Voters in Grand Rapids, Michigan will decide this November on a municipal measure to depenalize marijuana possession offenses to a non-criminal, fine-only offense.
The City Commissioner’s office has approved the measure, Proposal 2, which seeks to allow local law enforcement the discretion to ticket first-time marijuana offenders with a civil citation, punishable by a $25 fine and no criminal record.
The city of Ann Arbor enacted a similar municipal ordinance in the early 1970s. That ordinance remains in effect today.
Proponents of the Grand Rapids initiative collected over 10,000 signatures from registered Grand Rapids voters to place the proposal on the November ballot.
Voters in Detroit will also decide on a municipal measure this November to remove marijuana possession penalties for those age 21 or older.
Under state law, possessing cannabis is a criminal misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Information regarding 2012 statewide marijuana-specific ballot initiatives is available at NORML’s ‘Smoke the Vote’ webpage here.
$25 ? Next add on administration fees, City accessor fees and so on & before you know it the fine is over $200.00. It’s like a seatbelt fine of $90 but when it’s all over your fine is really $305.00 !
They sure got somebody fooled !
oh, they’ll throw that shit out in a micro-second……a baller idea but the feds will never let it fly…..smoke a little for me…peace.
Even if the $25 would really be $200, that’s still a step up from a $2000 fine! That’s great! I hope it gets passed! 🙂
Watch all the Dutch Calvinists shoot this one down.
I think this is a good direction for states and municipalities to go. They can make the penalties for marijuana so low that it will, in effect, be decriminalized, but will technically still be illegal and not conflict with Federal laws. It will be like the old co-habitation laws that were on the books but rarely enforced, then eventually eliminated completely when legislators could do so without much political risk.
Wow, who would have thought that Ann Arbor Michigan was 40 years ahead of the curve AND NOBODY IN THIS FUCKING COUNTRY LET ME KNOW!!!!
Miliso:
You have to read between the lines. For a $25 fine I highly doubt police will be focused on busting people for a personal amount of pot. Yes we’d all like to wave a magic wand, and simply see all restrictions lifted in their entirety. Most people cannot handle a radical change overnight. It’s because of information leaking out to the public (mostly thanks to the internet) that has lead more individuals to have a change of heart. The restrictions are what help them justify the legalization movement. As long as there are some regulations in place, people who have converted from con to pro are more likely to vote in our favor.
I’ll take a few hundred dollars in court fees over a criminal misdemeanor offense any day of the week.
Congrats grand rapids ya buncha hillbillies lol. Just make sure my corn and strawberries don’t get jacked up because you busy chiefin on the tractor.
Regardless its better than misdemeanor charges punishable to a year and a 2000$ fine ill happily pay the same amount as a seat belt ticket! 2000$ and a year in jail can and will ruin lives its as simple as that!
It needs to be legalized. A responsible user will still lose there job if they smoked on Saturday and got tested on Monday. Until its legal your not safe.
Non-criminal! That is important. I can tell you from sad experience that non-criminal is damn important.
@Miliso Milbrea – You’re probably right! Something similar happened to me last year when my 2010 Prius safety inspection sticker expired (by only one month)… What a racket they have going on!
That damn cop could have given me a warning and I’d have taken care of it that day; but no… 🙁
The police serve the state – not the people; based on my experiences…
One city,,then one state,,when the private prison and rehab industries lose they’re guaranteed cash flow from marijuana prohibition their opposition to reform will evaporate.
Because of the election 2 years ago, Pennsylvania is sculpting some awful laws. It’s cause hardly anyone came out to vote and the old jack-ass pieces of shit came out in droves and voted republicant. Another reason why Obama cant do anything. PA is NOWHERE near good pot laws or lack thereof. Good job Michigan I’d move there if I was rich or maybe California cause they have less murders, good pot laws, and a Gnostic church is there. We have to keep up what we’re doing.
What does everyone else like to listen to on pot. If I had 1 choice it’d be Pink Floyd, Beatles, or Grateful Dead for me. Rap would be Bone-thugs-n-harmony.
It’s funny how Tobacco was never illegal. If we get more and more states/people in the right way about Cannabis, it’ll happen. These old folks have 1 foot in the grave, they won’t vote forever or even live to 120.
That’s so true . The Police serve their municipalites, such as the City their getting paid from to make sure they get paid & are not laid off due to dwindling resources .Where i live they’ll ticket you with fines for anything ( blowing your nose ) .with fines that are ridiculously high .If you appear in Court the Judges will pretend to do you a favor & reduce the fine but it’s still so high you’ll end up sleeping in the poorhouse .
The article says the police have the discretion to only issue a ticket for first time offenders. In effect, there will be no tickets issued unless you eithe rblow the officer, or know the officer.
St Nick – Philadelphia decriminalized last year. $200 fine, no arrest, no jail.
Amazing progress. In fact, a fine of that size is actually reasonable today given it’s probably found in a car, and there is currently no real type of seal on containers with marijuana as there are with alcohol.
as much as you seem to want to promote blowing cops…I’ve read prop 2….it’s they issue a $25 ticket the first time….. $50 ticket the second time… $100 every time after…
Reasonable regulation and taxation is the way. Get the outdated and uninformed criminal mentalities out of office and out of the way;, and put the money where We the People want and need it in a Just manner.
it should be legalized.