Paul Egan

Detroit Free Press

LANSING — A leader of a campaign to legalize marijuana in Michigan promised a court fight Thursday after the Board of State Canvassers rejected the group's petition to get on the ballot, saying too many of the submitted signatures are outdated.

Detroit attorney Thomas Lavigne, a board member of the Michigan Comprehensive Cannabis Law Reform Committee, which is sponsoring the MILegalize campaign, said his group will sue in either the Michigan Court of Claims or federal court.

The state's 1986 policy of considering signatures valid for only 180 days, which was recently enshrined in law through Senate Bill 776, is unconstitutional, Lavigne told reporters after the board's meeting at the Capitol.

Michigan's 1963 constitution gives voters the right to initiate state laws by collecting signatures, "as a check and a balance on the Legislature," and no policy or state law can restrict that right, Lavigne told the board.

"This 180-day policy (is) really an extension of oligarchy," under which "only big-money interests" would be able to get a legislative initiative on the ballot, Lavigne said.

"This is a big-money power grab," he told reporters.

Lavigne said the policy also violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Senate Bill 776, though also unconstitutional, does not apply to MI Legalize because it became law after the group filed its signatures, he said.

To get on the ballot, MILegalize had to collect close to 253,000 valid signatures. The group estimated it submitted 354,000 signatures.

But Christopher Thomas, director of the Bureau of Elections, told the board that no more than 146,413 of the signatures could be valid because the others are all more than 180 days old.

The bipartisan board voted 4-0 to reject the petition.

Board member Norm Shinkle said "everything that Mr. Thomas has said today is accurate," and Gov. Rick Snyder's recent signing of a law enshrining the 180-day rule provides " a bright line" for the board to follow.

Thomas told the panel the board is already facing litigation over the 180-day policy, filed by a group that wants to ban fracking in Michigan. That group has not filed its petition with the Board of State Canvassers, but also faces problems over the age of many of the signatures it collected.

Thomas said the anti-fracking group has filed suit in the Michigan Court of Claims.

If the MILegalize proposal fails to make the ballot, it would spell the end of what was the best-funded and best-organized effort to put a cannabis question on state ballots this year.

Two other groups dropped their efforts last fall. A fourth, the low-key Midland-based Abrogate Prohibition, is seeking to amend the state constitution — an even higher bar that requires collecting 315,000 signatures by July 1, according to state election law.

In another development, this one related to medical cannabis, the Legislature adjourned for the summer Thursday without taking up bills to more closely regulate dispensaries and allow for the production and sale of non-smokable forms of the drug.

“It would take a three-fourths vote on the ‘medibles’ bill because it’s connected to the ballot initiative,” said Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, using the slang term for edible forms of marijuana. “And because we didn’t have enough votes, a decision was made not to proceed.”

Jones said the issue, which already passed the House, isn’t dead. “We’ll probably look at it again in the fall," he said.

Willie Rochon, spokesman for the Michigan Cannabis Development Association, said he’s disappointed by the delay, saying lawmakers missed an opportunity to protect patients and bring revenue into local communities.

"This landmark legislation would allow the medical marijuana industry in Michigan to spark small business development, promote job growth and generate much-needed revenue for both the state and local communities,” he said.

Staff writers Kathleen Gray and Bill Laitner contributed.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.