Mason voters to consider lifting ban on marijuana dispensaries

When Michiganders voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2018, Mason was among the 1,300 municipalities that continued to prohibit sales.

Since then, Michigan’s legal cannabis industry has ballooned into a market that recorded $3 billion in sales last year.

If Mason had opted in last year, the city would have pocketed more than $118,000 in cannabis tax-sharing revenue from the state. This funding pool has continued to grow since the program began.

Mason could finally join the fold this November if residents vote to allow two dispensaries to be licensed. City Council added the question to the ballot in July.

Mayor Russell Whipple said that decision was spurred, in part, by outside influences.

Twice in the last two years, he said, Michigan lawyers have written to the city about adding a recreational cannabis question to the ballot. The second came in December, when Ypsilanti attorney Anderson Grandstaff informed the Council of his intent to start a petition process for that purpose. In a call with City Pulse, Grandstaff declined to disclose the identity of his client.

“In discussing his letter, we came to the conclusion that it really was not a bad idea to let the people decide,” Whipple said. “We said we’d put it to the people, and if the people agreed, we’d write an ordinance, and Council would consider it. More than likely, it would get adopted.”

City Council introduced the prospective ballot language in March. Grandstaff, who has sent similar letters to other cities such as Auburn Hills, Harbor Springs and Howell, was willing to work with them to help craft it, Whipple said. Come July 15, members voted unanimously to add the question to the ballot.

“If we were going to do this, we thought it would be better if we wrote it ourselves to make sure there’s some consistency,” Whipple said. “We just wanted to have some semblance of control over what the law would say.”

If it passes, Whipple said there are other factors that will dictate how quickly the dispensaries open.

“We’ve still got to vet it completely. It’s also going to involve some changes to our zoning ordinance, if it passes, because we’ll have to allow the uses in some zones somewhere,” Whipple said. “We’re not going to get too bogged down in spending a lot of time on it if we don’t even know if it’s going to be something we have to work on.”

There’s reason to believe it could pass. In the 2018 statewide vote, 56% of Michiganders approved legalizing recreational cannabis sales. The city of Mason tallied just above that average, with 57%, or 2,245 of 3,897 votes in favor.

Back then, Whipple was in his second year as mayor and supported opting out of allowing dispensaries in Mason. After several years on the sidelines, he said it’s been long enough to warrant a second look.

“When the law was first passed, there were a lot of questions about how it could be interpreted and implemented at the local level. We wanted to take a wait and see approach, because that’s how Mason operates,” he said.

City staff examined similar ballot proposals in comparable cities like Birmingham to get a feel for how the process could unfold in Mason.

“The experience we’ve gained in seeing how it’s been rolled out and managed in other communities has given us a good sense of how we might be able to deal with it here,” Whipple explained.

If it passes, Whipple said the city could start the process of approving zoning changes and accepting applications early next year.

Miles Mendoza, a resident and employee with a cannabis company operating in Michigan and five other states, showed up to the Council’s July 15 meeting to support the proposal. If it were to pass, he urged Council to ensure that whichever businesses were selected would prioritize hiring Greater Lansing residents.

“A lot of that money is typically sent out of the city due to the owners not residing in Mason, whereas facilities like mine employ 100 people and I would say 60% of them are local,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza said the city should also consider allowing cannabis growing operations in addition to recreational dispensaries. The proposed ordinance only allows for two of the latter at present, which Mendoza thought was “appropriate” due to Mason’s size.

Trish Walley, a resident since 2020, said she plans to vote against the proposal.

“One of the reasons I decided to move to Mason was there are no dispensaries here. I’m in recovery, and I prefer not to be around it. It’s bad enough you smell it everywhere already. They are on every block in Lansing. That’s enough,” she said.

Walley said the city could use a new grocery store, like an Aldi, or other businesses that would “add value” to what she said was a “tight-knit community” focused on “family and small town living.”

“The focus needs to be placed on something more positive than drugs. If you want it bad enough, drive to where it’s available,” she said.

- TYLER SCHNEIDER

City Pulse asked Mason residents what they thought about the ballot proposal. Some of their responses are below:

Justin Thayer: “Remember how we couldn’t afford a full-size traffic light? Our city could desperately use the revenue. As profitable as antique shops, pizza places and vent cleaning services are, diversity is the spice of life.”

Josh Shade: “Lansing has one on every corner, and I haven’t seen them paving the streets with gold yet. I’m not a fan of putting taxes into a system I don’t trust and hoping that system will put a little morsel for us at the end of that process.”

Rex Scheid: “If you allow liquor stores, why is a dispensary any different? Alcohol consumption is far more damaging — like car accidents, domestic violence and alcoholism. It’s not 1950 anymore.”

Joan Schneider: “People that currently use dispensaries will be just as high driving back to and around Mason. Imagine if these people did not have to exit the city of Mason and could just make their purchases and go directly home.”

Christopher Thomas: “I’ve worked in the pharmaceutical industry for almost 20 years, so I see what ‘big pharma’ has done to people and their families when it comes to ‘pain management’ addiction. I’ve also seen the results people can get by using other forms of pain management such as medicinal marijuana, and those side effects always seem to be way less.”

Erik Almquist: “Revenue sharing can be used to pay for more fire and police protection if that’s the direction you want to go. It can also help improve public parks. Not having a dispensary does not mean you will not have any of the bad things that come with it.”

Jessy Lasley: “Yes! More revenue for Mason. I can go to Leslie or Lansing, but I’d much rather put that into a local business.”

Vickie Zoschnick: “No. The town I grew up in approved them thinking ‘it can’t hurt.’ But accidents due to people driving high has increased dramatically.”

Julia Dee: “Someone is going to file a lawsuit and win. Regulate where it is, what it looks like and hours of operation. Being realistic about marijuana is the key. It’s far less destructive than alcohol and many stores here sell alcohol.”

Brad Robison: “Leslie has one, and that town doesn’t seem to have an issue.”

Lydia Coe: “Having a dispensary in our town would help so many people! RSO is my main form of pain relief since doctors rarely prescribe narcotics anymore. Nothing else comes close to working.”

Richelle Rutledge: “No dispensaries in Mason! I just moved from that crap in Lansing to get away from drugs and crime.”

Harlie Kayy: “I don’t think one would be bad, but considering we are a smaller, ‘quieter’ town, we should keep it to a minimum.”

Paul Raymond: “I am OK with a dispensary, but I want a portion of that tax money to be spent on enforcing the law and stopping and preventing people from smoking in public and stinking everything up.”

Ryan O’Berry: “Bring them in and use the tax money to put a left turn arrow on Cedar and Columbia.”