Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jul 2014
Source: Times Herald, The (Port Huron, MI)
Copyright: 2014 The Times Herald
Contact: http://www.thetimesherald.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.thetimesherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2570
Author: Nicholas Grenke, Times Herald
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)

MARIJUANA ADVOCATES SUBMIT BALLOT INITIATIVE

Clerk's Office Will Verify Signatures in Next Several
Weeks

Marijuana activists turned in a petition Tuesday with 1,681 signatures
to the Port Huron City Clerk Office to get a proposal to decriminalize
marijuana on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The ballot proposal was created and signatures were collected by The
Coalition for a Safer Port Huron, a subgroup of the statewide
Coalition for a Safer Michigan.

The proposal aims to legalize the possession and use of less than one
ounce of marijuana by anyone 21 or older.

Local coalition organizer Laura Rigby said she and a crew of about 10
people worked from February through July collecting the signatures.

"We've hit everywhere from a biker bar to (veteran affairs,)
restaurants -- everywhere just to get this on the ballot," Rigby said.

She said she was certain the paperwork was filed correctly and felt
confident the proposal will be approved in November.

"A proposal like this has never failed in the state of Michigan, and I
do know I have enough signatures to be able to pass it," Rigby said.

City Clerk Sue Child said organizers needed 1,054 signatures, or 5
percent of registered city voters, for the proposal to be on the
ballot. Her office will be verifying the signatures in the next
several weeks.

"We do have an election coming up next week, but we'll be sorting
these after that," Child said. "We'll be in touch."

Tim Beck, of Detroit, has helped organize marijuana campaigns for more
than a dozen years.

"We have a model of how the petitions work that has gone all the way
to the state Supreme Court," Beck said. "We've done this since 2004,
and in 14 elections we've never lost."

He said ballot proposals are the most effective way to liberalize
marijuana laws, as the public gets to vote.

"No politician wants to touch this with a 10-foot pole," Beck said.
"So, fortunately we have a ballot initiative process in Michigan."

Port Huron Public Safety Director Michael Reeves had no comment, and
Port Huron City Manager James Freed said voters will have to make a
choice in November if the signatures are approved.

"It's now up for the voters to decide what type of Port Huron they
want to live in," Freed said.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D