Public radio from Western Michigan University 102.1 NPR News | 89.9 Classical WMUK
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Portage Voters to Decide Marijuana Proposal

WMUK

The City of Portage’s ballot this Tuesday includes a proposal that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

The proposal would amend Portage’s city charter. If it passes, people over 21 found with less than an ounce of marijuana on private property would get a pass as far as the city’s laws are concerned.

Ken Jonatzke was one of the leaders of the effort to put the proposal before voters. He says it would protect medical marijuana users who unwittingly break the law.

"Let’s say they’re a gram over in the amount that they have on hand as a caregiver. That automatically throws them into illegal situation. And it’s prosecuted to fullest extent," he says.

Jonatzke faced felony charges in 2012, when officials claimed he’d provided medical marijuana to people not legally under his care. Jonatzke says he did not. But he agreed to a deal that reduced the charges to one count of misdemeanor possession.

Jonatzke acknowledges that as long as non-medical-marijuana remains illegal under state law, the proposal only limited protection.

"We’re just going to have to tell people, ‘We’ve changed the charter, it’s no longer illegal in the City of Portage but it is illegal in the county and you’re a resident of the county, and also illegal the state of Michigan,'" he says.

In July Governor Rick Snyder’s office told the City of Portage that the proposal goes against state law. But Snyder spokesperson Dave Murray told WMUK in an email this week that it “wouldn’t be appropriate for the governor’s office to weigh in on a local issue.” Murray did not respond to a request to clarify the governor’s position.
 

Sehvilla Mann joined WMUK’s news team in 2014 as a reporter on the local government and education beats. She covered those topics and more in eight years of reporting for the Station, before becoming news director in 2022.
Related Content