Governor Disapproves of EL Marijuana Proposal, Now Set for May 2015 Election

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Tuesday, January 6, 2015, 8:46 pm
By: 
Alice Dreger

Image: City Council tonight

A surprise discussion broke out tonight at City Council during dialogue about the subject of the last agenda item: the ballot proposal to change the City Charter to limit East Lansing’s ability to restrict marijuana possession. The published agenda had named only discussion of when the vote on the proposal would occur. With no prior notice to the public, Council and the City Attorney suddenly began discussing letters received from Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office and Governor Rick Snyder regarding the proposal.

Immediately after Council, at our request, City Clerk Marie Wicks provided us a combined PDF of the letters and we have made it available here. In his letter, received by the City on December 31, 2014, the governor indicates that based on advice from the Attorney General, he is “declin[ing] to approve the charter amendment” because he says the charter amendment essentially sets up an illegal conflict with state law. That’s because even if the charter amendment passes in East Lansing, state law will continue to criminalize marijuana possession. The East Lansing Police Department has indicated that if the ballot measure passes, they and MSU's Police will follow state and federal law on this issue.

The governor’s disapproval of the proposed charter amendment appears to be mostly political; it seems to have no legal import in terms of the election. The governor himself states in the letter that “it is my understanding that the amendment will [still] be placed on the ballot November 3, 2015.”

In fact, at the request of the City Clerk, City Council tonight considered whether to move the ballot proposal up to the Special Election set for May 5, 2015. (This was what had been announced on the published agenda.) Council voted unanimously to do so. As a consequence, East Lansing voters will go to the polls on the matter May 5 instead of November 3.

At Council tonight, discussion continued about how to educate the populace to understand that even if the ballot measure passes in East Lansing, state and federal laws regarding marijuana possession will still apply, and local police will still be obligated to enforce those laws.

 

UPDATE January 7, 7 am: To help with understanding of this story, the following sentences were added: In paragraph 1, "The published agenda had named only discussion of when the vote on the proposal would occur." In paragraph 2, "The East Lansing Police Department has indicated that if the ballot measure passes, they and MSU's Police will follow state and federal law on this issue." In paragraph 4, "(This was what had been announced on the published agenda.)"

ELi thanks City Clerk Marie Wicks for providing the attachments at our request tonight.

 

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