FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, July 10, 2017

LANSING, MI — Supporters of marijuana legalization announced today that the signature collection effort is running ahead of schedule with more than 100,000 signatures collected to-date. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol must collect 252,523 valid signatures to place the question on Michigan’s Nov. 2018 ballot.

“The support we are seeing across the state has been fantastic. We are getting calls and emails everyday from people who understand that marijuana prohibition is a massive failure and asking where they can sign and how they can help,” said coalition spokesperson Josh Hovey. “If we can keep up this momentum, we will have all signatures in four months rather than the six months required by state law.”

The majority of the petition collection campaign is being coordinated by CRMLA via paid signature collectors. The group has collected 99,209 signatures from paid petition gatherers. CRMLA coalition member MILegalize added 3,216 from its initial volunteer petition turn-in for a total of 102,425 signatures collected to-date.

If approved by Michigan voters in November 2018, the initiative would:

Legalize personal possession, cultivation, and use of limited amounts of cannabis for adults 21 and older;

Legalize the cultivation of industrial hemp;

License marijuana businesses that cultivate, process, test, transport, and sell marijuana;

Protect consumers with proper testing and safety regulations for retail marijuana; and

Tax marijuana at retail levels with a 10 percent excise tax and 6 percent sales tax, which will support K-12 public schools, roads, and local governments.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is partnership between grassroots activists and key organizations, including: the Marijuana Policy Project, the ACLU of Michigan, the Drug Policy Alliance, the National Patients Rights Association, Michigan NORML, MI Legalize, the Michigan Cannabis Coalition, and lawyers from the State Bar of Michigan Marijuana Law Section.

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For more information about the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, please visit RegulateMI.org.

CONTACT:

Josh Hovey josh@regulatemi.org C: 517-295-3496