Since the 1970s, the college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has enacted some of the most lenient laws on marijuana possession in the United States. These include measures approved in a 1971 city-council ordinance, a 1974 voter referendum making possession of small amounts of the substance merely a civil infraction subject to a small fine, and a 2004 referendum on the use of medical marijuana. The passage of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act in November 2018 has made recreational marijuana legal not only in Ann Arbor but throughout the entire state.
Through the 1960s and early 1970s, as Ann Arbor played host to a number of radical organizations—including formative meetings of Students for a Democratic Society, the establishment of the White Panther Party, and the local Human Rights Party—public opinion in the city moved steadily to the left on the criminalization of marijuana possession. The Michigan Daily, the main student newspaper at the University of Michigan, gained national press coverage by urging the legalization of marijuana as early as 1967.[1] However, two more specific factors pushed the city towards the eventual adoption of marijuana enforcement provisions that proved to be among the most liberal in the country.
The first factor was local reaction to the state penalties, which provided for a year's imprisonment for possession of two ounces (57 g) or less, four years' imprisonment for the sale of marijuana, and harsher penalties for repeat offenses. These penalties received national attention when poet and activist John Sinclair was sentenced to ten years in prison for possession of two joints, a sentence that sparked the landmark John Sinclair Freedom Rally at Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena on December 10, 1971. The event brought together proponents in left-wing politics, including pop musicians John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Seger, jazz artists Archie Shepp and Roswell Rudd, and speakers Allen Ginsberg, Rennie Davis, Jerry Rubin, and Bobby Seale.[2] Three days after the rally, Sinclair was released from prison after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the state's marijuana statutes were unconstitutional.
The second factor was the April 1972 election to Ann Arbor city council of two candidates from the Human Rights Party (HRP), an organization that promoted local progressive and radical causes.[3] In September 1972, several months after they took their seats on council, the HRP's two council members spearheaded a bill that would reduce city penalties for possession of less than two ounces of marijuana to a $5 civil-infraction ticket. (The city penalty had previously been identical to the state penalty.) City police would then charge violators under the city ordinance rather than the state statute. The HRP representatives, by garnering the support of Democratic council members, quickly managed to pass the ordinance over the objections of council Republicans. In supporting the new ordinance, Democratic mayor Robert J. Harris told The Washington Post, "In this town, it was the only way to go. ... We've made a great effort to get a decent relationship between the kids and the cops. Now at least we'll get the police out of the marijuana business."[4]
Outside observers characterized the ordinance as the most lenient in the country. In press interviews, the city attorney, Jerold Lax, described the penalty as "sort of like a parking ticket", explaining that violators could mail the ticket, with a guilty plea and the fine, back to city hall in order to dispose of the charge.[5] City police and prosecutors agreed to use the $5 city ordinance, rather than the still-applicable state laws, as the tool for enforcement against violators. The city police chief, however, promised to continue to pursue large-scale drug dealers aggressively, using the harsher state laws against this class of violator.[5]
Shortly after the measure's adoption, The New York Times reported: "Under the trees on the University of Michigan campus, in the back rows of movie theaters—even, it is said, in the public gallery of the City Council chamber itself—young people are increasingly lighting up marijuana in public these days." However, both police and independent academic observers asserted in national media articles that the amount of marijuana smoked in the city had not increased; the locations had merely switched to include more public spaces.[5]
Charter amendment of 1974
Within weeks of its adoption, the new marijuana ordinance had sparked outrage in many parts of the state. The director of the Michigan State Police, for instance, immediately threatened to move his troopers into Ann Arbor in order to enforce the state codes against possession of marijuana. In the first test case, decided on September 29, 1972, a district court judge ruled the ordinance unconstitutional as an "intrusion of Ann Arbor in the judicial functions of the State of Michigan."[6] City voters responded in November by electing Perry Bullard to the Michigan House of Representatives on a platform that called for full legalization of the possession, but not sale, of marijuana by adults throughout the state.[7]
Despite the adverse court ruling, the city's marijuana ordinance remained in place until June 1973, when it was repealed by the city council. The local debate attracted attention from a number of national media outlets, including CBS and NBC television news programs[8] and The New York Times.[9] During the council's vote to repeal, about 150 spectators packed council chambers to light up joints in protest, and one protester hurled a cherry pie at Mayor James Stephenson.[9]
On April 2, 1974, voters in Ann Arbor overruled the council's decision by amending the city charter with the famous Section 16.2, which, in somewhat altered form, remains in effect today.[10] The charter section reinstated the $5 civil-infraction penalty for possession, use, giving away, or selling of marijuana and prohibited city police from enforcing the more stringent state laws. The same day, the neighboring city of Ypsilanti adopted a similar measure.[11] In adopting the charter amendment, Ann Arbor voters asserted that the provisions were necessary to ensure the "just and equitable legal treatment of the citizens of this community, and in particular of the youth of this community present as university students or otherwise."[12]
Part of Section 16.2 declared that no city police officer "shall complain of the possession, control, use, giving away, or sale of marijuana or cannabis to any other authority except the Ann Arbor city attorney; and the city attorney shall not refer any said complaint to any other authority for prosecution."[12] In doing so, the provision effectively denied state courts the opportunity to declare the measure unconstitutional, as had occurred in 1972, since a test-case opportunity would thus never come before a state judge.
