Eastern Michigan University 
hosted a discussion panel about 
the impact of the legalization 
of 
recreational 
marijuana 
in 
Michigan on the Ypsilanti and 
Ann Arbor communities. About 
40 community members attended 
the event Thursday night, which 
came less than a week after 
recreational 
marijuana 
sales 
began in the state. The discussion 
touched on plans for racial equity 
in the marijuana industry, new 
drug testing availabilities for 
companies and the dangers that 
can accompany edible marijuana.
The three panelists included 
Tim 
Secinski, 
EMU 
police 
department community relations 

officer, state Sen. Jeff Irwin, 
D-Ann Arbor, and Kevin Boehnke, 
University of Michigan research 
investigator in the department of 
anesthesiology.
Michigan passed Proposal 1 in 
November 2018, which makes it 
legal for people age 21 and older 
to possess up to 2.5 ounces of 
marijuana. Irwin, who served as 
political director for the Coalition 
to 
Regulate 
Marijuana 
like 
Alcohol, which worked to pass 
Proposal 1, said he does not like 
the term “recreational” marijuana 
due to the fact that legalized 
marijuana can often make its 
way into the hands of underage 
consumers. 
“I try to use those terms as 
much as possible, because I 
feel like that’s a more fair and 
accurate way to describe what 

we’re really talking about here,” 
Irwin said. “When we talk about 
it as recreational, which is sort 
of the term that has caught fire, 
it creates a certain connotation 
that is sometimes but not always 
accurate about how people are 
using cannabis.”
Though experts say it is 
nearly impossible to overdose on 
marijuana, legislators still worry 
about the effects of the drug.
Irwin and Boehnke said they 
did not think it was appropriate 
for a company to drug test its 
employees to monitor if they are 
using drugs while at work. They 
noted that drug tests in the past 
have only been able to show if 
marijuana had been used in the 
past month, not necessarily while 
they were at work. Irwin said 
newer and more advanced drug 
tests are being developed 
that can detect if marijuana 
has 
been 
used 
in 
the 
immediate time frame or 
further in the past. 
“So, 
what 
I’ve 
been 
encouraging employers to 
do, is to start looking at some 
of the newer tests that are 
available,” Irwin said. “You 
might have heard of some of 
the roadside swab-tests that 
are going on across the state 
of Michigan. I don’t think 
that these produce data that 
would be reliable in a court of 
law, but I think it would be a 
better tool for our employers 
to use something that would 
give them a better read on 
the recency of use.”
Siecinski 
disagreed, 
saying 
employers 
administering 
drug 
tests 
was proper and reasonable. 
He said as a member of the 
police force, the federal law 
governs what he does in his 
free time, rather than state 
law.
“I would say certainly 
employers should be able 

to limit whether or not their 
employees partake in cannabis,” 
Siecinski said. “One example is 
law enforcement. Despite the fact 
it’s legal in Michigan, it remains 
illegal federally, so police officers, 
for example, by federal law, 
you’re not allowed to possess a 
firearm and be in possession of a 
scheduled drug illegally.” 
All three panelists emphasized 
what they described as the 
extreme need for research on 
the effects of marijuana usage. 
Boehnke said not only is the lack 
of research harming people, but it 
is also what created such a fear of 
the drug in the past decades. 
Irwin agreed, acknowledging 
that 
many 
legislators 
feel 
anxious about approving laws 
regarding its legalization due to a 
misunderstanding about the drug 
and its impacts.
“We certainly couldn’t pass it, 
you know, out of the Michigan 
legislature,” Irwin said. “We 
had to go through the vote of the 
people, because we knew that 
we wouldn’t get the support in 
Lansing because, once again, 
there’s a huge generational divide 
in this issue, and the people who 
tend to be in the legislature tend 
to be a little older and a lot of these 
people built their career on this 
sort of ‘tough on crime’ position.” 
In addition to Michigan’s 6 
percent 
sales 
tax, 
marijuana 
sales are subject to a 10 percent 
excise tax. Irwin pointed out that 
revenue generated from the taxes 
would go to schools and local 
governments and infrastructure.
“However, here’s a part of it 
that I don’t think many people 
have even seen, which is that for 
the first two years of taxation, 
the state of Michigan is going to 
generate $20 million for two years 
for a total of $40 million, which is 
going to go into research,” Irwin 
said. 

2 — Friday, December 6, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

JENNA SITEMAN 
Daily Staff Reporter

Jeff Irwin highlights effects of legalization, recreational drug use in local community

State senator joins EMU panel 
to discuss impact of marijuana

GIVE IT A SHOT RYAN
puzzle by sudokusyndication.com

The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during 
the fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is 
available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the 
Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long 
subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription 
rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. 

