cannabisnews.com: Pot Measure Wafts To Victory





Pot Measure Wafts To Victory
Posted by CN Staff on November 01, 2005 at 21:15:28 PT
By Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News
Source: Rocky Mountain News
Denver, Colorado -- A measure that would legalize adult possession of small amounts of marijuana in Denver was approved by voters Tuesday, following a heated campaign that saw pot backers accused of exploiting residents' fear of crime. The measure was leading by more than 7,000 votes with just over 100,000 votes counted when the Rocky Mountain News called the contest.
The central theme of Initiative 100, the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative, is that adults should have the right to legally choose marijuana, because it's a safer alternative to booze, which supporters argue — citing national and local studies — fuels violence, deadly car wrecks, collegiate binge-drinking and alcoholism. While other big cities, such at Seattle and Oakland, Calif., have passed laws making adult pot use a low police priority, supporters say passage I-100 would make Denver the first major city to legalize adult possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana. The pot-beats-booze battle cry "is the new message in the war against the war on marijuana," said I-100 campaign coordinator, Mason Tvert, a 23-year-old Denver resident vowing to take the crusade nationwide. But Denver officials said an I-100 amendment of local law would change nothing, because the vast majority of marijuana possession busts — which were a mere 3.2 percent of all city arrests in 2004 — will continue to be prosecuted under state law. Gene Moffett, a TV cameraman, rejected the initiative voting at a church in his south Denver neighborhood. "No. I just think that would just open up more cans of worms," he said. Eighty-year old Republican Lila Fehrer was also wary of the proposal. "I voted against that. Drugs are just too prominent everywhere," she said. "And to make it legal I think it would get out of hand."Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)Author: Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain NewsPublished: November 1, 2005Copyright: 2005 Denver Publishing Co.Contact: letters rockymountainnews.comWebsite: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Safer Choicehttp://www.saferchoice.org/Marijuana Measure Stirs Controversyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21250.shtml Pot Advocacy Campaign Promises a Safer Denverhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21246.shtmlPot Backers Protest Hickhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21243.shtml
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Comment #32 posted by Toker00 on November 02, 2005 at 16:27:52 PT
I have to say,
You da man, stick.Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!
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Comment #31 posted by tokebloke on November 02, 2005 at 13:13:04 PT:
wow - great result
just shows what a good drug education campaign can achieve!I heard Denver was a nice place to visit...Sincerely, tb
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Comment #30 posted by FoM on November 02, 2005 at 11:23:54 PT
Off Topic: My Husband Saved The Day Today
My husband was depositing money at the bank drive thru and the teller asked him could he please come in the bank. He thought sure ok because they know him real well. There were three girls ( tellers) and no men in the bank and they wanted him in the bank because of a supicious man lurking outside the bank. When he saw my husband he left. They got his license number and all is well.
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Comment #29 posted by FoM on November 02, 2005 at 10:55:37 PT
Just Heard a Wonderful Quote
The one political person I think his name is Connors said something really good.He said you can't maintain a Democracy and an Empire at the same time.
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on November 02, 2005 at 10:35:18 PT
Hope
Neil looked like The Quaker Oats man and his wife just looked pretty. Prairie Wind is a very mellow album and maybe some people won't like the softer Neil but I like him no matter if he's fired up or quiet and easy going. He said he is on blood pressure medicine which he is slowly trying to stop because he said that he feels like a big diesel truck that wants to run hot but it has a governor now. If he needs the medicine and he must be careful and not jam anymore that's ok with me.
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Comment #27 posted by FoM on November 02, 2005 at 10:29:42 PT
Thank you b4daylight 
Last night we watched a PBS Special I had recorded. It was about music in protest and how it changed the world. I thought about it and they called us commies and now I know why I think. Social change isn't what the powers that be want and when music shows us the right way they turn on us.
