Michigan Supreme Court rejects bid to put MJ legalization on ballot

It appears all but certain that Michigan residents won’t be voting on legalizing recreational marijuana in November, a blow to MJ entrepreneurs angling to participate in a new adult-use market.

Michigan’s Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Michigan’s pro-legalization campaign, the Detroit Free Press reported. The high court effectively affirmed lower court rulings that barred the MILegalize campaign from placing a legalization measure on the ballot.

In June, the group turned in over 100,000 extra signatures to put the rec measure before voters. But state officials nixed MILegalize’s bid, saying the group broke the rules by collecting signatures outside a traditional 180-day window.

The group immediately filed suit to overturn the decision. But the Michigan Court of Claims and the state’s appeals court sided with state officials.

“I’m already working on an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Lansing attorney Jeff Hank, chairman of MILegalize, told the Free Press.

But the newspaper noted time is running out for the legalization campaign.