Three Michigan towns voted against bringing the cannabis industry to their communities. This continues the trend of Michigan communities saying no to marijuana shops.
Residents in Highland Park, Crystal Lake and Vanderbilt voted to keep marijuana businesses illegal after polls closed Tuesday night.
Highland Park and Vanderbilt residents axed the citizen referendums by a 593 to 457 vote and 84 to 72 vote, respectively. In Crystal Lake, the vote went against the cannabis industry 145 to 107.
In 2018, Michiganders passed Proposal 1, which legalized recreational marijuana for people 21 and over. The proposal gave municipalities the option of deciding if they wanted marijuana businesses in their area.
Nearly 600 communities representing almost five million people have chosen to ban the cannabis industry in their cities and towns, according to Michigan Live. Michigan communities have until October to decide if they want these types of businesses within their communities.
Executive Director of Healthy and Productive Michigan Scott Greenlee, an organization that campaigned against Proposal 1, told the Detroit Free Press the state could end up being like Colorado where “75 to 80 percent of the communities” say no to marijuana.
Coalition for a Safer Vanderbilt, an organization in favor of Michigan marijuana legalization, encouraged people to contact Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office to voice their concern.
“In proposal 1 it gives municipalities the option to ban or allow recreational marijuana businesses. Over 600 municipalities have opted out. This is a clear abuse of the law. In municipalities where proposal 1 overwhelmingly passed the municipal boards have opted out against the vocal concerns of their own citizens. The abuse of this law must stop. The people of Michigan need access to marijuana,” the organization said in a Facebook post.
Currently, 33 states have legalized marijuana in some form. Michigan is one of 11 states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Battleground State News. Follow Zachery on Twitter.
Photo “Marijuana Shop” by O’Dea. CC BY-SA 4.0.