The perception of the city as a haven for marijuana permeated the local culture. In January 1975, the countercultural Ann Arbor Sun newspaper held a "Win a Pound of Colombian" giveaway contest of marijuana.[13] Meanwhile, John Sinclair ran a local, pro-legalization radio program entitled Toke Time on Ann Arbor's WNRZ.[14]
Tightening the marijuana law in 1990
During the 1980s, pressure grew from Ann Arbor Republicans to eliminate the city's lenient marijuana city-charter section. In a 1983 referendum, Ann Arbor voters rejected a proposed repeal of the section, with 61.7 percent of voters opposing the proposed tightening of marijuana codes.[15] By the late 1980s, however, moderate GOP mayor Gerald D. Jernigan was calling the marijuana code an "embarrassment" to the city.[16] In January 1990, the city council approved holding a referendum on increased penalties for possession, use, or sale of marijuana.[15] In the resulting referendum, held in April 1990, 53 percent of voters agreed to amend Section 16.2 of the city charter with heightened penalties, raising the fine from $5 to $25 for a first offense, $50 for a second offense, and $100 or more for further offenses. The offense, however, remained a civil infraction rather than a misdemeanor or felony.[17]
In the same election, using a tactic modeled on the city's original $5 marijuana law, voters approved a charter amendment intended to protect access to abortion in Ann Arbor if it ever became illegal in the state of Michigan. Voters mandated that, should abortion ever become illegal, a city ordinance would come into force under which abortion would be punishable in Ann Arbor solely by a $5 fine. Local judges would thus have the ability to assess the $5 fine rather than any more punitive state penalties. Crafted as the state legislature debated increased restrictions on abortion in Michigan, including the adoption of a parental-consent bill, the measure declared the city a "zone of reproductive freedom."[18] The legality of the charter amendment remains unclear, since it has never been tested.
One local activist expressed disappointment with the voters' marijuana decision, telling USA Today: "The people were clearly pro-choice on abortion, and I expected them to be pro-choice on marijuana as well."[19] However, even with the new fine, possession of small amounts of the substance remained largely decriminalized in Ann Arbor, since the penalty continued to consist only of a civil-infraction ticket similar to a traffic fine. Indeed, the Ann Arbor Observer reported in 2012 that assistant city attorney Bob West could remember "only two times in the last five years that possession of non-medical marijuana has resulted even in a formal court hearing—and then only because the users contested tickets received under the city’s lenient marijuana law."[20]
Medical-marijuana referendum of 2004
On November 2, 2004, voters in Ann Arbor approved the Ann Arbor Medical Marijuana Initiative authored by city resident Rich Birkett. This ballot initiative amended Section 16.2 of the city charter to allow the growing and use of marijuana for medical purposes. The measure also capped fines for the third and subsequent offenses for non-medical uses or sale at $100.[21] The measure passed with 74 percent approval among voters. The Ann Arbor initiative was only one of several similar measures on local and state ballots that day: Columbia, Missouri, another college town, approved a similar law on medical marijuana, as did the state of Montana, while Oregon voters rejected an initiative to loosen its existing medical-marijuana program, and Alaska voters rejected total decriminalization of marijuana possession.