FINNTAN STORER
Managing Editor 
 frstorer@michigandaily.com

GRACE KAY and ELIZABETH LAWRENCE 
Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com

Senior News Editors: Sayali Amin, Rachel Cunningham, Remy Farkas, Leah 
Graham, Amara Shaikh 
Assistant News Editors: Barbara Collins, Julia Fanzeres, Claire Hao, Alex 
Harring, Angelina Little, Madeline McLaughlin, Ben Rosenfeld, Emma Stein, 
Zayna Syed, Liat Weinstein

JOEL DANILEWITZ and MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA
Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Senior Opinion Editors: Emily Considine, Krystal Hur, Ethan Kessler, Miles 
Stephenson, Erin White

ARYA NAIDU and VERITY STURM
Managing Arts Editors 
 arts@michigandaily.com

ALEXIS RANKIN and ALEC COHEN
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com

ANDREA PÉREZ BALDERRAMA
Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com 

Deputy Editors: Matthew Harmon, Shannon Ors

SILAS LEE and EMILY STILLMAN
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com

Senior Copy Editors: Dominick Sokotoff, Olivia Sedlacek, Reece Meyhoefer 

CASEY TIN and HASSAAN ALI WATTOO
Managing Online Editors 
 webteam@michigandaily.com

Senior Web Developers: Jonathon Liu, Abha Panda, Ryan Siu, David Talbot, 
Samantha Cohen

ELI SIDER
Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com

Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Samuel So, Ana Maria 
Sanchez-Castillo, Efe Osagie, Danyel Tharakan
Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Harnoor Singh, Nada Eldawy, Maya 
Mokh 

ZELJKO KOSPIC
Special Projects Manager

ANITA MICHAUD
Brand Manager

Senior Sports Editors: Anna Marcus, Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Mark Calcagno, 
Theo Mackie, Tien Le
Assistant Sports Editors: Bailey Johnson, Bennett Bramson, Connor Brennan, 
Jacob Kopnick, Jorge Cazares, Rian Ratnavale 

Senior Video Editors: Ryan O’Connor, Joseph Sim

Senior Social Media Editor: Allie Phillips 

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com

ARTS SECTION
arts@michigandaily.com

SPORTS SECTION
sports@michigandaily.com

ADVERTISING
dailydisplay@gmail.com

NEWS TIPS
news@michigandaily.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tothedaily@michigandaily.com

EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com

TOMMY DYE
Business Manager
734-418-4115 ext. 1241
tomedye@michigandaily.com

MAYA GOLDMAN
Editor in Chief
734-418-4115 opt. 3
mayagold@michigandaily.com

PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com

NEWSROOM
734-418-4115 opt. 3 

CORRECTIONS
corrections@michigandaily.com

MAX MARCOVITCH and ETHAN SEARS 
Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com

Senior Arts Editors: Clara Scott, Emma Chang, Cassandra Mansuetti, Sam 
Della Fera, Trina Pal
Arts Beat Editors: John Decker, Sayan Ghosh, Mike Watkins, Ally Owens, 
Stephen Satarino, Izzy Hasslund, Margaret Sheridan 

ROSEANNE CHAO and JACK SILBERMAN
Managing Design Editors 
design@michigandaily.com
Senior Design Editor: Sherry Chen 

NA’KIA CHANNEY and CARLY RYAN
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com

MADALASA CHAUDHARI and HANNAH MESKIN 
Managing Social Media Editors

Editorial Staff

Business Staff

RYAN KELLY
Sales Manager

ROBERT WAGMAN
Marketing Consulting Manager

Senior Photo Editors: Alexandria Pompei, Natalie Stephens, Alice Liu, Allison 
Engkvist, Danyel Tharakan
Assistant Photo Editors: Miles Macklin, Keemya Esmael, Madeline Hinkley, 
Ryan McLoughlin

MOLLY WU
Creative Director

CATHERINE NOUHAN
Managing Podcast Editor

TUESDAY:
By Design
THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk

FRIDAY:
Behind the Story

WEDNESDAY:
This Week in History

MONDAY:

Looking at the Numbers

B E HIND THE STORY

Every Friday, one Daily staffer will give a behind the scenes look 
at one of this week’s stories. This week, Business senior Sonia 
Lee reported on a student’s use of GoFundMe to pay for his 
outstanding tuition after he was denied in-state tuition due to his 
immigration status.

“Speaking with Juan and Barbara for this story gave me so much more 
insight on what it’s like to be undocumented at Michigan, especially 
with the current climate surrounding immigration policy and DACA. 
At the same time, I was able to learn about how the university 
administration is trying to engage more with this community and work 
with them to find solutions. This was about understanding and telling 
Juan’s story and SCOPE’s activism while balancing how university 
policy revision works.”

Sonia Lee, Daily Staff Reporter

ALEC COHEN/Daily

QUOTE OF THE WE E K 

“

 
I’ve been outspoken about my sexual assault for years 
now, but it took me a long time to get there: over two 
decades to find the courage to tell my story.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at Let’s End Sexual Assault Summit at Eastern Michigan University

See PANEL, Page 3 

