The last few months have been a long and hard road for the campaign to legalize adult use of marijuana in Michigan. After turning in 354,000 signatures back at the start of June, it has been nothing but a waiting game as they were initially rejected due to new regulations surrounding allowing only a 180 day window for collecting and validating signatures. They didn’t take long before filing an appeal with the Court of Claims asking that they be placed on the ballot seeing as the law was not in effect until after they turned in their signatures.
We haven’t heard much out of Michigan since then as the MILegalize group must put everything on hold – unsure of whether or not they will have to say they gave it all they had and accept a defeat in 2016 or if they will be gearing up to campaign for a “Yes” vote. After all the hard work they put in, it would be disappointing to have to pack it all up – but if it comes down to that hopefully it only makes their campaign more determined, rather than crush their hopes of making it to the ballot in the future.
“We’ve worked so hard,” says MI Legalize attorney Jeff Hank. “So many people have put a lot into this, and we really just want to have the opportunity to vote on it. So, we feel like we have a really good case, a really good argument.”
In the meantime, a MILegalize board member Josey Scroggin decided to host an event that will help them raise the necessary funds to continue on with any further court battles they may face. The event will feature a buffet fit for a king – consisting of prime rib, crab legs and more, along with gourmet desserts. The tickets for the event start at $100 for an individual, $500 for a VIP couple and $1,000 for a full VIP table reservation.
Even if the Court of Claims requires the Board of State Canvassers to reconsider allowing signatures gathered outside of a 180 day window, the state is now saying that it may be too late. They are claiming that there is no way because there will not be enough time to fulfill a 40 day waiting period required before the measure can be placed on the ballot – absentee ballots need to be mailed out by September 24th and the final printing will take place after September the 9th. However MILegalize still believes they have a fighting chance for 2016 and we would all like to hope they are right.
Update 08/24/2016: The Marijuana Times was able to confirm that the private event did take place but was unable to confirm the location.
