Could This be the Year Cannabis Dominates Michigan Politics?

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]T[/dropcap]hree groups that are gunning for legalized cannabis in Michigan have been approved to collect signatures on petitions. They’re all hoping to get on the ballot in November. Two of them have raised serious amounts of money and the third is just trying to keep up. The two that have major funding, and have been collecting signatures for months now, want to tax and regulate cannabis for personal use for people 21 and up. The third wants to fully decriminalize cannabis for anyone over 18, with no exceptions for use.

The first and most popular group calls themselves MI Legalize, something that’s as easy to remember as it is chanted by the crowds that gather in their support. With over 200,000 signatures on their petition, they seem to be the overwhelming favorite. Their grass-roots turned professional campaign is focused on several important factors: legalizing all forms of cannabis, including topicals, oils and tinctures for adults 21 and older; allowing adults to cultivate up to 12 plants, including the cultivation and possession of hemp and hemp products; granting additional legal protections; and allowing a 10 percent excise tax on recreational sales that will help education, transportation and local government. Visit www.milegalize.com to learn more.

The second group is the MCC, or Michigan Cannabis Coalition. With an equally flashy, but not as transparent, website, the MCC has approximately half the signatures the MI Legalize petition has. Started by Republicans, who might have never actually wanted to see their mission through until the end, it seems as though their efforts have taken a bit of a halt. Even their Facebook page shares links in support of MI Legalize. Whether their efforts were an experiment to see what people really wanted, or a way to collect information to use for future endeavors and even sell to third parties, they provided a healthy competition that can be considered as much needed motivation for MI Legalize to crush the polls.

The third group, the Abrogate Organization, had the most recent approval of their petition. The major difference with this group, however, is their mission to actually amend the constitution of Michigan and repeal cannabis prohibition. Their website isn’t flashy and is the form of an online forum, allowing for an intense and authentic conversation. If you’re interested in no excise tax and use over the age of 18, check out www.michican.us to learn more.

With the battles that medical patients continue to face, there’s something relieving about recreational legalization, but if not handled right, could put patients at a disadvantage. Many can barely afford what’s available to them now, relying on the kindness of Caregivers and donation deals at dispensaries and provisioning centers. If fully legalized, patients need a guarantee that they will not be left behind in a capitalistic fight for the biggest slice of pie.

One of the most important things that voters and petitioners need to consider is that the effort they choose to support should keep both patients and recreational users in mind. Many efforts would be in vain if Michigan’s cannabis culture became monopolized and overly exclusive. Legal protections are a close second, along with strict regulations for dispensaries and provisioning centers, providing safety for everyone involved. Not only should the law chosen encourage competition, it should allow for both ends of the spectrum to survive.