DETROIT – While other communities roll out legal recreational marijuana sales, the Detroit City Council has voted to extend its ban again.
The new extension is through March 31, 2020. The City Council voted for the extension during a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
Councilman James Tate Jr. supports the ban and said, “it’s clear that Detroit’s medical marijuana industry is overwhelmingly owned and operated by individuals who don’t live in the city and take their dollars back to their communities."
“It’s all about the money,” a citizen said. “They don’t care about the ... drugs, they never cared about the drugs.”
READ: Detroit pushes back recreational marijuana sales through March
Several Detroit businesses looking for recreational marijuana licenses have now sued Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
“The additional revenue for the city is what we need, it makes sense to do it,” a citizen said.
“We have to use this legislation to identify ways to reduce the financial barriers of entry and eliminate the structural obstacles that many urban cities are seeking to resolve in communities of color,” Tate said.
While cities like Ann Arbor have embraced recreational marijuana, Detroit is keeping the ban in place for now.