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Petition Drive To Legalize Pot In Michigan Ready To Launch

Tom Arthur/Wikicommons

(MPRN-Lansing) A petition campaign will launch soon to put a measure on the ballot to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Michigan. 

The campaign submitted its petition form to state officials for approval. A spring and summer signature-gathering effort would then try to put the question on the 2018 ballot.

Former state lawmaker Jeff Irwin is the campaign’s political director. He says banning marijuana has been a waste of time and money, just like the nation’s experiment with Prohibition in the 1920s.

“We also know that alcohol prohibition was a huge failure. We know that alcohol prohibition fueled crime and violence, just like marijuana prohibition is doing today.”

Irwin says legalization would allow a new business sector, and generate millions of dollars in revenue for schools, roads, and local governments.

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