Fox 2 anchor Anqunette Jamison retires to join push for legalizing marijuana

WJBK morning anchor Anqunette Jamison told viewers Tuesday that she would be retiring from local news, months after revealing she had been living with multiple sclerosis.

“I have decided to retire. I love my job, but multiple sclerosis was making it harder and harder to do it,” Jamison said in a video on her Facebook page.

Jamison said she is turning her efforts to legalizing marijuana in Michigan, joining the lobbying group MILegalize 2018, where she will help push the issue to voters on the 2018 ballot.

“I think it’s criminal that MS drugs cost $70,000 a year,” Jamison says.

Multiple sclerosis is an incurable autoimmune disease that affects the nervous system. Its most common symptom is chronic fatigue, but those affected can also have blindness, chronic pain and impaired motor skills depending on condition.  Talk show host Montel Williams, singer Tamia and Michael McCary of Boyz II Men are among those living with MS.

Patients are often prescribed a cocktail of prescriptions, ranging from steroid injections to nerve treatments to antidepressants, to slow the disease’s progression. Jamison says using marijuana has helped with her symptoms.

“It is illegal for some doctors to suggest medical marijuana to their patients. And even though a lot of people smoke weed, some people get arrested and others don’t. That’s not right, and I want to help make it right,” she says.

Prior to joining Fox 2, Jamison worked in markets in Massachusetts, Nevada and Indiana. She has worked in journalism for 22 years.

Jamison begins her new role at MILegalize during a fundraiser for the lobby on Wednesday in Ann Arbor.

"The MILegalize team is very happy to welcome someone as talented as Anqunette. Her skills and passion are a real asset and we look forward to others joining the cause as we work together to craft a plan to legalize the right way for Michigan," MILegalize Executive Director Jeffrey Hank says in a news release.