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Page 6 The Skanner October 10, 2018 News Marijuana Backers Look for Midwest Breakthrough in November By David Eggert Associated Press LANSING, Mich.— Backers of broad mar- ijuana legalization are looking to break through a geographic barrier in November and get their first foothold in the Midwest after a string of election victories in Northeastern and West- ern states. Michigan and North Dakota, where voters previously authorized medical marijuana, will decide if the drug should be legal for any adult 21 and older. They would become the 10th and 11th states to legalize so- called recreational mar- ijuana since 2012, light- ning speed in political terms. Meantime, Missouri and Utah will weigh med- ical marijuana, which is permitted in 31 states after voters in conser- vative Oklahoma ap- proved such use in June. Even if Utah’s initiative is defeated, a compro- mise reached last week between advocates and opponents including the Mormon church would have the Legislature le- galize medical marijua- na. “We’ve kind of reached a critical mass of ac- ceptance,” said Rebecca Haffajee, a University of Michigan assistant pro- fessor of health manage- ment and policy. She said the country may be at a “breaking point” where change is inevitable at the federal level because so many states are in con- flict with U.S. policy that treats marijuana as a controlled substance like heroin. “Generally, people ei- ther find a therapeutic benefit or enjoy the sub- stance and want to do so without the fear of being Obituary: George R. Walker III Sept. 9, 1951 - Sept. 15, 2018 CELEBRATION OF LIFE Sun. Oct. 14, 2018, 2 to 4 p.m. Los Prados Event Hall N. Lombard Street Portland, OR 97203 Full Obituary at TerryFamilyFuneralHome.com George R. Walker III a criminal for using it,” Haffajee said. Two years ago voters in California approved a ballot measure creating the world’s largest legal marijuana market. Ore- gon, Washington, Alas- ka, Colorado and Nevada are other Western states with legal marijuana for medical and personal uses. On the other side of the country, Massachu- setts, Maine, Vermont and Washington, D.C., have legalized recre- ational marijuana, and every other Northeast- ern state has approved medical marijuana. In Michigan, surveys show the public’s recep- tiveness to marijuana legalization tracks sim- ilarly with nationwide polling that finds about 60 percent support, ac- cording to Gallup and the Pew Research Center. The Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project was the driving force be- hind successful legaliza- tion initiatives in other states and has given at least $444,000 for the Michigan ballot drive. “The electorate is rec- ognizing that prohibition doesn’t work. There’s also a growing societal acceptance of marijuana use on a personal level,” said Matthew Schweich, the project’s deputy di- rector. “Our culture has al- AP PHOTO/CARLOS OSORIO Voters in Michigan and North Dakota will decide this fall whether to legalize recreational use of the drug In this Oct. 2 photo, a clerk reaches for a container of marijuana buds for a customer at Utopia Gardens, a medical marijuana dispensary, in Detroit. Michigan and North Dakota, where voters previously authorized medical marijuana, will decide now if the drug should be legal for any adult 21 and older. They would become the 10th and 11th states to legalize so-called recreational marijuana since 2012. ready legalized marijua- na. Now it’s a question of, ‘How quickly will the laws catch up?’” added Schweich, also the cam- paign director for the Michigan legalization effort, known as the Co- alition to Regulate Mari- juana Like Alcohol. Midwest voters have considered recreational legalization just once be- fore, in 2015, when Ohio overwhelmingly rejected it. Supporters said the re- sult was more back lash against allowing only certain private investors to control growing facil- ities than opposition to marijuana. Proponents of Mich- igan’s measure say it would align with a new, strong regulatory sys- tem for medical mari- juana businesses and add roughly $130 million annually in tax revenue, specifically for road re- pairs, schools and munic- ipalities. Critics say the Mich- igan measure is out of step and cite provisions allowing a possession limit of 2.5 ounces (71 grams) that is higher than many other states and a 16 percent tax rate that is lower. Opponents include chambers of commerce and law en- forcement groups along with doctors, the Catho- lic Church and organiza- tions fighting substance abuse. Randy Richardville, a former Republican legis- lative leader and spokes- man for the opposition group Healthy and Pro- ductive Michigan, said adults — even those with- out serious health prob- lems — already can eas- ily obtain pot under the state’s lax medical mari- juana law. The ballot pro- posal, he said, would lead to a more “stoned” work- force, car crashes and crimes, and increased health risks for teens. “This has nothing to do with a citizens’ initiative with a whole bunch of people out there that said they would like to smoke marijuana recreational- ly and responsibly,” Rich- ardville said. “This is a special interest group that put up a lot of dol- lars so that they can sac- rifice our kids’ futures to make more money.” Dr. Donald Condit, an orthopedic surgeon in Grand Rapids who is helping lead physicians’ opposition, said few doc- tors see a problem with, for example, terminal cancer patients using marijuana to ease their pain. But people should think harder about full legal- ization because mari- juana is becoming “very, very potent” and “this stuff could hit the teen- age developing brain like a ton of bricks,” he said. Backers counter that teens’ use of marijua- See MARIJUANA on page 7