Pot as political football

[marmar]

from the Detroit Metro Times:



Detroit ballot fight: Pot as political football
After court of appeals loss, city tries again to keep the question from voters

By Larry Gabriel
Published: February 22, 2012


Marijuana is a political football in any Michigan municipality, but in Detroit the ball is getting more slippery of late.

Take the Court of Appeals decision on the Coalition for a Safer Detroit (CSD) vs. the Detroit Election Commission case a couple of weeks ago. A three-judge panel ruled two-to-one in favor of CSD. That means the city Election Commission has to put the question of legalizing possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana on private property for adults in Detroit on the ballot of the next regularly scheduled election. If successful, this initiative would essentially legalize individual marijuana use in Detroit — although I'm guessing opponents will find some convoluted way of squirming around implementing it if it's passed.

"It's almost anticlimactic in that it should have happened two years ago," says Matt Abel, director of the Michigan Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and the attorney who argued the case in front of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Michael Sapala last year. Sapala ruled against CSD, but Abel feels vindicated by the Court of Appeals decision.

"I was right," he says. "It's really well-settled law. The election law issue is so clear that they really should be sanctioned for their frivolous arguments here." .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://metrotimes.com/mmj/detroit-ballot-fight-pot-as-political-football-1.1274760