana has been an effective way to gain supporters. SAM Action also has a twitter and facebook page where they post updates on their position. Their twitter handle is, “@learnaboutsam” and with almost 4,000 followers they continue to advocate their view on the legalization of marijuana. (SAM). SAM Action has raised $300,000 in 2016 to oppose the legalization of marijuana in several states (Ballot). In the future SAM Action hopes to educate citizens on the effects of marijuana and reduce the use and normalization of marijuana by teens and adults. NORML holds benefits, legal seminars and conferences to support the legalization of marijuana. At benefits, they find music to be an effective way to protest and show their views, so they hold concerts at these benefits. (NORML). NORML has many social media sites including, twitter, facebook and instagram. On their twitter account they have 257K followers that support them and the legalization of marijuana, on instagram they have 25K followers. On their social media sites they post updates on events and more new information about their stance on the legalization of marijuana. In the future NORML hopes to decriminalize minor marijuana offenses and gain the legalization of marijuana in as many states as possible. SAM has had four out of five of their ballots approved. “NORML has decriminalized minor marijuana offenses in 11 states in its first decade of operation” (Ballot).
The outcome of the Michigan Proposal 1, Marijuana Legalization Initiative was that it passed and the use of recreational marijuana is now legalized in the state of Michigan. The possession and use of 2.5 ounces of marijuana and 0.5 ounces of marijuana concentrate will be legal taking affect on December 6,2018. (Ballot). Michigan had legalized the use of marijuana with 55.89% of people in Michigan supporting the initiative. Before the legalization “In Michigan, the possession and use of marijuana for recreational purposes was illegal. Voters approved a ballot initiative, also titled Proposal 1, to legalize the medical use of marijuana in 2008.[3] As of 2018, marijuana had been decriminalized in multiple jurisdictions in Michigan, including Detroit, Flint, and Grand Rapids”( Ballot). Ballot Initiatives similar to Proposal 1 is the legalization of marijuana in Washington Initiative 502 and California Proposal 64. Both of these initiatives were approved and marijuana is legal in these states. However, proposals in states such as North Dakota and Arizona have not passed the legalization of marijuana. (Ballot). 72% of Democrats support legalizing marijuana and 51% of Republicans support the legalization. Thirteen states have legalized marijuana for recreational use (Gould). There were no citizen driven movements for the legalization of marijuana in Michigan however, other states have had marches. Texas is an example of a state that has had a march for the legalization of marijuana (Martinez). In response to the passing of the ballot, many are trying to create a bill proposal to release those in prison for marijuana possession (White). The organization Coalition to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol has contributed $1,563,488.05 to the proposal (Ballot). Many donors have also contributed in support of the committee. New Approach PAC has contributed $441,000.00 in support of the proposal. Healthy and Productive Michigan has contributed $1,364,015.00 in opposition of the proposal. Groups in support of Healthy and Productive Michigan such as, SAM have contributed $1,060,254.31 in total (Ballot). The debate over the legalization of marijuana reflects larger political and social trends. Politically, because mainly Democrats will be in support of the legalization of marijuana, however some Republicans are in support of the legalization as well. President Trump, a Republican, does not approve of the use of recreational marijuana but he does approve of medical use (Vojnovic). “Furthermore, President Trump has assured me that he will support a federalism-based legislative solution to fix this states' rights issue once and for all." (Ballot) It also reflects larger social trends because more states have started supporting the legalization of recreational marijuana use. “Today, 57% of U.S. adults say the use of marijuana should be made legal, while 37% say it should be illegal. A decade ago, opinion on legalizing marijuana was nearly the reverse – just 32% favored legalization, while 60% were opposed.”(Grieger). State governments and the legislative branch are involved in with the legalization of marijuana. State governments passed the initiative and allowed it on voting ballot in Michigan. The legislative branch is involved with the legalization of marijuana because this is the branch that creates and passes laws. Arguments were made in support of the legalization. For instance, some say that people already break the law and use marijuana anyway and it targets African Americans more than whites. “Michiganders should vote YES this fall on Proposal 1 because: [1] Prohibiting it outright does not work (about 15% of Michiganders used marijuana in 2015, according to federal data); [2] Enforcing laws against weed consumes significant law enforcement resources; [3] The impact of that enforcement effort falls disproportionately on African Americans, who use marijuana at the same rates as whites, but are four to 10 times more likely to be arrested for it; and [4] Legalizing marijuana and regulating its possession and use can provide needed tax revenue." (Ballot). Arguments in opposition to the legalization are that we will not regulate marijuana like alcohol. “The state has considerable leeway in regulating alcohol; it would not have the same ability to manage the distribution and sale of marijuana. For that reason, voters should say No to Proposal 1." (Ballot).