ACLU Applauds Michigan Supreme Court Ruling Regarding Marijuana Use by People on Probation

DETROIT - The ACLU of Michigan (ACLU) applauds the Michigan Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling that state court judges cannot automatically bar people on probation from possessing or using marijuana as long as they follow other applicable Michigan laws.

In 2018, Michigan voters overwhelmingly adopted a state law that both rendered the use of recreational marijuana legal under state law and enacted strong protections for Michiganders who use marijuana. But a lower court nonetheless curtailed these protections for all people on probation, even though the voter-enacted law prohibited state courts from punishing most uses of recreational marijuana “in any manner.”

The Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling in People v. Hess held that the lower court decision was contrary to the will of Michigan’s voters in legalizing marijuana under state law. The ruling reflects arguments made in the ACLU’s friend-of-the-court brief that protections for all people who use marijuana consistent with state law — including people on probation — are rooted in both state law and the Michigan Constitution’s requirement that courts give special deference to the will of Michiganders when they enact laws at the ballot. The ACLU’s brief also noted that strong voter support for marijuana legalization showed the public’s desire to move away from the “War on Drugs.”

ACLU of Michigan legal fellow Ewurama Appiagyei-Dankah said this about the decision:

“We are relieved that people on probation will not be automatically barred from using marijuana. The Michigan Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling recognizes the will of Michigan’s voters, who voted in 2018 to authorize recreational marijuana use and reject the federal government’s incredibly harmful and racist War on Drugs. It also recognizes that people on probation, just like other Michiganders, are beneficiaries of the 2018 voter-enacted law.”

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