For more on this story, read Sunday's edition of The Flint Journal

FLINT, Michigan -- Ronald Higgerson has elaborate plans for the city of Flint, and most of them revolve around medical marijuana.

The write-in candidate for Flint mayor said he wants to make the city a center for the medical cannabis and hemp industry."The people voted," he said today. "Let's regulate it, tax it and educate."

Higgerson, 46, is a fourth-generation Flint resident. The former truck driver is now a struggling artist.

Higgerson knows he has less than a slim chance of winning the mayoral election as a relatively unknown write-in candidate -- let alone a write-in candidate with some of the out-there ideas he's suggesting.

Nevertheless, he believes Flint can lead the way in "open and honest" scientific cannabis research, which would lead to more jobs for Flint residents, he said.

"Even if I had a million dollars and a name, it's a slim chance," he said. "I know my ideas are controversial. But I always knew this is the issue I really would push."

The mayoral election is Aug. 4. Candidates Dayne Walling and county Commissioner Brenda Clack will be on the ballot.