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Comment #26 posted by Hope on November 02, 2005 at 10:24:48 PT
Conan and NY
I meant to watch that with you. The need for sleep was overwhelming. Maybe I can catch it tonight.
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Comment #25 posted by b4daylight on November 02, 2005 at 10:06:56 PT
Thanks FOM
Happy early birtinday for you, and thanks for all you do:)lol that is too funnyComment #12 posted by Patrick on November 02, 2005 at 05:36:39 PTdon't forget Alaska..I chopped the song upRevolution 1
The BeatlesYou say you want a revolution
Well you know
We all want to change the worldYou say you got a real solution
Well you know
we'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well you know
We're doing what we canYou say you'll change the constitution
Well you know
we all love to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well you know
You better free your mind instead
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on November 02, 2005 at 08:55:29 PT
Afterburner 
Thank you. My actual birthday is in a few days but I am happy to celebrate it on a day when we see a victory. I watched Neil and his wife Pegi sing Far From Home last night on Conan and it was so very comfortable to see and hear. Rockin in the Free World is one of his best songs ever. We don't feel like Satan but we are to them so we try to forget it anyway we can. Keep on Rockin in a Free World!
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Comment #23 posted by afterburner on November 02, 2005 at 08:38:23 PT
Happy Birthday, FoM
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World! I heard that song again a couple of days ago (I can't help turning it up whenever I hear it) and I suddenly realized how much I needed to hear it again. Eventhough it is global in scope, I got a flash that it represents all that is good about America and your love of that dream. Enjoy!Healing after too many stressful days, afterburnerA belated hallowe'en wish:While shopping for my wizard costume on hallowe'en, I discovered the following book. It looks like something that would interest vistors and regulars at this site. I had a great time as a wizard at work, and, no, I didn't get the idea from Ed Rosenthal. We were co-inspired!
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
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Comment #22 posted by FoM on November 02, 2005 at 08:32:35 PT
Hope
Cannabis is mainstream and confuses even people that aren't involved with our issue. I have been asked why is marijuana still illegal after all these years? The people don't believe this is important to fight against. We have issues of justice, the economy, stopping the war and much more that should be our country's focus not marijuana.
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Comment #21 posted by Hope on November 02, 2005 at 08:28:00 PT
FoM, Comment 18
I so "Amen" that.
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on November 02, 2005 at 08:17:56 PT
We Shall Overcome Someday
They are singing this beautiful song at Rosa Parks funeral service and today it is my song too.God Bless Rosa Parks
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Comment #19 posted by JSM on November 02, 2005 at 08:16:47 PT:
SAFE
Hats off to SAFE. They did an excellent job of aggressively pointing out the elephant in the living room and much to the dismay of the powers that be the electorate responded to the message that cannabis is much "safer" than alcohol. Although this point is well recognized within this community, it is not a message that is understood with the general public. The fact that Denver responded in a positive manner to this campaign could well have national implications. We now know the hot button that can touch the majority.Very well done SAFE. 
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on November 02, 2005 at 08:13:47 PT
Hope
Thank you. I am happy today because we desperately needed to see that the citizens care and now we know they do care. When NORML got the laws changed in Ohio many years ago from a 20 to 40 year sentence to being able to possess up to almost a quarter of a pound and the most would be a $100 fine people were so very happy. I wish every state would have a good law and then we would be able to stop worrying so much about getting in trouble. No one should need to fear like we have for so many years.
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Comment #17 posted by Hope on November 02, 2005 at 08:08:58 PT
FoM
This win is a nice "birthday present". Happy birthday...and many, many more. This is wonderful.Boston next?
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on November 02, 2005 at 07:34:59 PT
Patrick
It's good to see you.
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on November 02, 2005 at 07:23:52 PT
Nuevo Mexican 
Oh how right you are. I'm still livin in the summer of love and thank you for the birthday wish.
