Group from Jackson to attend kick-off rally in Detroit to legalize marijuana

By By Aaron Aupperlee
Source: mlive.com

A group of supporters from Jackson will be in Detroit this afternoon for a rally kicking off a campaign to legalize marijuana.

"Lot of energy going around right now,"supporter and medical marijuana patient Steve Sharpe wrote in an email. "Most people want to legalize marijuana and tax and regulate it like alcohol."

Sharpe, who with a group of others is going to Detroit for the rally, has been collecting signatures in support of a state constitutional amendment to end Michigan's prohibition of marijuana. About 70 percent of the people Sharpe talks to want to sign the petition, he wrote.

Industries surrounding marijuana and hemp could bring needed jobs to Jackson, Sharpe wrote.

The rally and press conference is at 2 p.m. at the Roberts Riverwalk Hotel and Residence in Detroit. It is only for those 21 and older.

The campaign is headed by the Committee for a Safer Michigan. Supporters are hoping to putthe amendment on the November ballot. The amendment would make every state anti-marijuana law unconstitutional, according to a press release from the committee.