Lansing Mayor, Tommy Chong Speak At 44th Hash Bash
ANN ARBOR (WWJ/AP) -- A crowd that included legalized marijuana advocates and an untold number of users gathered Saturday at the University of Michigan to hear speakers extoll the virtues of decriminalizing pot.
Headlined by comedian and famed marijuana supporter Tommy Chong, the 44th annual "Hash Bash" brought together people of various ages, races and backgrounds to talk about cannabis.
"What we're having here today is a celebration of the freedom of the greatest plant known to man," Chong said.
State Representative Jeff Irwin said that he has a bill ready to introduce in Lansing to make marijuana fully legal in Michigan.
"We're going to protect medical, we're going to allow limited home-grows and we're going to set up a sensible system for people to be able to go out and buy cannabis, just like they do in Colorado," Irwin told the crowd. "It's going to be 'Colorado: improved' here in the Great Lakes State."
Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero also took the stage on Michigan's Central Campus Diag.
"It is a shame that in the year 2015, pot is still politically polarizing," said Bernero, the Democratic candidate for governor in 2010. "A lot of people are still afraid to embrace legalization. I am proud to say my thinking has evolved."
Bernero, 51, said he's never smoked marijuana.
A statewide marijuana legalization ballot initiative is planned for 2016 that aims to allow residents to cultivate their own plants and allow other uses of the drug.
One man in attendance, who works at a medical marijuana dispensary, said that marijuana legalization comes with its benefits for non-users, as seen in other states.
"It's pretty clear, the numbers speak for themselves with what's happened in Colorado with the tax issues -- the writing is on the wall, it's time to legalize," the supporter said. "Let's fix the roads, let's pay the teachers what they're really worth -- this is about the future."
Voters in six Michigan communities passed marijuana decriminalization measures in November. Voters in two Oakland County communities passed similar measures in August, while voters in Lansing were among residents in three cities who approved decriminalization proposals in 2013.
The decriminalization measures put the communities in potential conflict with state law. Michigan bans marijuana use and possession unless it's medical marijuana.
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