Cannabis Is Back On The Ballot In Some West Michigan Towns

As I predicted back in 2018, communities that first said, "NO" to legalized cannabis are having second thoughts.

Recreational Marijuana Was Voted In Back In 2018

In the 2018 midterm elections, Michigan residents voted to approve recreational marijuana sales in the state. However, the law allowed for local communities to make their own call as to whether dispensaries could operate in their jurisdictions.

Almost immediately, many townships and towns across the state passed ordinances forbidding weed sales. They felt having dispensaries was not a good look for their communities.

But as I predicted, once the sales totals started coming in from around the state, and seeing the revenue stream in to the coffers of cities and towns that allowed weed, many towns and their citizens are having a change of heart.

32 Communities State Wide Will Vote On Cannabis Sales

32 Towns, Townships and Counties have marijuana measures on the local ballot, with seven hoping to continue ban sales, and 27 hoping to overturn bans put in place by local councils and commissions. Of those 27, five would only allow medical marijuana sales.

A case in point is just north of GR in Wheatland Township in Mecosta County. Township clerk Mary Karcher told 9and10 News that because about 56 percent of the residents voted against the state wide ordinance in 2018, the Township banned recreational sales.

But several businesses have sought to bring grow houses to the Township, which would bring in revenue, so they are putting on the ballot today.

Karcher says that seeing the money grow houses and dispensaries have brought in in nearby Big Rapids and Cadillac spurred the initiative, but it it hasn't come without controversy.

“Many people are saying if we do get marijuana into our town, they won’t do business in our area any longer,” Karcher told 9and10 News.

Other Communities Voting On Cannabis Include The Cities of Petoskey And Clarkston

The bigger cities voting on legalized cannabis today include the resort city of Petoskey along Little Traverse Bay, and the Detroit area village of Clarkston.

“They’re not Clarkston residents. They’re not even Michigan residents,” village of Clarkston City Manager Jonathan Smith told MLive.com of the petitioners who got the proposal to allow medical sales there on the ballot. Smith says the petitioners were from out of state, including Texas and California.

In West Michigan, Egelston Township in Muskegon County, South Haven Township In Van Buren County, and Hagar Township and the City of Niles in Berrien County are seeking to approve sales of cannabis, while Newfield County in Oceana County is seeking to repeal its decision to allow sales of cannabis there.