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Michigan - Local activists are collecting signatures to allow adults in Port Huron to possess small amounts of marijuana. The Coalition for a Safer Port Huron needs more than 1,000 signatures from city voters to get the proposal to change the city charter on the Nov. 4 ballot. If passed by voters, it would erase any ordinance prohibiting the possession and use of less than one ounce of marijuana by anyone 21 or older. "It will make marijuana a non-issue – nothing in the city charter will mention marijuana being illegal for adults using under one ounce," coalition organizer Laura Rigby said.
To get a space on the November ballot, Rigby's group must submit valid signatures to the city clerk's office by July 29. She said she has collected more than 300 signatures. "It's early on in the game," Rigby said. "Our group just started collecting signatures. Even though we need only 1,000, we're going for more to really push on through." Group members collected the first signatures outside polling places during the Feb. 25 election. Port Huron City Clerk Sue Child said the petition must be signed by 5 percent of the registered voters in Port Huron. She said Coalition for a Safer Port Huron needs 1,033 signatures. Rigby said she plans to get 1,200.
The Port Huron group is part of a larger effort by marijuana activists to loosen marijuana enforcement laws around the state. Activists in 10 other Michigan cities also are collecting signatures to put the issue on the ballot. Rigby said about 11 members of her group have been meeting since February. Once the weather warms and more people are outside, she said volunteers will be outside seeking signatures from people. She said the reaction has been positive. A few people have questioned the reasoning behind the change, she said, but they have not been confrontational. "I just want to get it on the ballot. If it fails with a resounding no, I'll be OK with it – but I don't think it's going to fail with a resounding no," Rigby said. A few Michigan cities have decriminalized marijuana. The drug has been decriminalized or been made the lowest priority for law enforcement personnel in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Detroit, Lansing, Kalamazoo and Flint in recent elections.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Thetimesherald.com
Author: Nicholas Grenke
To get a space on the November ballot, Rigby's group must submit valid signatures to the city clerk's office by July 29. She said she has collected more than 300 signatures. "It's early on in the game," Rigby said. "Our group just started collecting signatures. Even though we need only 1,000, we're going for more to really push on through." Group members collected the first signatures outside polling places during the Feb. 25 election. Port Huron City Clerk Sue Child said the petition must be signed by 5 percent of the registered voters in Port Huron. She said Coalition for a Safer Port Huron needs 1,033 signatures. Rigby said she plans to get 1,200.
The Port Huron group is part of a larger effort by marijuana activists to loosen marijuana enforcement laws around the state. Activists in 10 other Michigan cities also are collecting signatures to put the issue on the ballot. Rigby said about 11 members of her group have been meeting since February. Once the weather warms and more people are outside, she said volunteers will be outside seeking signatures from people. She said the reaction has been positive. A few people have questioned the reasoning behind the change, she said, but they have not been confrontational. "I just want to get it on the ballot. If it fails with a resounding no, I'll be OK with it – but I don't think it's going to fail with a resounding no," Rigby said. A few Michigan cities have decriminalized marijuana. The drug has been decriminalized or been made the lowest priority for law enforcement personnel in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Detroit, Lansing, Kalamazoo and Flint in recent elections.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Thetimesherald.com
Author: Nicholas Grenke
