GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — After a pitched battle that went on for years, when the clock strikes midnight Thursday, it will be 4:20 in Michigan.
Roberta King was forefront among the hundreds of people who worked to get Proposal 1 on the ballot after a similar proposal had failed to make it two years earlier.
“It’s exciting. It’s exciting to be on the forefront of something this important, to be here in this place when prohibition ends," said King, who is co-owner of marijuana PR firm Canna Communication.
The proposal passed by comfortable margins in Kalamazoo, Kent and Muskegon counties, while failing in Allegan and Ottawa counties. Ultimately, it carried statewide.
King said the fact that people will no longer face time behind bars for possession and use is good for society.
“It’s not just access to the plant for everybody and anybody who might want to try it, but the decriminalization — that’s the important part, that’s sort of the heart of it,” she said. “It’s going to bring families back together instead of tearing them apart."
But she said the recent attempts by the state Legislature to rewrite the proposal show the fight may not be over.
“I don’t think it’s time to give up, that if you’re concerned about cannabis, you should be calling you representative and your senator and let them know,” King said.
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