Law enforcement officials opposed to the new state recreational marijuana law say next steps should focus on protecting kids.
Judge Linda Davis presides over the 41B District Court in Clinton Township.
She says the law leaves a lot of unanswered questions about regulation and enforcement.
Legal or not, if kids start using recreational marijuana, it could lead to lifetime addiction struggles, Davis said.
“The younger you are when you start using substances that alter your mind, mind altering drugs, the more chance you will have issues with drugs and alcohol,” she said.
Enforcement should now focus on ensuring recreational marijuana isn’t marketed to kids, and is regulated safely, Davis said.
Josh Hovey with the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol said the proposal was written specifically to ensure products are not marketed to children by prohibiting the manufacturing of any products that could be confused with candy. In addition, a Colorado study showed no increase in teenage use after recreational legalization, he said.
The recreational marijuana law is set to go into effect 10 days after the election is certified which should take a few weeks according to the Michigan Secretary of State’s office.