Proposal One: Impact on Warren, MI’s Future

Proposal One is the allowing of individuals age 21 and older to purchase, possess and use marijuana and marijuana-infused edibles, and grow up to 12 marijuana plants for personal consumption. Impose a 10-ounce limit for marijuana kept at residences and require that amounts over 2.5 ounces be secured in locked containers. Creating a state licensing system for marijuana businesses including growers, processors, and transporters. Ryan Mainer (Libertarian party) supports proposal one. How do we know this is true? He has endorsements from Justin Jasiewicz, who is a founder and owner of 4 Corner Cannabis, a store that is based primarily off the resource and drug known as marijuana.

Nate Shannon is a politician that I have actually spoken with through Facebook Messenger, the faster easier way to communicate with friends, family, and associates through direct messaging. When talking to him I asked about his position on proposal one. He is neither against it nor for it. His response was “I will respect the will of the voters,” taking more of the neutral position on the proposal hoping that it doesn’t negatively affect his outcome within the polls amongst the voters within the state of Michigan. Failing to truly realize that had he made his position more open to the public then he could potentially sway some voters upon his favor on election day. Personally, I like Mainer’s position because he is direct with his support for Proposal 1. I feel that his attitude to willingly endorse someone like Justin Jasiewicz, who is a founder and owner of 4 Corner Cannabis kind of shows that he is taking a brave and risky approach in showing support which allows individuals ages 21 and older to purchase, possess and use marijuana and marijuana-infused edibles, and grow up to 12 marijuana plants for personal consumption.

This proposal also imposes a 10-ounce limit for marijuana kept at residences and require that amounts over 2.5 ounces be secured in locked containers. Finally, this proposal creates a state licensing system for marijuana businesses including growers, processors, and transporters. State Representative Patrick Green is serving a partial term and first full term in the House of Representatives. He represents the 28th District, which includes the city of Center Line and the western portion of the city of Warren in Macomb county. As a member of the Warren City Council since 2007, Green has worked with the challenges of cities facing reduced resources. By taking a leadership role in the budget process, Green made sure Warren consistently provided strong public safety in the form of firefighters, EMTs and police officers. While on the city council, Green’s priorities included bringing significant new business investments to Warren, increasing the tax base and creating more good paying jobs. Green’s primary focus as well is “to bring balance to the tax system; to bring sustainable jobs to Michigan; and to protect our environment” (Housedems.com). With that being said, he is somewhat a supporter of Proposal 1 although he has not come out and mentioned it outright.

Looking at the basic demographics within my environment, where the average median income is $40,479, Warren, MI is a place that I call home. With a population of 135,069, Warren is the 196th largest city in the United States. The population density is 3,931 per sq mi which is 3797% higher than the Michigan average and 4239% higher than the national average. The median age in Warren is 39 which is approximately 1% lower than the Michigan average of 40. In Warren, 52% of the population over 15 years of age are married, 84% speak English and 1% speak Spanish. 77% of Warren residents were born in Michigan, 10% were born out of state, 1% were born outside of the United States and 12% were foreign born. A general summary of the cost of living index in Warren, MI is shown above. Compared to the state average of Michigan the cost of living index in Warren, MI is 87, which is equal to the average in Michigan and compared to the national average it is 13% lower than. The cost of living index is made up of several categories. These are transportation at 9%, utilities at 10%, goods and services at 33%, housing at 30%, groceries at 13%, and health care at 5%. The bulk of the cost of living index comes from the categories of goods and services and housing. If you look at everyday goods and services they can be a good indicator in a certain city of the general costs of goods there. In Warren, MI goods and services come in at 5% higher than the average in Michigan and are 3% lower than compared to the nationwide average. the overall crime rate is 31% higher than the average of crimes committed in Michigan. It is also 9% higher than the national average. When it comes to violent crimes, Warren, MI shows a crime rate that is 11% higher than the Michigan average. The crime rate is also 32% higher than the national average. When it comes to property crimes, Warren, MI is shown to be 36% higher than the Michigan average and 6% higher than the national average. The Warren, MI educational system consists of 47 public schools, 8 private schools and 4 post-secondary schools. Warren public schools have average test scores of 27% which is 33% lower than the Michigan average and 45% lower than the national average. The student to teach ratio of Warren public schools is 21:1, compared to 22:1 in Michigan and 16:1 across all of the United States. A total of 82.3% of students have completed 8th grade, 81.0% have completed high school, 17.3% have completed a bachelor’s degree and 1.0% have completed a doctorate degree. The Warren, MI employment information can be a key indicator when searching for a new job. A good indicator of the strength of the job market is the income per capita and the median household income. The income per capita in Warren is $22,475, which is 18% lower than the Michigan average and 25% lower than the national average. The median household income is $44,017, which is 13% lower than the Michigan average and 20% lower than the national average. The Unemployment rate 6.2%unemployment rate in Warren is 6%, which is 33% higher than the national average. The poverty rate in Warren is 19% which is 29% higher than the national average. The main employers within my area of residence are: General Motors, Five Brothers, Central Transport, Campbell Ewald, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Financial Services of America, and Art Van. As for the divisions within my community, the probation office is located at the 37th District Court building, 8300 Common Road, Warren, Michigan 48093. Covered parking is provided free of charge in the City of Warren four story parking garage, that is adjacent to the city hall, across the street from the court building. The Court building is also located next to the Warren Police Department. Over the past few elections District 28 has trended as a Democratic district.

