Recreational Pot in Michigan — What Happens Next?
How will the new law be implemented and enforced?
The great pot legalization debate is over in Michigan — at least for now.
Voters have spoken, and we will soon become the first state in the Midwest to allow recreational use of marijuana. That’s for adults 21 and over.
You’ll be able to possess up to 2.5 ounces in public. In your home, you can have up to 10 ounces and no more than 12 plants. You still can’t light up or otherwise consume cannabis in public, and you can’t get high and drive.
This will all take effect ten days after the election is certified — likely some time in early December — so it’s all still illegal right at this moment. And, don’t forget, it’s still illegal on the federal level.
That’s what the law says, but how will it be implemented and enforced? How will it change communities in Michigan?
To help dig into those questions, Jake Neher and Cheyna Roth speak with DJ Hilson, prosecuting attorney for Muskegon County and president of the Prosecuting Attorney Association of Michigan (PAAM). They also talk with Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton, one of several county prosecutors saying they will drop many pending marijuana-related charges, as well as Matt Abel, a Detroit-area cannabis advocate and attorney and executive director of Michigan NORML.
Click on the audio player above to hear those conversations.
Roth and Neher also recently spoke with bestselling author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell, host of the Revisionist History podcast, and got his thoughts on marijuana legalization. Click here to hear that conversation.
