Marijuana legalized in Denver!

[KustmAce]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...09/detail.html

Pinch Of Pot Now Legal In Denver
Grassroots Marijuana Initiative Passes 53 To 46 Percent

POSTED: 9:37 pm MST November 1, 2005
UPDATED: 9:41 am MST November 2, 2005

DENVER -- Mile High City residents on Tuesday voted to legalize the possession of a small amount of marijuana, capping a surprisingly nasty campaign that included allegations of misleading voters and exploiting their fears of violent crime.

With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, 54 percent, or 56,001 voters, had cast ballots for Measure I-100, while 46 percent, or 48,632 voters, voted against it.

Also Tuesday, voters in the ski resort town of Telluride rejected a proposal to make possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by people 18 or older the town's lowest law enforcement priority. The measure, rejected on a vote of 308-332, was placed on the ballot in August by the Town Council.

"We educated voters about the facts that marijuana is less harmful to the user and society than alcohol," said Mason Tvert, campaign organizer for SAFER, or Safer Alternatives For Enjoyable Recreation. "To prohibit adults from making the rational, safer choice to use marijuana is bad public policy."

Some supporters hoped the Denver proposal would launch a national trend toward legalizing the drug. They say enforcement causes more problems than it cures. They argued that smoking marijuana should carry the same penalties as abusing alcohol.

"What this does say is reconsidering marijuana prohibition is absolutely a mainstream issue now," said Bruce Mirken of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project.

He said government regulation -- and taxation -- of the drug would halt clandestine growing operations, make it more difficult for teenagers to obtain marijuana and free space in prisons.

But the Denver proposal seemed to draw at least as much attention for supporters' campaign tactics as it did for the question of legalizing the drug.

Tvert based the campaign on his argument that legalizing marijuana would reduce consumption of alcohol, which he said leads to higher rates of car accidents, domestic and street violence and crime.

The group criticized Mayor John Hickenlooper for opposing the proposal, noting his ownership of a popular brewpub. It also held up recent violent crimes, including the shootings of four people in a span of several hours last weekend, as a reason to legalize marijuana to steer people away from alcohol use.

One sponsored billboard depicted a battered woman and a man standing behind her, presumably her abuser, with the message, "Reduce family and community violence in Denver. Vote Yes on I-100."

The tactics angered local officials and some voters. Many opponents also said it made no sense to prevent prosecution by Denver authorities while marijuana charges are most often filed under state and federal law.

On Tuesday night, Hickenlooper said voters were likely paying more attention to other issues on the ballot, including a state budget fix, a proposal to dramatically change the way Denver schoolteachers are paid and a proposal to increase lodging taxes to promote tourism.

"I think it's in some way a symbol that some attitudes are changing, but I wouldn't read too much into it," he said

Chris Bogren, 21, a political science major at the University of Colorado-Denver, said he came close to voting against the proposal because he was "really disgusted" by the campaign, but said he agreed with underlying arguments.

"It is a lot more sedate of a drug than alcohol or a lot of other things," he said. "It doesn't necessarily lead to violence and the gateway-drug theory is bunk."

Tvert defended his actions, saying the campaign's statements were based on facts gleaned from government studies and crime reports. He also said he doubted that enforcement of federal laws would be strengthened in Denver, and said continued or increased enforcement of state laws in the city would violate voters' will.

Under the measure, residents over 21 years old could possess up to an ounce of marijuana. It would not affect the medical marijuana law voters approved in 2000.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana laws in Colorado and nine other states would not protect licensed users from federal prosecution.

Tvert has said the campaign in Denver and similar, nonbinding initiatives passed by students at the University of Colorado in Boulder and Colorado State University in Fort Collins are part of a larger plan to move to state regulation and taxation of marijuana.

The Marijuana Policy Project said Denver is the second major U.S. city in less than a year to pass a measure aimed at replacing marijuana prohibition with policies designed to treat marijuana in a manner comparable to alcohol. A similar measure won by a wide margin in Oakland, Calif., in November 2004.

"A few years from now, this vote may well be seen as the proverbial 'tipping point,' the beginning of the end of marijuana prohibition in the U.S.," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "Last year, there were more than three-quarters of a million marijuana arrests, an all-time record. That's equivalent to arresting every man, woman, and child in the state of Wyoming plus every man, woman, and child in St. Paul, Minn. The public understands that this simply makes no sense. Regulating marijuana will take money out of the pockets of criminals and free police to go after violent crime, and the voters of Denver took their first step in that direction today."