But for years to come I do expect it to be a swing district meaning that the district can go either direction based on the candidates running and the type of issues that they do decide to tackle going forward. 2012 voter turnout was 408,046 by the 2016 elections the number of registered voters who voted increased by 16,000 voters. 67.32 percent of people voted in District 28. Hopefully this year and for years going forward the voter turnout will continue to rise and continue to escalate. A new Detroit Free Press and Epic MRA poll shows a large lead for all three ballot proposals in Michigan. All three polls have double-digit margins between those voting for and against the proposals. According to the poll, 59 percent of people would vote yes for proposal 1 while 41 percent would vote no. Only two percent of people were undecided or refused to answer. Taking this information and looking at the bigger picture, it looks as if Proposal 1 might actually pass in the state of Michigan becoming the “10th state to legalize recreational marijuana if voters approve Proposal 1 this Tuesday” (Hannah, 2018). It will be county sheriffs “including Lenawee county Sheriff jack Welsh” (Hannah, 2018), who will make serious efforts to downplay the chances of Proposal 1 being passed in the state of Michigan. Publicly supporting Healthy and Productive Michigan’s effort to vote down Proposal 1 is one of many ways in which they plan to go against Proposal 1. From a personal standpoint, I have talked to citizens of Michigan on both sides of the fence regarding Proposal 1 and the amount of intake that I have received regarding the proposal is quite interesting. For example, while talking to many family and friends who are against the issue, their biggest complaint behind Proposal 1 possibly getting approved is the type of society that will be built behind it. Secondly, the smell is something that is increasingly annoying and irritating to the people of the public.

However, not one person was able to come up with any health reasons, violent killings, or health restrictions caused from the job. In fact, many individuals have been known to use marijuana for health reasons to either slow down their way of thinking or help with dealing with stress and other issues they may be challenged with on an everyday basis. I believe that Proposal 1 will indeed pass. While reading an article on the Detroit News entitled, “Poll: Most minds made up on Michigan pot legalization proposal, but attacks escalate,” Johnathan Oosting goes to tell the reader that “the legalization of marijuana will pass 57% to 40% on November 6th, doing irreparable damage to our communities” (Oosting, 2018). The comments on the issue via Facebook are quite interesting and humorous, with many people laughing at the mockery of people being upset about the chances of Proposal 1 passing. One of the more interesting points that has been made was the amount of deaths that occurs from both liquor and cigarettes, but yet marijuana is seen as the most dangerous drug of them all but has not been successfully proven to be as bad as it is often thought out to be. Marijuana becoming more recreational will make the drug more socially acceptable. The only thing that must be stated within Proposal 1 is to not disturb the peace while using the drug. Secondly, keep access away from children. Lastly, use the drug responsibly in the privacy of your own home or around others that are okay with the smell of the drug.

Despite the possibility of an economic boom, the legalization of marijuana is still controversial. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said he’s concerned about legalization that could come in just six months. ‘I don’t have an opinion, professionally, other than our job is to enforce the law. Personally I don’t think it’s great,’ Bouchard said. ‘There will be societal outcomes, there will be societal costs, there will be deaths from driving and other activity and I don’t think sometimes people pause and take that into account. I believe that this proposal would allow municipalities to ban or restrict marijuana businesses. Permit commercial sales of marijuana and marijuana-infused edibles through state-licensed retailers, subject to a new 10% tax earmarked for schools, roads, and municipalities where marijuana businesses are located. The chances of the proposal passing are high but the economic growth is also endless. There will always be pros and cons to ever situation it will be interesting to see how Michigan citizens go about using and producing this drug as time goes on. I expect it to pass for many of the reasons listed above. Not to mention that many of the prepolls state that it’s going to pass at a high level. Not to mention that it is not a harmful or gateway drug in my opinion. It can benefit people of all ages and help benefit people with health issues. Will be interesting to see how things play out going forward.

Bibliography

1. Hakim, S. (n.d.). Probation Department . Retrieved from http://www.37thdistrictcourt.net/probation.html Jr., D. B., & Haddad, K. (2018, July 30).
2. What legalizing recreational marijuana in Michigan means. Retrieved from https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/what-legalizing-recreational-marijuana-in-michigan-means
3. Proposal 1 Presentation Recording. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://mediaspace.msu.edu/media/Proposal 1 Presentation Recording/1_lxljh5lq White, M. (2018, October 26).
4. New poll shows large lead for marijuana, redistricting and voter registration proposals. Retrieved from https://www.wxyz.com/news/new-poll-shows-large-lead-for-marijuana-redistricting-and-voter-registration-proposals WJBK. (n.d.).
5. Pot companies position for potential legalization in Michigan. Retrieved from http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/pot-companies-position-for-potential-legalization-in-michigan 

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