Michigan will be one of the select US states with cannabis on the ballot next month, as two separate proposals make their way to voters on Nov. 7.
As the MetroTimes reports, neither proposal would go so far as to legalize cannabis for adult-use, but both aim to ease restrictions on the state’s existing medical marijuana industry.
The first measure would do several things. It would significantly cut down on the distance a cannabis facility can be from parks, day care centers, liquor stores, churches, and other dispensaries, reducing that distance from 1,000 feet to 500 feet. It would also allow the centers to stay open an hour later, extending mandatory closure times from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The second measure, described as “a proposal to amend the Detroit zoning ordinance, chapter 61 of the Detroit city code, consistent with the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act,” which would apply state zoning rules to the city of Detroit and allow growers and secure transporters to operate in certain additional industrial districts within the city.
Neither proposal is expected to make sweeping changes to the state’s medical marijuana program, but rather are aimed at easing back some of the regulations originally put in place when the state legalized medical marijuana.
Adult-Use Proposal Hits Signature Milestone
MetroTimes also reported an update for the Committee to Regulate Marihuana Like Alcohol advocacy group, which is trying to put an adult-use legalization measure on next year’s state ballot. The group has reportedly passed the 300,000-signature mark as it heads into the final stretch of signature gathering.
The group needs 252,000 valid signatures by Nov. 22 to put the ballot question on next year’s gubernatorial ballot. The extra signatures are aimed at giving them plenty of wiggle room should any of the signatures be invalidated.