The city attorney's office has said that even if the measure passes, it wouldn't change anything. Denver police would simply file marijuana possession charges under state law, which carries up to a $100 fine and a mandatory $100 drug-offender surcharge.

Gotta love the Mile High City

[mellowboy]

LoL thats an interesting article.

[thrasher]

Well, it's a step in the right direction I guess. Thank god people are starting to realize this...hopefully in the not too distant future marijuana will be as socially acceptabelt as alcohol, as it should be.

[Tehvisseeus]

Anyone else see the irony in the Mile High city legalizing it? haha

[2strokebloke]

Actually, I think your idea that it's ironic is what's actually ironic.

[Muscletang]

Originally Posted by thrasher

Well, it's a step in the right direction I guess.

Actually the step in the right direction is that we wouldn't have to worry about it at all but that isn't the time we're living in.

Originally Posted by thrasher

Thank god people are starting to realize this...

I'll admit it, I don't like marijuana and I wish we could get it out, but we can't. I've come to realize that alcohol though is worse if you sit down and think about it.

The good thing though is if pot is legal then it'll be safer. The leaves can be cleaned and looked over and people won't have to fear about getting something they didn't pay for.

Originally Posted by thrasher

hopefully in the not too distant future marijuana will be as socially acceptabelt as alcohol, as it should be.

It's hard to tell at this point. It might but then again it might not. We got Bush and a whole lot of people telling us we need to fight marijuana when there are MUCH worse drugs out there.

Meth is probably the biggest problem on our streets today and it will ruin your life, I know I've seen it. Marijuana is a drop in the bucket if you think about it against other illegal drugs.

[Oz]

I have friends in high places

[eversio11]

Uh.. it hasn't been legalized, just deciminalized. And only an ounce. And although it's decriminalized in the eyes of the city, the state laws still apply to city residents.

But, it is a step in the right direction.

[PBking82]

I'm a supporter of decriminilization(sp?) for the pure fact the good people go to jail and have a lot of their life fucked up for something so small. Only problem with this is that this past summer the supreme court ruled that federal law out rules state law in the issue of drug enforcement. Also, you should not be punished for marijuana the same way you are for alcohol. I.E. you get a DUI because when the cops take your piss/blood you test positive for marijuana. It can stay in your system anywhere from 1 week to 3 months depending on many varibales. So even if you aren't "high" you still get a DUI. I think nationwide you should be able to grow it for personal use and give limited amounts away to close friends. Sale should still be illegal, but wtf it's natural so why do you go to jail for something so tiny, when we have people in this country doing things 10x's worse. Peace-

[YogsVR4]

I find it foolish for people to say that marijuana is less harmful then alcohol from this perspective; if you drink, the alcohol stays in you. You smoke weed, everyone around you gets it too (wether they want it or not).

Legalize it and set up rules like drinking and driving as well as public nusience laws to keep people from blowing that foul shit in the face of people who want nothing to do with it.

[carrrnuttt]

Originally Posted by YogsVR4

I find it foolish for people to say that marijuana is less harmful then alcohol from this perspective; if you drink, the alcohol stays in you. You smoke weed, everyone around you gets it too (wether they want it or not).

Legalize it and set up rules like drinking and driving as well as public nusience laws to keep people from blowing that foul shit in the face of people who want nothing to do with it.

+1

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[thrasher]

Well I want nothing to do with cigarette smoke but I have no choice other than to deal with it, and cigarette smoke is MUCH more foul smelling than marijuana smoke. Besides, the whole contact high idea is a croc of shit. You might get trace amounts of THC in your body, but in no way will you feel anything from merely being around people who are smoking marijuana. So if there are going to be public nuisance laws for marijuana smoke, they sure as hell better apply to far more disgusting cigarette smoke.

[KustmAce]

The only way you can get high off second hand is if you are in a closed area like a car with rolled up or a small room with the door/windows closed.

But if they were to treat it like alcohol, no public intoxication/driving under influence etc what could there be to lose?

[PBking82]

The only problem with setting up laws for it is that there is no way to do an immeadiate test to tell if you're "intoxicated" because it stays in your system for such a long time. If somesort of "breathalyzer" for weed was created then I would be in full support, but seriously you can go a month without smoking and still fail a drug test. Peace-

[TexasF355F1]

Originally Posted by thrasher

Well, it's a step in the right direction I guess. Thank god people are starting to realize this...hopefully in the not too distant future marijuana will be as socially acceptabelt as alcohol, as it should be.