Dick Magee: Cannabis, chickens and a line too long

Earlier this month the Sturgis Journal ran two stories that would have had old-time newsboys peddling papers on the street shouting, “Extra, extra read all about it!” It was banner-headline news about cannabis in Michigan — and chickens in Sturgis.

But first a word about our new state slogan: YOU CAN IN MICHIGAN. Forget about PURE MICHIGAN. That didn’t work. Michigan’s population was shrinking. Governor Whitmer was unhappy. So now a new multi-million dollar Michigan marketing campaign is in full swing. The consultants creating the new program are the same ones that came up with the old one. So, I’m keeping my expectations in check.

Certainly, the new campaign will highlight Michigan’s remarkable success with cannabis. Last year we bought three billion dollars’ worth of it. We were the second biggest cannabis market in the country — second only to California! High fives all round, beat the drum, wave the flag, wow! If that doesn’t get folks rushing to Michigan, I don’t know what will.

But there’s a problem.

According to the Detroit Free Press story in the Journal, cannabis companies are struggling – too much inventory, too much competition, and too few sales to go round. Prices are falling like water over Niagara. The average price for an ounce of recreational marijuana in December of 2020 was $350.88. By December of 2023 it had plunged to $95.08. Ouch. Stop the parades; cancel the parties. The cannabis boom could collapse into a Michigan bust.

I confess, I don’t know which of two cannabis problems is the worst. Is it that we’re consuming in Michigan a product that many see as a health threat — or is it that a part of our business community is facing financial difficulties — or both? I’m stumped.

So, let’s move on to chickens.

The question here is: should residents of Sturgis be allowed to keep chickens on their property? The issue is nothing new. It first came up for discussion in 2011! And we’re still fussing with it. While I’ve not heard the arguments for and against the proposition, I assume they’ve remained the same over the years — unless the chickens have changed in some ways that make ‘em better or worse.

I’ve never had a personal relationship with a chicken. They seem a nervous lot, always cackling and strutting about. In 1928 Herbert Hoover, running for president, promised that if elected there’d be a “chicken in every pot.” He won the election. Good for the chicken. Now we’re about to find out whether a chicken in a pot is better than a chicken in a yard. The City Commission is

reviewing an ordinance prepared by the City Planning Commission. I hope it doesn’t get sidetracked by the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg.

I don’t know how many long hours the Sturgis Planning Commission has spent in hearings, meetings, and preparing a draft of the ordinance. Nor do I know how long the City Commission itself has labored over the issue. It never ends.

The draft covers six pages. Holy smokes! That’s more words than in the Bill of Rights. There must be more to keeping chickens than meets the eye. And we’re in a kerfuffle that takes excessive time and effort to settle. It’s likely there will be a referendum in the summer. Then everybody in town will have their say. And that’s okay. How often does a whole community have a chance to decide something about anything? Good for us.

But hold on — there’s something more important than cannabis and chickens in Sturgis.

While writing this column, I reviewed some Sturgis census data — and was shocked at what I stumbled upon. Last year, just under 19% of our population fell below the federally designated poverty level! This percentage would translate into about 2,068 people.

Now imagine in your mind’s eye a line of these people — our neighbors — each standing three feet from the person next in line. Then imagine the line starting at the stop light on Centerville Road and Main Street — extending east through town. It crosses the railroad tracks, passes the Strand Theater, moves beyond the post office, continues across Lakeview, and finally ends just short of Maplecrest Plaza.

That’s a line too long.

We need to think more about people than we do about cannabis and chickens.

— Dick Magee is a resident of Klinger Lake and a frequent columnist for the Journal’s opinion page.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Dick Magee: Cannabis, chickens and a line too long