Montrose Will Vote to Decriminalize Weed, but Not Until Next Year

Voters in Montrose, Genesee County’s smallest municipality, will decide on the issue of marijuana decriminalization... next year. A measure introduced by the Coalition for a Safer Montrose aims to strip the criminal penalties associated with pot possession and punish offenders caught with less than an ounce of weed with a civil infraction.

Supporters of this measure managed to collect the required signatures needed to put the issue on the ballot in the upcoming election, but the initiative was not certified in enough time to make the deadline. Voters will have to wait until February 2015 to decide on the issue.

Unfortunately, even if the initiative is approved, there is speculation that the Montrose Township Police will use state and federal law as a pretense to continue busting people for weed. Reports indicate that these types of underhanded anti-pot tactics were practiced in Flint after a similar measure was passed in 2012.

“We’re still police officers and we’re still empowered to enforce the laws of the state of Michigan and the United States," Flint police chief Alvern Lock told Mlive. "We’re still going to enforce the laws as we’ve been enforcing them."

Pot proponents argue that if local police forces want to continue to ignore voter approved referendums by using state law as a scapegoat, then perhaps local governments should stop signing their paychecks. "If the city police want to follow state law rather than city law, then maybe the state should be paying their salary," said Brian Morrissey with the Coalition for a Safer Flint.