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[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]D[/dropcap]ec. 6, 2018 marked the first day of recreational cannabis protections in Michigan—and it didn’t take long for communities to enact reactionary emergency regulations blocking cannabis activity. Reports began rolling in during the first week of 2019, indicating that over 60 Michigan communities have opted out of recreational cannabis.

According to Rick Thompson of the Michigan Cannabis Business Development Group, there is no logical reason to proactively opt out, since cannabis businesses cannot open doors anyways without critical changes to local zoning ordinances to allow them. The prohibitive laws reflect more of a symbolic statement against the spread of cannabis sales.

Michigan Canna Coalition Association Executive Director Connie Maxim-Sparrow is also the founder of Sparrow Consulting. She couldn’t agree more that communities are simply harming themselves by enacting these ordinances. “As a government relations consulting firm, we see local units of government opt out with little or no explanation as to why,” Maxim-Sparrow told CULTURE. “More importantly, local elected officials and their corporate councils are uneducated, misinformed and full of propaganda perpetuated by the long-standing criminalization of the marijuana plant. Local law enforcement and municipal industry associations are continuing to push a culture of opting out by spreading inaccurate information regarding the potential tax benefits that local units of government will see with new revenue streams. It’s really unfortunate.”

There are too many municipalities that opted out to name, but the list includes Troy, Pontiac, Grosse Pointe, Livonia, Birmingham, Monroe, Northville, Norton Shores, Allen Park, Plymouth, St. Clair, Richmond, Sandusky, Caspian, Sault Ste. Marie and Kentwood. Many others are small townships. The same reactions happened in many small rural and suburban communities in California after recreational cannabis was legalized.

The lack of understanding persists among elected local officials. “Local government officials are not running the numbers,” Maxim-Sparrow added. “They are failing to realize the new revenue streams that will be derived from the excise and additional product sales tax.”

The communities are only harming themselves by rejecting some of the revenue. Under Michigan law, cannabis will be subject to a 10 percent excise tax and an additional six percent sales tax. According to Maxim-Sparrow, each local community that opts in will receive a portion of the excise and sales tax. And with sales tax already contributing to local revenue sharing, the additional 10 percent excise tax is slated to be directed towards the Statewide School Aid Fund and the Transportation Fund. Moreover, portions of the excise tax are specifically appropriated towards the community governments that opted in, with 15 percent each going to local units of government and their respective counties.

“. . . Local elected officials and their corporate councils are uneducated, misinformed and full of propaganda perpetuated by the long-standing criminalization of the marijuana plant.”

The economic potential of cannabis sales can be estimated by looking at alcohol and liquor figures. In 2017, liquor sales generated over $163 million for the state of Michigan, and tobacco products generated an astounding $951 million dollars of tax revenue, she explained.

“I think it’s awfully short-sighted of communities like Norton Shores, Michigan to opt out without attempting to determine a predictable economic impact assessment of potential revenue before opting out of the recreational laws. New revenue streams don’t come around very often, with unfunded or underfunded pensions killing local and county government, it’s hard to understand why the dollars aren’t making sense!”

For the communities that do take advantage of recreational cannabis sales, recent analytical reports indicate that they could see a rise in property values, tourism and tax revenues. The sky hasn’t fallen in Colorado, California and other states that have already legalized recreational cannabis.