cannabisnews.com: Colorado Pot Push Bypasses Aspen for Telluride





Colorado Pot Push Bypasses Aspen for Telluride
Posted by CN Staff on June 03, 2005 at 09:11:16 PT
By Janet Urquhart
Source: Aspen Times
Colorado -- A state group advocating the legalization of marijuana is launching a citizen initiative in Telluride that might well have taken place in Aspen.The group, Sensible Colorado, eyed several mountain towns in which to spearhead a two-pronged ballot initiative that it hopes eases Colorado toward a new approach to pot use and regulation, according to Executive Director Brian Vicente, who's working with Telluride residents to get a pair of initiative petitions on the streets.
"We looked a little bit at Crested Butte, a little bit at Aspen," he said. Aspen, though, looks to have a relatively lackluster ballot in November, and Sensible Colorado is looking to capitalize on a strong turnout. Telluride has a hotly contested Town Council race shaping up, while Pitkin County's fall ballot boasts a school board race so far."The more people who turn out, the more votes we get in favor of drug policy reform," Vicente said.The Telluride initiatives are aimed at getting the Town Council to either adopt two measures this summer or put them before voters in the fall. One would direct town police to make the arrest and prosecution of marijuana possession cases involving adults its lowest priority. The message, Vicente said, is that citizens would prefer the police focus on violent crime and property crime.The other measure would put Telluride on record as supporting the creation of a system to license, tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol whenever possible under state law.Sensible Colorado's ultimate goal, according to Vicente, is the statewide regulation and taxation of marijuana in Colorado by 2008.While Vicente is leading the charge in Telluride, there's plenty of local support within the community for the initiatives, he said.Sensible Colorado also picked Telluride, in part, because San Miguel County, of which Telluride is the county seat, has the fourth-highest rate of marijuana prosecution in the state, according to 2002 statistics from NORML, a marijuana-law reform group. Pitkin County had the 47th highest rate among 64 counties, according to: http://www.norml.org/In addition, Vicente's group may find a sympathetic ally in San Miguel Sheriff Bill Masters, who has written the book "Drug War Addiction: Notes from the Front Lines of America's No. 1 Policy Disaster."Coincidental to Sensible Colorado's campaign in Telluride, Forbes.com reported this week that economist Milton Friedman leads a list of more than 500 U.S. economists who are endorsing a report that details the costs of marijuana prohibition and potential revenues to be gained by taxing its sale.The report, "The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition," estimates that replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcoholic beverages would produce combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion and $14 billion per year nationally and $81.6 million in Colorado, according to Sensible Colorado.The report was written by Jeffrey Miron, a visiting professor of economics at Harvard University, and largely paid for by the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C., group pushing the liberalization of marijuana laws. Source: Aspen Times (CO)Author: Janet UrquhartPublished: June 3, 2005Copyright: 2005 Aspen TimesContact: andy aspentimes.comWebsite: http://www.aspentimes.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Sensible Coloradohttp://www.sensiblecolorado.org/The Miron Reporthttp://freedomtoexhale.com/mironreport.pdfThe High Cost of Prohibitionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20755.shtmlMilton Friedman: Legalize It! http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20750.shtml Group To Ask Denver Voters To Legalize Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20656.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by jose melendez on June 26, 2005 at 15:25:41 PT
Former Cops Spark Debate
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1024/a12.html?397
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Comment #2 posted by ekim on June 05, 2005 at 07:47:59 PT
any 1 see Minnisota having 20% Ethanol in 8 yrs
Golden is where the renewable fuels are tested, NREL National Renewable Energy Lab.
This is a pdf overview of NREL/Genencor work from 2003.
http://www.eere.energy.gov/biomass/pdfs/genencor_esp_review.pdfHere is an NREL Press release about Genencor/NREL winning a Top 100 R&D
award in 2004.
http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2004/3404_technologies_lauded.htmlThere is a lot more information available with a simple web search. Google
"NREL genencor" for starters and review the results listing.I think you could get more specific information if you called NREL itself.
NREL Public Affairs: (303) 275-4090.http://www.soyatech.com/bluebook/news/viewarticle.ldml?a=20030908-7
Cargill Dow names Genencor its enzyme partner for a biorefinery project Date
Posted: 9/8/2003Jun 6 05 KGNU Morning Magazine Show Interview 10:00 AM Howard Wooldridge Boulder Colorado USA 
 Start your morning properly with Board Member Howard Wooldridge when he is a guest on the KGNU Morning Magazine Show on 88.5 FM, hosted by KGNU News and Public Affairs Director Sam Fuqua. Howard will be discussing his cross country tour to spread the message of LEAP as well as inform the countryside of the failure of America's war on drugs. Follow Howard's journey at http://www.LEAP.cc/howard Jun 7 05 Littleton Rotary 12:00 PM Howard Wooldridge Littleton Colorado USA 
 Board Member Howard Wooldridge lunches with members of the Littleton Rotary to discuss issues related to the failures of drug prohbition. Jun 7 05 Greeley Golden K Kiwanis 09:30 AM Howard Wooldridge Greeley Colorado USA 
 Members of the Greeley Golden K Kiwanis welcome Board Member Howard Wooldridge for discussion of issues related to the failure of drug prohbition. Jun 7 05 NORML for Boulder 07:00 PM Howard Wooldridge Boulder Colorado USA 
 No one is more normal or bolder than Board Member Howard Wooldridge when he meets with members of the NORML for Boulder organization. Howard will be discussing his cross country journey and efforts that LEAP is pursuing to end the failed war on drugs, as well as specific issues that affect the great state of Colorado. This event is open to the public and will be held at the Boulder Library. For a map to the library, visit http://www.normlforboulder.org Follow Howard on his journey at http://www.LEAP.cc/howard Jun 8 05 Boulder Flatirons Rotary 07:00 AM Howard Wooldridge Boulder Colorado USA 
 As he continues his cross country tour, Board Member Howard Wooldridge stops to visit with members of the Boulder Flatirons Rotary to discuss issues such as mandatory minimum sentences and the cost of lives and dollars wasted on the war on drugs. Jun 8 05 Denver Kiwanis 12:00 PM Howard Wooldridge Denver Colorado USA 
 While making his way across the country, Board Member Howard Wooldridge stops to talk to members of the Denver Kiwanis about the failures of drug prohbition. Follow Howard on his tour at: http://leap.cc/howard/ Jun 8 05 KBPI 106.7FM Radio, Uncle Nasty Show 05:00 PM Howard Wooldridge Denver Colorado USA 
 Board Member Howard Wooldridge will be in studio to tape an interview for the Uncle Nasty Show on radio station KBPI 106.7FM. Howard will be discussing a variety of issues related to the failure of drug prohibition, as well as his cross country journey to inform America of the failure of the war on drugs. This interview will be aired at a yet to be determined time and date. Please check back for an update. Follow Howard on his journey at http://www.LEAP.cc/howard 
http://www.leap.cc/events
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Comment #1 posted by ekim on June 03, 2005 at 14:24:53 PT
Sheriff Bill Masters
http://www.normlforboulder.org/http://leap.cc/speakers/masters.htm
Sheriff Bill Masters
Telluride, San Miguel County, ColoradoLEAP Advisory Board Member"We need to kick our nation's drug war addiction" 
http://www.leap.cc/events
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