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Comment #14 posted by kaptinemo on November 02, 2005 at 07:03:12 PT:
A great day in Denver
And a wake-up call for the prohibs; that's not just your cell phone ringing, it's that famous bell you are not supposed to ask for whom it's tolling. I think of it this way: the early beginnings of cannabis prohibition came as a 'wave' from the West, against Hispanics, then spread East, to be solidified into Fed law aimed at all minorities. Now another wave is coming from the West, reversing the previous trend, and the end will, again, be in the East, with the elimination of Federal cannabis prohibition laws. And it's no accident that as the wave gets closer to the Fed prohib 'shores', it will, tsunami-like, grow ever higher and higher until it can't be ignored. And it isn't; it is fearfully being countered by such as Johnny ("I wanna test yer) Pee" Walters and his Flying Dog-and-Pony-Circus, jetting hither and yon at taxpayer's expense wherever the 'threat' of popular referenda and legislation derailing the prohib gravytrain shows promise. The taxpayers are becoming increasingly aware of these little junkets, at a time when the Fed budget is written entirely in carmine-colored ink. Soon the calls to examine such trips *in generis* will become louder and louder as things get tighter, and demands to cut Fed spending will increase to a pitch not heard in almost 30 years. Johnny has already had to make mealy-mouth statements that his agency not receiving an increase in funding was all for the better; he'll soon have to get used to making such speeches. 
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Comment #13 posted by Jim Lunsford on November 02, 2005 at 06:50:01 PT
More Good News
Oil and pharmaceutical companies are really feeling the pressure of their record profits and profit margins. It seems that the people are beginning to fight back the big brother oppressive government now and are moving into a more Jeffersonian type of economy. It's very similar in many respects to the Hippie movement of the sixties. Freedom for the individual pursuit of happiness is a central concept in both. It seems to me that a true conservative would be completely opposed to the idea of prohibition, but they died out many years ago. At least, that's my humble opinion.Hopefully, one day soon, we will have a government that is more "spiritual" in the sense that the Christ had for our lives. Love God (maybe through his creations rather than through the churches) and help thy neighbors. Imagine the possibilities in an internet based global government that was comprised of innumerable communities all in place to help us help others. Just a thought. Peace, JimGrandma is a drug smuggler
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=56047CIA holds terror suspects in secret prisons
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051102/wl_afp/usattacksciaprisons_051102074550Rev Jim LunsfordFirst Cannabist ChurchThe Choice ahead in Government: To serve or to oppress?
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Comment #12 posted by Patrick on November 02, 2005 at 05:36:39 PT
Ding Dong
The Denver Witch is Dead.Please pay no attention to he man behind the curtain.
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Comment #11 posted by OverwhelmSam on November 02, 2005 at 05:16:34 PT
This Is A Significant Victory
Denver is a huge city with millions of voters. This measure will have a huge impact on legislators at the state and federal level.Now Denverites, if a city police busts you for less than an ounce of marijuana and prefers charges to the state level, fight the state charges and sue the city! The state case load and civil law suits will put an end to marijuana hate policy. 
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Comment #10 posted by nuevo mexican on November 02, 2005 at 05:04:43 PT
The Denver 'Nuggets'! I get it!
They have a new fan in me, I hope they're as Cannabis-fueled as many other NBA teams are!This is great news! I'm glad for Colorado as the town can benefit from the new found economic boost, they need it, as well as a Cannabis-makeover for Vansterdaming Cannabis tourists! Rocky Mountain Way/High, can now return to bring back the ole Denver charm it seemed to have lost back in the eighties! I wonder How many people moved out there after John Denvers song came out, (like the Beatles song 'Get Back', that helped get me and thousands to Tucson in the 70's, 'JoJo left his town in Tucson Arizona, for some California Grass, Get Back, Get Bact, Get back to WHERE YOU ONCE BELONGED)!
