The CP Edit: Hashish Is Rising Up

Employee

85 years after the premiere of “Reefer Madness,” the 1936 anti-drug propaganda film that demonized marijuana, and three decades after the Reagan-era war on drugs in the 1980s, it was labeled the gateway drug leading to would lead a life of crime filled with addiction, cannabis has finally reached the mainstream and taken its rightful place alongside alcohol as an acceptable way for adults to relax after a busy day at work. In the time between President Bill Clinton’s creative claim that he never inhaled and President Barack Obama’s open admission that he smoked a lot in college, the cannabis landscape has changed in ways we couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago .

Tectonic changes in the public perception and social acceptance of cannabis have occurred relatively quickly here in Michigan. Legalization for medical purposes was the first step, which was overwhelmingly approved by state voters in 2008. Eight years later, the then government became. Rick Snyder signed a bill that eventually allowed pharmacies to operate and started a new retail industry to support the sale of medical marijuana. The next challenge was legalization for recreational use. Between 2013 and 2016, opinion polls on the issue of legalizing recreational marijuana shifted from 41% in favor, 55% in favor, against 53% in favor and 42% against. And so it came about that 10 years after medical cannabis was approved, Michigan voters took the next big step forward, approving adult recreational use by 56% and a burgeoning, vertically integrated industry of growers, processors and rocket fuel testing added labs, secure vans, and retail stores.

In addition to heroin, LSD and ecstasy, cannabis is still nonsensically listed in the federal register 1 for controlled substances, based on the dubious claim that cannabis “currently has no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse”. With a new President and Democrat-controlled Congress, we hope the federal ban is the next wall to collapse and spark even more resilient economic activity as cannabis-based companies will be able to use traditional banking and credit facilities to support their business operations and growth.

The legalization of adult medical and recreational use has opened a new economic frontier in Lansing.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of new jobs are being created in cannabis companies across the city. The payroll of these companies has a ripple effect – what economists call a multiplier – that comes from every dollar paid to a cannabis worker that reverberates through the local economy as they get their wages at grocery stores, gas stations and more Restaurants.

In addition, numerous empty storefronts and thousands of square feet of empty storage space have been repurposed for the needs of the industry to clean up pollution, increase property values, and generate new revenue streams for property and income taxes to support community services. Fears that cannabis shop fronts and other establishments could lead to more crime and impair the quality of life in the surrounding neighborhoods simply did not materialize. Some drug store theft attempts have been made, but most cannabis retail stores are as clean and secure as a liquor store, if not more so.

Local governments also receive a share of the state’s 10% excise tax on retail sales of recreational cannabis. Last month, the first $ 10 million from the state marijuana regulatory fund was distributed to 100 cities, towns, and counties across the state. Lansing received $ 280,000 for 10 licensed facilities. East Lansing received $ 28,000 with just one licensee. Ingham County received a check for $ 308,000 for the 11 licensed facilities that operate in the county’s two largest cities. We understand why Lansing and East Lansing get the government money: They carry the licensing, regulation and enforcement burdens for the cannabis companies in their communities. It is not so clear why Ingham County should partake in the windfall, as its government does not bear any of the burdens of industrial oversight.

For this reason, we believe it is only fair and just that the county reassign these funds to the communities from which they come. We believe it would be an injustice for the district leaders to use the funds to subsidize services such as street patrols outside the district for townships that have refused to allow cannabis operations or to fill other loopholes in the district budget.

In terms of justice and injustice, the cannabis industry has been very lucrative for those investors who managed to get licenses. However, very few of these licenses were given to minority-owned companies or used directly for color communities negatively impacted by the war on drugs. This could soon change in Lansing. As reported in today’s issue (see page 10), dozens of cannabis licenses may soon be available in Lansing as previously granted licensees failed to secure their state licenses. This creates the potential for a new pool of licenses that could be awarded to qualified applicants to improve social and racial justice in Lansing’s cannabis industry.

We believe Ingham County should use its cannabis windfall to fund business development programs that will help minority entrepreneurs in Lansing thrive in the cannabis sector. We urge Mayor Andy Schor and the council to open this dialogue with the district leaders.