Michigan Supreme Court clears way to let Detroiters vote on legalizing marijuana

[Eugene]

Source: Detroit Free Press

Michigan Supreme Court clears way to let Detroiters vote on legalizing marijuana

June 2, 2012

By Bill Laitner
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

After a nearly two-year legal battle, the Michigan Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for a referendum question that could make Detroit the state's first city to legalize marijuana.

Voters in the Aug. 7 primary election can expect to see the question -- asking them to legalize possession and use of up to 1 ounce of the drug, on private property, by those 21 and older, said Tim Beck, a Detroiter who heads the referendum group Coalition for a Safer Detroit.

"A long trail of voter abuse by the City of Detroit has come to an end," said Beck, 60, in an e-mail to supporters.

"We got everything right. Our petitions were flawless," said Beck, a medical-marijuana user who owns Michigan Benefit Providers, a Detroit consulting firm.

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Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20120602/NEWS01/206020372/Michigan-Supreme-Court-clears-way-to-let-Detroiters-vote-on-legalizing-marijuana

[Vincardog]

1. Good

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. You go, Detroit! Tim Beck has put years of work into this.

[Motown_Johnny]

3. We may as well, most everyone I know who smokes has a medical card

so I really do't see any reason of the pretense.


I'll vote for it, even though I gave that habit up in my mid 30s (now in my very late 40s).

[longship]

4. I am proud of the city I grew up in!!

Detroiters are awesome people.

* They basically won WW II for the country. Google "arsenal of democracy" for data.

* Detroit has always been a melting pot -- dozens of ethnic neighborhoods all over the city. In no specific order: Polish, Scandenavian, Finnish (including my mother's family), Italian, African-Americans (more about that later), Latino, Greek, Irish, and many others. Detroit later embraced this with an annual Ethnic Festival held downtown on the river at Hart Plaza during Detroit's so-called renaissance.

* Detroit is one of the early baseball towns. The Tigers were amongst the first teams. One thing that was sad during the past years is that our beloved team would no longer play at the park on the corner of Michigan Ave. and Trumbell. Any Detroiter beyond a certain age has great love for that location. More importantly, any Detroiter alive in 1967 remembers how the riots of 1967 gave way to citywide unity in 1968 when the Tigers won an incredible World Series championship. What an incredible turn around that was. I was very proud of the way Detroiters of all ethnic groups joined hands to celebrate their city. This happened in the midst of the white flight, when Caucasian Detroiters were fleeing the city because the neighborhoods were becoming increasingly integrated. My caucasian family was one of two left in our neighborhood when we moved -- due to my father's retirement. By that time our house's value was next to nothing. It's sad what racism does.

* Recent events in Detroit -- in the face of adversity that few cities of Detroit's size have ever faced before -- are showing a city with incredible, awe-inspiring flexibility. The city is transforming itself from a dying city into a true renaissance where neighborhoods fight the crushing economic reality of a city which has lost over a million residents, much more than 50%. There are art projects all over the inner city neighborhoods. There are people doing awesome things to bring normally standard city services to others. Detroit is a city of innovation and a true renaissance.

Did I say that I am proud of my home town? Now maybe the Tigers will give me yet another reason.

Go Tigers.