However, what had been a relatively uncontroversial measure during the election proved controversial following its passage. Shortly after its approval, the Ann Arbor city attorney Steve Postema characterized the initiative as "unenforceable," citing its conflicts with federal and state law. Likewise, city police chief Dan Oates announced that his police force would disregard it and continue normal enforcement practices. Activists who had worked to put the initiative on the ballot quickly expressed their outrage.[22] But since medical-marijuana users in Ann Arbor are very rarely prosecuted, and because the penalty for first-time possession remains a $25 civil-infraction fine, both the 2004 ballot measure itself and Oates's subsequent statements on enforcement may prove to be more symbolic than substantive.
Michigan Medical Marijuana Act of 2008
In November 2008, Michigan voters passed the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act.[23] The new state law supports the Ann Arbor City charter by offering protection from state law enforcement for qualifying patients and their assigned primary caregivers under the law that took effect on April 4, 2009. Under the law, a patient with a qualifying condition and a signed statement from an attending physician, can register for an identification card under the Michigan Department of Community Health managed program for legal medical marijuana use in Michigan. After registration, the patient and primary caregiver can legally be in possession of marijuana according to State law. The primary caregiver may provide assistance for using medical marijuana or even be assigned responsibility for cultivating the patient's legally protected maximum of 12 marijuana plants, for a fee.[24]
Even though the legal use of medical marijuana was allowed for in the Ann Arbor City Charter, it was still illegal in the State of Michigan, allowing for arrest by state police and other state law enforcement agencies. With this new protection under the Michigan state law, the only remaining threat to a registered patient or caregiver in Ann Arbor is from the untested nature of the new state law and the acts of the D.E.A and other federal law enforcement agencies.
In popular culture
Graham Nash's "Prison Song" from his 1974 album, Wild Tales, references Ann Arbor's lenient marijuana laws with the chorus: Kids in Texas smoking grass, Ten year sentence comes to pass Misdemeanor in Ann Arbor, Ask the judges why?
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the largest organization working solely on marijuana policy reform in the United States in terms of its budget, number of members, and staff.
The Human Rights Party (HRP) was a left-wing political party that existed in Michigan from 1970 to 1977. The party achieved electoral success in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. It eventually expanded to include several other Michigan cities with large student populations. In 1975, the HRP became the Socialist Human Rights Party (SHRP), and it later merged with the Socialist Party of Michigan.
The recorded history of Ann Arbor began with settlers from various eastern states in early 1824.
Hash Bash is an annual event held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, originally held every April 1, but now on the first Saturday of April at noon on the University of Michigan Diag. A collection of speeches, live music, and occasional civil disobedience are centered on the goal of reforming federal, state, and local marijuana laws. The first Hash Bash was held on Saturday, April 1, 1972, in response to the March 9th 1972 decision by Michigan Supreme Court declaring unconstitutional the law used to convict cultural activist John Sinclair for possession of two marijuana joints. This action left the State of Michigan without a law prohibiting the use of marijuana until after the weekend of April 1, 1972. Chef Ra was a fixture of the Hash Bash for 19 consecutive years before his death in late 2006.
Gerald D. Jernigan was mayor of the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, from 1987 to 1991.
In the United States, increased restrictions and labeling of cannabis as a poison began in many states from 1906 onward, and outright prohibitions began in the 1920s. By the mid-1930s cannabis was regulated as a drug in every state, including 35 states that adopted the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act. The first national regulation was the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.
The Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative, also known as Massachusetts Ballot Question 2, was an initiated state statute that replaced prior criminal penalties with new civil penalties on adults possessing an ounce or less of marijuana. The initiative appeared on the November 4, 2008, ballot in Massachusetts.
The Michigan Compassionate Care Initiative was an indirect initiated state statute that allowed the medical use of marijuana for seriously ill patients. It was approved by voters as Proposal 1 on November 6, 2008, 63 percent in favor to 37 percent opposed.
Cannabis in Oregon is legal for both medical and recreational use. In recent decades, the U.S. state of Oregon has had a number of legislative, legal, and cultural events surrounding use of cannabis. Oregon was the first state to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis, and among the first to authorize its use for medical purposes. An attempt to recriminalize possession of small amounts of cannabis was turned down by Oregon voters in 1997.
The legal history of cannabis in the United States began with state-level prohibition in the early 20th century, with the first major federal limitations occurring in 1937. Starting with Oregon in 1973, individual states began to liberalize cannabis laws through decriminalization. In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis, sparking a trend that spread to a majority of states by 2016. In 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize cannabis for recreational use.
