In the state capital, things are looking good for marijuana legalization based on a new report from the MILegalize campaign.
“We’ve achieved our greatest goal to date: raising $100,000 in 30 days to accept a matching donation,” MILegalize Chair Jeff Hank announced from the campaign’s Lansing office. MILegalize is the common name for the Michigan Comprehensive Cannabis Law Reform Committee.
The donation pledge was made by a donor, who does not wish to be credited, during the marijuana legalization campaign’s June 26 fundraiser at the Polo Fields Country Club in Ann Arbor. The pledge period began the next day, June 27, and ended on Sunday, July 26.
The result was announced during a fundraiser held in the Oakland County community of Ferndale. Also announced: another pledge to match funds during the next 30 days, this time in the amount of $50,000.00
“We are paying petitioners to collect signatures,” Hank explained, “and paying people to verify those signatures.” Hank said the combination volunteer/paid signature gathering campaign will get a boost as a national professional petitioning company is being hired to begin filling petitions.
Also just announced: the MILegalize Board gets an upgrade as veteran political campaigner Michael Tuffelmire from Grand Rapids joins the group. “I am proud to have been elected to the Michigan Legalize board so I can make my community safer, save lives and ensure my state has a bright economic future,” Tuffelmire said.
As leader of DecriminalizeGR, he led the campaign to put a marijuana decriminalization proposal before voters in Grand Rapids in 2012; it passed. Tuffelmire worked with local community leaders to bring a pair of noted national marijuana personalities to Grand Rapids earlier this year. Maj. Neill Franklin, leader of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), joined Ethan Nadelmann, leader of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), on stage to deliver personal observations about the drug war and its imminent demise.
“Marijuana, the third most used illicit substance in the U.S next to alcohol and tobacco, has been illegal for decades. In that time a multi-million dollar underground market has emerged. This market has fueled the “War on Drugs’ which has led to mass incarceration, social deterioration, and economic degradation,” Tuffelmire added.
For further information on volunteering, how to petition or where to sign the petition, please visit: milegalize.org
Source: The Compassion Chronicles
