Watch CBS News

Michigan Approves Recreational Marijuana, What It Means

(CBS Detroit) — Michigan voters have approved a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana, Tuesday night.

Marijuana is already legal in Michigan for medicinal use, as a result of a 2008 ballot proposal that passed with 63 percent support. However, now it will become the first state in the Midwest to allow it for recreational purposes.

However, at the present moment you can't order coffee with a side of pot from your favorite barista. It will likely take several months for the Michigan legislature to write the laws, and for businesses in the state to get set up with licensing.

Tax money from recreational marijuana will fund schools, fix roads and go back into cities.

Here's a detailed look at what this means in Michigan:

  • Individuals age 21 and older will be able to purchase, possess and use marijuana and marijuana-infused edibles and grow up to 12 marijuana plants for personal consumption.
  • There is a 10-ounce limit for marijuana kept at residences and amounts over 2.5 ounces must be secured in locked containers.
  • A state licensing system will be created for marijuana businesses, including growers, processors, transporters and retailers.
    Municipalities can ban or restrict marijuana businesses in their city limits
  • Commercial sales of marijuana and marijuana-infused edibles will be permitted through state-licensed retailers, subject to a new 10 percent tax earmarked for schools, road and municipalities where marijuana businesses are located.

More than half the states have already legalized medical marijuana, and nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational pot for people age 21 or older. Canada also recently made it legal.

Those who do use recreational marijuana are not able to do it in public and are now allowed to operate motor vehicles while under the influence.

There will be a 6 percent sales tax and 10 percent excise tax on the purchase of recreational marijuana. That money goes first toward regulating the new industry, and $20 million must go toward clinical medical marijuana trials related to veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to a report by MLive.

The leftover money left goes to the municipalities that allow marijuana businesses, the School Aid Fund and toward roads.

A recent estimate from the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency projected the state could bring in up to $287.9 million in new tax revenue in 2023 if the proposal is approved, the report said.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.