Cannabis in Wisconsin is illegal for recreational use. Possession of any amount is punishable by up to 6 months in prison and a $1000 fine for a first offense. A second offense is punished as a felony with up to 3.5 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. At the local level, however, numerous municipalities and counties have decriminalized cannabis or lessened penalties for minor possession offenses. Medical use is legal only in the form of low-THC cannabis oil.
Cannabis in Arkansas is illegal for recreational use. First-time possession of up to four ounces (110 g) is punished with a fine of up to $2,500, imprisonment of up to a year, and a mandatory six month driver's license suspension. Medical use was legalized in 2016 by way of a ballot measure to amend the state constitution.
Cannabis in North Dakota is legal for medical use but illegal for recreational use. Since 2019 however, possession under a 1/2 ounce has been decriminalized in the sense that there is no threat of jail time, though a criminal infraction fine up to $1,000 still applies. The cultivation of hemp is currently legal in North Dakota. In November 2018, the state's voters voted on recreational marijuana legalization, along with Michigan; the measure was rejected 59% to 41%. Two groups attempted to put marijuana legalization measures on the June 2020 Primary and the November 2020 elections, but were prevented from doing so by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cannabis in Kansas is fully illegal, and possession of even small amounts is a misdemeanor crime. Cannabis is only legal in Kansas in the form of THC free cannabidiol oil, also known as CBD.
Cannabis in Missouri is legal for recreational use. A ballot initiative to legalize recreational use passed by a 53–47 margin on November 8, 2022. Possession for adults 21 and over became legal on December 8, 2022, with the first licensed sales occurring on February 3, 2023.
Cannabis in Mississippi is legal for medical use and illegal for non-medical use. Possession of small amounts was decriminalized in 1978.
Cannabis in Ohio has been legal for recreational use since December 7, 2023. Since 1975, possession of up to 100 grams has been decriminalized, with several of the state's major cities having enacted further reforms. On November 7, 2023, voters approved Issue 2 by a 57–43 margin to legalize cannabis for recreational use.
Cannabis in Michigan is legal for recreational use. A 2018 initiative to legalize recreational use passed with 56% of the vote. State-licensed sales of recreational cannabis began in December 2019.
The Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, also known as Proposal 1, was an initiative that appeared on the November 2018 ballot to legalize cannabis in the U.S. state of Michigan. The initiative allows adults 21 and older to possess up to 2.5 ounces (71 g) of cannabis and to grow up to 12 plants at home. The initiative was approved with 56% of the vote.
The movement to decriminalize psilocybin in the United States began in 2019 with Denver, Colorado, becoming the first city to decriminalize psilocybin in May of that year. The cities of Oakland and Santa Cruz, California, decriminalized psilocybin in June 2019 and January 2020, respectively. Washington, D.C., followed suit in November 2020, as did Somerville, Massachusetts, in January 2021, and then the neighboring Cambridge and Northampton in February 2021 and March 2021, respectively. Seattle, Washington, became the largest U.S. city on the growing list in October 2021. Detroit, Michigan, followed in November 2021.
References
↑ "Legalize Marijuana, Student Daily Asks", The Washington Post, January 16, 1967, p.A7
↑ Salpukas, Agis (December 12, 1971), "15,000 Attend Michigan U. Rally to Protest Jailing of Radical Poet", The New York Times, p.76
↑ Salpukas, Agis (April 9, 1972), "2 Radicals Elected to Ann Arbor Seats", The New York Times[pageneeded]
↑ Shapiro, Leonard (October 22, 1972), "Judge Sets Aside $5 Marijuana Fine in Ann Arbor, Mich.", The Washington Post, p.G6;"$5 Marijuana Fine Is Upset By Court", The New York Times, September 30, 1972, p.63
1 2 3 "Ann Arbor Eases Marijuana Curbs", The New York Times, September 24, 1972, p.42
↑ Shapiro, Leonard (October 22, 1972), "Judge Sets Aside $5 Marijuana Fine in Ann Arbor, Mich.", The Washington Post, p.G6
↑ "Michigan", USA Today, April 4, 1990[pageneeded]
↑ "Ann Arbor Adopts Abortion Rights", The Washington Times, April 4, 1990, p.B6 See also "City Hopes to Thwart Michigan on Abortion Law", USA Today, February 14, 1990, p.3A
↑ Activist Rich Birkett quoted in "Michigan", USA Today, April 4, 1990
↑ "More Better Pot", Ann Arbor Observer, December 2012, p.12
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