A few years ago the idea that Michigan would allow medical marijuana seemed absurd. Now we're on the verge of legalizing recreational weed. The state board of canvassers voted to put it on the November ballot this morning.
FOX 47's Marcus Dash tells us why not everyone is happy about it. Opponents simply don't think it's a good idea to allow what they call a gateway drug to be legal. They don't think the state should be breaking the federal law which says marijuana is illegal.
"The state cannot pass laws that violate federal law it's a basic and fundamental rule of law and structure that our country follows," said Scott Greenlee.
The Board of Canvassers asked Scott Greenlee of Healthy and Productive Michigan what he thinks about states that have legalized marijuana. His response was something his mother taught him when he was a child.
"If my friends were jumping off a bridge I didn't have to jump off as well, I could do the right thing," said Greenlee.
Jeffrey Hank of MI Legalize thinks letting the people of Michigan vote on legalization is the right thing to do.
"The cannabis prohibition should be over today, not tomorrow, today," said Jeffrey Hank.
Although Hank and Greenlee disagree on marijuana, they're on the same page on the House Speaker's decision to let the issue go to the ballot, instead of having the legislature vote on it.
"They have roughly 277,000 signatures, it should go to the people, and the people should make the decision, not the people down in Lansing," said Greenlee.
"Don't change the law that people enacted I mean if we are going to vote on it let us vote on it," said Hank.
Some Republicans had been pushing for the Legislature to pass legalization. They're worried that having it on the ballot in November will bring out more young Democrats who wouldn't normally vote. The proposal would only allow people 21 and older to buy marijuana. It also states all tax revenue from it must go to schools, roads, and local governments.