 
You know what that means, just think about it for a minute.Neil Young does Beatles songs like Imagine justice, he should consider a new version of 'Get Back', with Paul MacCartney, maybe, to snap America and world out of our mass depression to remember the old happy/hippie vision we
had before the Orwellian world we live in now was completely in place. And thanks to this vote, and Harry Reids' mini-revolution today in the Senate you'll hear about today, on this Scorpio New Moon, we truly have reason to believe the end of the bushworld as we know it, is near, according to Michael Stipe and REM!Neil Young, Paul MacCartney, and Michael Stipe, in concert together, wouldn't that be a hit! And Bonnie Riatt or Sheryl Crow!I'm imagining all the great implications this vote has for the Wild wild west! Feels like people are ready for the sixties Peace vibe after 5 years of bush hell. What do you think FOM?I think it's still 1967 in your living room from the reports you give us, more inspiring that you would know!Happy Birthday too!
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Comment #9 posted by Jim Lunsford on November 02, 2005 at 04:35:34 PT
P.S.
Has anyone noticed the Doonesbury comic for yesterday and today? Zonk is stoned and ranting against the food choices in the restaraunt he works in. Just an observation. Pretty cool.Rev Jim LunsfordFirst Cannabist ChurchSorcery: The control of drugs in society. Limited to the power base. In 20th Century America, sorcerers ruled the government under the normal guise of religion. As per the usual route of controlling the masses.
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Comment #8 posted by Jim Lunsford on November 02, 2005 at 04:28:00 PT
The Walls
are tumbling down, the walls, tumbling, tumbling.... John Couger. Sort of.Eighty-year old Republican Lila Fehrer was also wary of the proposal. "I voted against that. Drugs are just too prominent everywhere," she said. "And to make it legal I think it would get out of hand."Don't worry Lila, I think the days of the real killer drugs are coming to an end. :) Congratulations all who made this possible. Not just this SAFER group, but all of the groups involved in the war on us. For those of you who believe the road is going to continue to be long and hard and full of small victories, I remind you that once change begins in earnest, it is fast and furious. Think Berlin Wall, PC integration in everyday life, cell phones (damn them!), etc. All great change may be slow in it's implementation to a point, but once it becomes self-evident as to it's usefullness (or at least percieved as such) to a society, then the change is overnight. All of these changes happening now, appear to be on the side of the little fellow. Us. Think about it, without the bottomless campaign contributions of the corporations (campaign finance reform is a reality now) then the "representatives" have a whole new constituency. It's citizens. Not the industries.Change is in the air. And what a nice Cannabis scent it has, indeed! King Pharmaceuticals to Pay U.S. $124 Million For Medicaid Rebate Underpayments & Overcharging for Drug Products
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=56018National Rx Watchdog is today:
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=56039Rev Jim LunsfordFirst Cannabist ChurchLife: Just one thing after another
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Comment #7 posted by mayan on November 02, 2005 at 04:13:24 PT
Congrats, Denver!
I'd say the residents of Denver have sent a very loud and clear message to prohibitionists everywhere. FREE THE WEED!!! Many thanks to the Denver media for all of the free publicity. It might not have passed without them!I believe this victory is a tipping point, also. With the climate of fear and oppression since 9/11 it's a wonder we have made any progress, but we have! Now there is a major backlash brewing against the heavy-handed ,over-stepping neo-cons and their corporate puppet masters. Americans are finally beginning to see that cannabis is relative to everything and can help us take our country back from these greedheads. This is only the beginning! YASNY!!!Some interesting reads...Is Avian Flu another Pentagon Hoax?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=%20EN20051030&articleId=1169 Rumsfeld's growing stake in Tamiflu: Defense Secretary, ex-chairman of flu treatment rights holder, sees portfolio value growing:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/31/news/newsmakers/fortune_rumsfeld/Bush's $7 Billion H5N1 Avian Flu Plan:
http://rense.com/general68/d32st.htm
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Comment #6 posted by potpal on November 01, 2005 at 23:05:50 PT
Yes
Indeed."All truth passes through three stages: first it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
- Arthur Schopenhauer"Great spirits have always been met with violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert EinsteinWe are growing.
