Recreational marijuana advocates were lighting up and passing joints in Detroit after a ballot proposal passed to legalize pot.
Proposal 1 allows marijuana to be regulated like alcohol.
Michigan residents over 21 years old will soon be able to buy, possess, use, and grow marijuana.
Listen above to hear Stateside's conversation with Jeff Hank, executive director of MI Legalize, the group behind Proposal 1.
Matthew Abel, an attorney with the Cannabis Counsel in Detroit, says there is still work to be done on marijuana laws in the state.
“We need to go back and add expungement for marijuana offenses; there’s nothing automatic about it,” Abel said.
He’s not alone in thinking more needs to be done to address people who are locked up for non-violent marijuana-related offenses.
State Senator Coleman Young II attended a pro-recreational pot party in Detroit.
“Now I’m very hopeful that we can now work on getting these brothers and sisters out of jail and getting them into jobs, and that’s what I’m all about,” Young said.
The group that unsuccessfully fought against legalizing recreational marijuana is not giving up its fight.
Scott Greenlee is the president of Healthy and Productive Michigan. He says they will now turn to helping communities opt out of having to allow retail pot businesses.
"As I understand it, communities wouldn’t even be able to look at opting out until 2020,” he said.
Greenlee says these efforts have been successful in other states.
