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In a new law that came into effect on Thursday, Michigan is now the first state in the Midwest to legally license marijuana for recreational purposes. It is the 10th state to legalize the recreational pot.
It could take a year before Michigan begins to allow medical marijuana stores to be sold to recreational users. Critics fear that the wait will lead to strong demand on the black market where there is no monitoring, reports CBS News correspondent Nikki Battiste.
Stuart Carter showed us the products in his marijuana store for medical purposes in Detroit.
"People have come in. Unfortunately, we have to stop them," Carter said.
Carter stated that he wanted to sell marijuana for recreational purposes to the store, but the state required that stores go through a long process of application.
"They will not accept applications for a year, and then there will be a verification process," Carter said.
Although people will have to wait to buy recreational jars in stores, the new law allows people 21 years of age and older to keep 10 ounces at home and grow 12 marijuana plants for personal use.
"This will be the marijuana capital in America," said Scott Greenlee, president of Healthy and Productive Michigan. He opposes Michigan's high possession limit, allowing people to haul up to 2.5 ounces. This is the largest recreational portage limit in the country.
"It's too much," Greenlee said. "It will also cause a lot of crime, people will realize that this whole thing is unusable, and our police service is very concerned that all this marijuana is important."
The new law could be good news for convicted criminals Last year, more than 20,000 people were arrested for possession or use of marijuana, which is now legal.
California legalized the use of the pot for recreational purposes in 2016. Since then, San Francisco District Attorney, George Gascon, has settled more than a thousand related crimes. to marijuana.
"Frankly, this can affect your ability to get a job," Gascon told me.
Gascon believes that minor charges can have a major impact.
"In some places, your ability to obtain social housing or subsidized housing will affect your situation," said Gascon. "This could have an impact on your ability to associate with military services ."
But Greenlee said that most low-level offenders do not face serious consequences.
"What is generally dismissed is a ticket, a fine," Greenlee said. "It's very similar to if … we're going to exceed the 15-mile speed limit, we'll have a ticket, we'll pay our ticket and we'll continue."
A Michigan county attorney told CBS News that he has already filed 50 pending cases involving marijuana offenders who are no longer illegal as of Thursday. Under the new law, it is still illegal to use pot in public, on college campuses and while driving.
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