Future of Marijuana Hazy After Passage of Proposition 1
Kalamazoo, Mich. – The future of Michigan’s marijuana policy is in a haze for federal and local law enforcement, recreational and medical users from the smoke of the week protected by the passage of Proposal 1 in November.
In November, Michigan joined 10 other states that have legalized recreational pot. Federally, marijuana is still banned. This placed these states in contradiction with federal standards. A form of legalized marijuana is not new to Michigan since the passage of medical usage in 2008. Regardless, federal and local law enforcement are still anticipating the effects that Proposition 1 will have on drug enforcement while the attention of these agencies is divided with combating the opioid crisis.
“If you look at Kalamazoo County, our problem is meth number one and heroin is number two,” said Scott Merlo, chief of police at Western Michigan University.
WMU is a public university that accepts federal financial aid. This means that the federal position towards marijuana must be followed on campus. Federal policy will continue to be followed, but any punishment will be up to the Office of Student Conduct, he said. Repercussions from marijuana-related violations can vary from a warning to expulsion depending on the circumstances, Merlo said.
Merlo said he remembers a trip he took with members of Kalamazoo Public Safety and county prosecutors to Colorado to observe changing law enforcement operations after the state legalized recreational marijuana.
“It’s going to free up law enforcement to do other things,” he said.
But he said that Colorado law enforcement did not anticipate the rise of illegal grow operations. These illegal operations would often cause other crime such as theft, property damage and identity theft as growers would tap into electrical grids to power the lights needed for plant cultivation in private residences, Merlo explained. Law enforcement in Michigan will have to wait to see if a similar problem will arise, he said.
Moving forward, the passage of the proposal will not affect agreements between local and federal law enforcement on drug enforcement as the agencies focus on opioid crimes, he said.
“There are more people in the county jail for meth than anything else,” Merlo said.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Detroit and Grand Rapids clarified the lack of change in interagency operations in a joint statement released days after the proposal passed. According to the statement, Federal agencies will get involved with cases based on the circumstances but would continue to prosecute marijuana charges and focus on the opioid crisis.
“That is all we would have to say,” said Kaye Hooker, press information officer for the Grand Rapids U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Medical and recreational marijuana users have reacted to the proposal passage with the same number of questions as law enforcement.
“I’m worried that access will be limited,” said Chase Latka, a medical marijuana user.
Latka, 21, has been using medical marijuana to treat her symptoms from Crohn’s disease since the spring of 2017. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s in 2015 at the age of 17. Last year, she applied for a medical card.
She was not able to get a prescription from her doctor because the hospital could not endorse medical marijuana, she explained. She was referred to a medical marijuana doctor. He reviewed the information and approved her. Latka was able to submit her approval to the state of Michigan to receive her card. Smoking, eating in the form of an edible or through capsules, marijuana’s painkilling CBD has helped her manage pain associated with her disease, she said.
“This past summer, I had two pretty large surgeries, so it has been a pretty big part of my recovery as well,” she said.
Latka supported the proposal but is concerned about access to her medication after hearing about cannabis shortage in Colorado, she said.
Other users are optimistic. Brian Conover, 39, manages an AMC theater in Downtown Kalamazoo and has been a recreational smoker since he was 12. As he walked through the projector room for the theater’s screening rooms, he said that he does not allow his usage to affect his employment by not smoking before work or during the week.
“User or not, it will benefit Michigan,” he said.
The proposal can help lead to better funding for state projects and upkeep of the city of Kalamazoo, he said.
It will be some time before recreational dispensary licensing comes from the state and locations begin opening their doors. Until then, law enforcement prepares for the implications of a green Michigan and recreation and medical users see opportunity through the smoke of the state.