Legal weed took a beating Tuesday night with voters in all three communities with marijuana proposals on the ballot voting against allowing marijuana businesses in their towns.

In Highland Park, voters rejected a proposal for marijuana businesses in two sections of the city — along McNichols and Woodward — by a 457-593 vote.

In Vanderbilt, where the village council banned marijuana businesses from town earlier this year, voters validated that decision with a 72-84 vote against a proposal that would have allowed up to 22 legal weed businesses in the tiny town.

And in northwest Michigan, Crystal Lake voters also approved a ballot proposal, by a vote of 145-107, to ban pot shops in town.

“At the end of the day, this is democracy and you have to respect the will of the voters,” said Marcelus Brice, a Detroit lobbyist who spearheaded the Highland Park proposal. “But the residents of Highland Park won’t get to see the benefits of having marijuana facilities in their town.”

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More than 500 communities across the state have adopted ordinances to prohibit marijuana businesses in their towns. But residents can challenge those bans by gathering enough signatures — at least 5% of the vote for governor in 2018 — to put a proposal on the ballot. Efforts are underway in Allen Park, Romulus and South Haven to get marijuana proposals on the November ballot.

After looking at Tuesday’s election results, marijuana advocates aren’t sounding the alarm yet.

“We’re focused on the communities that are embracing the industry and see the opportunities that this new industry will bring,” said Josh Hovey, spokesman for the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association, a Lansing group that represents marijuana businesses. “The leaders in this movement will show the way to others who are more apprehensive. It’s a temporary setback, but I don’t think it’s indicative of where Michigan is going.”

Colorado, the first state to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, has seen similar reluctance from communities. About 75% of the state’s municipalities prohibit marijuana businesses.

Michigan voters approved legalizing marijuana for adult recreational use in November by a 56-44% margin. While using, possessing and growing up to 12 marijuana plants for personal use is now legal in the state, commercial sales won't begin until later this year or early next year. The state just released the rules that will govern the industry earlier this month and will begin accepting applications for licenses this fall.The first licenses aren't expected to be issued until December.

Scott Greenlee, executive director of Healthy and Productive Michigan, which campaigned against the legalization proposal last year and is working with communities that want to prohibit marijuana businesses, said the election results aren’t surprising.

“There will be more to come as people find out they’ve been sold a bill of goods” about marijuana legalization, he said. “I think Michigan will end up like Colorado, with 75 to 80% of the communities saying no to marijuana.”

Kathleen Gray covers the marijuana industry for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.