11 Michigan Cities Will Vote to Legalize Marijuana Next Week

Next week, Michigan voters will head to the polls in hopes of making their city’s drug laws a little greener. Eleven municipalities across the state will decide on legalizing small amounts of marijuana, which could prove to be crucial in moving towards a statewide marijuana market, possibly in 2016.

Organizers with the Safer Michigan Coalition say that although they have not had the financial support to sway the election in their favor, they anticipate the laws will pass without issue. “We can’t do much campaigning because we don’t have much money,” said Chuck Ream, with SMC. “But we expect them to win. And we expect them to win because they’re kind of like polls rather than campaigns. We’re measuring what the people already think.”

The proposed ordinances to be decided on November 4 will decriminalize up to an ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and over on private property. Cities that will vote on this issue include, Saginaw, Mount Pleasant, Clare, Harrison, Frankfurt, Onaway, Port Huron, Lapeer, Berkley, Huntington Woods, and Pleasant Ridge, according to NPR affiliate WEMU.

The outcome of this year’s election could be a determining factor for how pot advocates approach statewide legalization in the coming years. Some say this push could come as early as 2016, while others believe a fully legal recreational market could take more time.

“The reason we do what we do is because we don’t have the money to do anything more,” said Ream. “When the money shows up, we can do something more. But it might be 2020 or even later before we can really get legalization in Michigan.”