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Comment #5 posted by Dankhank on November 01, 2005 at 22:04:12 PT
msg to saferchoice
quick and to the point ...Congrats for winning in Denver.Now it's time to consider if any civil suits or recall petitions are appropriate when Denver cops bump Cannabis possession up to state level.Good Luck in the future, and thanks again for getting this win.
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Comment #4 posted by Dankhank on November 01, 2005 at 21:59:16 PT
SAFER
Here's their website:http://www.saferchoice.orgScary Thing about it?It has a quote from Barry McCaffrey on it ...Whut????
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Comment #3 posted by b4daylight on November 01, 2005 at 21:35:24 PT
Thanks
"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.Common sense
Why not give an alternative to alcohol....DENVER LEGALIZES MARIJUANA 53% - 46%!
by CC Magazine update (28 Oct, 2005)Denver voters make adult possession of one ounce or less of marijuana legal.Denver became the first city in the nation to make the private use of marijuana legal for adults 21 and older as an alternative to alcohol, a far more harmful drug. By 10.15 p.m. Tuesday night, with 97% of the votes tallied, the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative had passed 53% YES to 46% NO.The Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative is first local measure in the nation to draw a comparison between the harms of alcohol and marijuana.The successful I-100 campaign focused on the vast number of health, safety and social problems associated with alcohol use, promoting marijuana use to avoid the prevalence of such problems. The campaign pointed to government reports and scholarly studies that show alcohol is a contributing factor in domestic violence, sexual assaults, and other violent crimes, as well as overdose deaths, whereas the use of marijuana has never been linked to such violent behavior and there has never been a marijuana overdose death in history.Colorado Medical Marijuana certificate
Colorado Medical Marijuana certificate
"It is time our laws reflect the facts, and it is an indisputable fact that marijuana is safer than alcohol, both to the user and to society," said Mason Tvert, executive director of SAFER and coordinator of the I-100 campaign. "Current laws accept and even encourage the use of alcohol over marijuana, thus pushing people toward using a more harmful substance. Why on earth would we prohibit an adult from making the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol in their own home?"By approving the I-100, the use of marijuana in public, the use of marijuana by people under 21, driving under the influence of marijuana, and the cultivation and distribution of marijuana would all remain illegal, much like with alcohol.Cannabis Culture will update this story as more details become available.Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) is a Colorado-based non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the public about the harmful consequences associated with alcohol, as compared to the safer — yet illegal — substance: marijuana.Contact: Mason Tvert, Executive Director
Phone: 720-275-8230
E-mail: mason saferchoice.org
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 01, 2005 at 21:20:40 PT
Related Article fromTheDenverChannel.com
Mile High Votes To Higher: Pot Proposal Passes***Denver City Attorney Says Election Outcome Doesn't Change Anything. November 1, 2005DENVER -- An effort to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana won during Tuesday night's election, despite a campaign that many said misled voters by playing on their fear of violent crime.With 389 of 421 precincts reporting, 53 percent of voters had cast ballots for the measure, with 46 percent against it.Telluride voters are also deciding whether to make crackdowns on marijuana possession a lower priority for local law enforcement -- but only an ounce or less, and only for people age 18 and up. The Town Council allowed the measure to be placed on the ballot in August.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 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.Mason Tvert, the campaign organizer for SAFER, or Safer Alternatives For Enjoyable Recreation, 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.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."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.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," Kampia added. "That's equivalent to arresting every man, woman, and child in the state of Wyoming plus every man, woman, and child in St. Paul, Minnesota. 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, 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.Copyright 2005 by TheDenverChannel.comhttp://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/5228509/detail.html
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 01, 2005 at 21:16:39 PT
Thank You Denver
This is really good news. We need a victory to help us and this helped me. I have hope again.
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