Michigan Dems hope pot measure brings out youth vote

As both parties continue pumping funds into the 2018 race, Michigan Democrats hope to cash in on another kind of green.

A proposal to legalize marijuana will be on Michigan’s November ballot, putting the state on the cusp of allowing recreational use of the drug for those 21 and older. If approved, Michigan would become the 10th state and the first in the Midwest allow its recreational use.

The ballot measure could also entice more younger voters to show up to the polls, which likely would help the Democrats. And in Michigan’s first general election in two years, the lure of legal weed could be a surprise tool for the minority party to redeem itself in a battleground state that narrowly swung to President Donald Trump in 2016.

One of the ballot’s committee leaders, Jeff Hank, said the initiative is nonpartisan but that Michigan politicians running on antimarijuana messaging — all of whom are Republicans — should beware.

“It’s the most sensible thing to do,” Hank said. “Politicians who don’t support this proposal are on the wrong side of history, and that’s too bad.”

Having a cannabis-injected voter bump is an easy gift for Michigan Democrats, who by and large support legalizing marijuana as a civil liberty, a criminal justice reform and a fertile source of tax revenue. It also helps that legalizing marijuana, a oncefringe issue associated with the anti-war counterculture movement, has quickly solidified into a lasting political cause.

Two years ago, the share of Americans living in a state with recreational marijuana laws swelled to almost a quarter of the country, thanks to successful 2016 election ballot initiatives in four states that raised the total to nine states plus the District of Columbia. Thirtyone states have legalized medical marijuana, including Michigan, which has allowed it for a decade.

Legalizing recreational marijuana boasts a 61 percent approval rating among Michiganders, according to EPIC-MRA polling.