Pot backers hope for Midwest victories at polls
LANSING, Mich. — Backers of broad marijuana legalization are looking to break through a geographic barrier in November and get their first foothold in the Midwest, after a string of election victories in Northeastern and Western states.
Michigan and North Dakota, where voters already have authorized medical marijuana, will decide whether the drug should be legal for any adult 21 or older. If it’s approved, those states would become the 10th and 11th to legalize recreational marijuana since 2012 — lightning speed in political terms.
Missouri and Utah will weigh medical marijuana, which is permitted in 31 states after voters in conservative Oklahoma approved such use in June. Even if Utah’s initiative is defeated, a compromise reached recently between advocates and opponents, including the Mormon church, would have the legislature legalize medical marijuana anyway.
“We’ve kind of reached a critical mass of acceptance,” said Rebecca Haffajee, a University of Michigan assistant professor of health management and policy. She said the country might be at a “breaking point” where change is inevitable at the federal level because so many states are in conflict with U.S. policy that treats marijuana as a controlled substance the same as heroin.
“Generally, people either find a therapeutic benefit or enjoy the substance and want to do so without the fear of being a criminal for using it,” Haffajee said.
Two years ago, voters in California approved a ballot measure creating the world’s largest legal marijuana market. Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Colorado and Nevada are other Western states with legal marijuana for both medical and personal uses. On the other side of the country, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana, and every other Northeastern state has approved medical marijuana.
In Michigan, surveys show the public’s receptiveness to marijuana legalization tracks similarly with nationwide polling that finds about 60 percent support, according to Gallup and the Pew Research Center.
The Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project was the driving force behind successful legalization initiatives in other states and has given at least $444,000 for the Michigan ballot drive.
“The electorate is recognizing that prohibition doesn’t work. There’s also a growing societal acceptance of marijuana use on a personal level,” said Matthew Schweich, the project’s deputy director.
Midwest voters considered recreational legalization in 2015, when Ohio overwhelmingly rejected it. Supporters say that vote was more of a backlash against allowing only certain private investors to control growing facilities than opposition to marijuana.
Proponents of Michigan’s measure say it would align with a new, strong regulatory system for medical-marijuana businesses and add about $130 million annually in tax revenue, specifically for road repairs, schools and municipalities. Military veterans and retired police officers are among those backing legalization in online ads that were launched Tuesday.
Critics say the Michigan proposal is out of step, citing provisions allowing a possession limit of 2.5 ounces that is higher than many other states and a 16 percent tax rate that is lower. Opponents include chambers of commerce and law-enforcement groups along with doctors, the Catholic Church and organizations fighting substance abuse.
Dr. Donald Condit, an orthopedic surgeon in Grand Rapids who is helping lead physicians’ opposition, said few doctors see a problem with, for example, terminal cancer patients using marijuana to ease their pain.
But people should think hard about full legalization because marijuana is becoming “very, very potent” and “this stuff could hit the teenage developing brain like a ton of bricks,” he said.
Supporters counter that teens’ use of marijuana has not increased in states that have approved recreational use and point to the drug’s other benefits, such as it being a safer substitute for painkillers amid the deadly opioid epidemic.