Detroit – An activist group plans to hold voter registrations drives at marijuana dispensaries in what it calls an “out of the box effort” is to boost voter turnout in November.
The Michigan chapter of Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network held the first pop-up drive at the House of Zen dispensary on Mack Avenue in Detroit on Wednesday, with plans for another there at 3 p.m. Thursday.
“We believe that there are many individuals that are not registered to vote that are regulars at Detroit wellness facilities that dispense marijuana. We will find them. We will register them,” said Sam Riddle, a political consultant and spokesman for the National Action Network in Michigan.
People have until Oct. 11 to register in order to vote in this year’s general election.
“This voter registration project at Detroit medical marijuana dispensaries is a creative approach to bring more citizens to the polls enhancing democracy,” said Rev. Charles Williams II, the group’s president.
Riddle called the effort an “out of the box” idea in response to a lack of enthusiasm among voters.
“What I see occurring in Detroit in particular, I can tell you people are not going to wait in long lines,” he said. “It’s a nonpartisan effort.”
He there could be thousands of medical marijuana users who are not registered to vote, disregard political party meetings and don’t participate in party politics.
The group also hopes to reach military veterans who use marijuana to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Riddle is a longtime consultant involved in Detroit and Flint politics before being sent to prison in 2010 in a bribery case involving former Detroit Councilwoman Monica Conyers.
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Full Article: Detroit Marijuana Dispensary Hosts Voter Registration Pop-Up
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