We told you earlier this week about marijuana decriminalization measures in Berkley, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge and several other towns in Michigan and suburbs of Detroit. In total, there were 11 measures scattered around the state.
Well, voters did the right thing in six of those communities last night and passed bills lowering or eliminating marijuana penalties for small amounts of cannabis.
Florida voters failed to get enough “yes” votes for medical cannabis yesterday by about two percentage points. Voters approved the bill overwhelmingly, with 58 percent for the measure and only 42 percent against it. But a 60 percent approval rating was needed to pass Amendment 2.
Amendment 2 supporters were disheartened but promised to run the measure again in the future.
Marijuana fared a lot better than Democrats did at the polls yesterday. Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. passed recreational marijuana measures closely modeled on Colorado’s, and while a medical marijuana amendment failed in Florida, it still managed to collect 58 percent support. (Under Florida law, 60 percent was required for approval). But even as marijuana reformers across the country celebrate, could Colorado be facing a pot crackdown? That’s a very real possibility.
We’ve told you already today about the close race in Florida to legalize medical marijuana, but there’s at least three other major marijuana votes today to keep an eye on.
| Robert Platshorn, legendary smuggler and marijuana legalization proponent. |
Florida voters today will decide whether or not to legalize limited amounts of marijuana for medical use. While the measure initially polled well, it’s approval has fallen in recent weeks and supporters say they need every last vote they can muster — notably that of the state’s large senior population.
With such a possible historical swing in the offing, we decided to touch base with one of Florida’s biggest proponents of marijuana reform, a guy who’s truly given his life to the cause: Robert Platshorn. But even Bobby Tuna himself is iffy on the amendment’s chances.
“At this point, I think it’s 51 percent we will, and 49 percent we won’t pass amendment two,” Platshorn told New Times Monday afternoon. “I’m concerned because of the way the polls have yo-yoed up and down. And the fact that the no campaign was able to run what was virtually a Reefer Madness campaign.”
| William Breathes. |
| ISS x Lemon Skunk. |
Show-Me Cannabis plans to file paperwork this week for a ballot initiative that would ask Missouri voters to legalize the use and sale of marijuana. The filing with the Secretary of State’s Office is just the beginning of what’s expected to be a costly and arduous two-year campaign to get the issue on the November 2016 ballot.
This past February Show-Me Cannabis abandoned a similar ballot initiative scheduled for tomorrow’s mid-term elections after polling indicated that 51 percent of Missouri voters still opposed legalization compared to 45 percent in favor.
| keith Bacongo-Flickr edited by Toke of the Town. |
While the national focus this week is on recreational marijuana measures in Alaska, Oregon and Washington D.C. and a medical proposal in Florida, voters in Michigan could be making small steps at the local level to end marijuana prohibition.
Marijuana proposals that would decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by either removing the ordinances altogether or decriminalizing them to a “lowest enforcement priority” are going before voters in eleven different municipalities – including three in the metro Detroit area.
Weedmaps.com has long been a pioneer in the online cannabis market. Since 2008, their interactive marijuana dispensary map has led untold thousands of cannabis enthusiasts to their local pot shops based on an archive of tens of thousands of peer reviews and dynamically updated and easy to read menus.
With weed laws loosening nationwide and new dispensaries cropping up in record numbers, it would be easy for Weedmaps to rest on what they’ve built and just keep cashing checks. But lately, the multifaceted marijuana marketing magnate has been expanding its horizons a bit, and bunking down business-wise with some pretty odd bedfellows.
“Treating marijuana as a crime has failed.”
That’s the message a group of 30 former cops, sheriffs, attorneys and judges wrote in a pro-marijuana endorsement for Oregon’s Measure 91, which voters could approve next week.
| Moms for YES on Measure 91 |
Colorado and Washington might get some company next week. Marijuana legalization initiatives are on the ballots in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C., and the proposals all strongly resemble what Colorado voters approved in 2012.