The Denver City Council voted to put SAFER's marijuana initiative on the fall ballot, according to The Rocky Mountain News. From the article:
Denver voters will have the final say on whether the city should change its marijuana laws, but that didn't stop several City Council members from accusing pot activists of turning city elections into a farce. "You're trying to make a joke out of the electoral process in Denver," said Councilwoman Carol Boigan. "I think this is aimed at street theater and capturing media attention." The council voted unanimously Monday to refer to voters a ballot initiative that would direct Denver police to make the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana "the city's lowest law enforcement priority." Backers of the proposed ordinance turned in several thousand signatures to earn a spot on the November ballot.
"The war on drugs is as misguided as the war on Iraq," said Councilman Chris Nevitt, who compared the country's drug laws to the failure of Prohibition. "This issue needs to be taken to the state and federal level. Denver voters have already spoken." In 2005, Denver voters made the possession of small amounts of marijuana legal in Denver. Denver police, however, have continued to cite people who possess less than an ounce of the drug, saying they have to enforce state law.
More coverage from The Denver Post. They write:
...assistant city attorney David Broadwell said the current initiative would have little or no effect on how the police and prosecutors pursue possession. The debate and surrounding publicity has repeatedly put city officials in politically awkward positions. Monday was no different, as four City Council members and Mayor John Hickenlooper admitted (or didn't deny) in the Denver Daily News that they had smoked marijuana. Monday's vote means this will be the third straight year Tvert has successfully placed a marijuana initiative before Denver voters. A 2005 city initiative successfully repealed a Denver law against possession, but a similar statewide initiative failed last year. Denver authorities currently enforce the state rules outlawing possession of marijuana. Bryan Vicente, an attorney with Citizens for a Safer Denver, told council members that tickets for misdemeanor possession of marijuana actually increased by 15 percent in the year after residents voted to repeal the city possession law. "I would just ask the council and members of the public to consider whether busting adults for personal possession of marijuana is the best use of resources," Vicente said.
More coverage from Colorado Condidential. They write:
University of Colorado Colorado Springs professor Dr. Robert Melamede was one of the first speakers to support the ordinance, and lamented Iraqi war veterans who "come back and spend the rest of their lives on pain medication" rather than being given the option of medical pot. "The federal policy is that narcotics are better for you than marijuana," Melamede said. Those against the proposal also made a showing at the meeting, and the majority of them identified as professionals in the substance abuse industry. Shannon Mulcahy, an adolescent counselor at Arapahoe House, a non-profit provider of rehabilitation services, claimed that marijuana today "is ten times stronger than what was available in the 1970s." But it was when Mulcahy told city council that a percentage of youths who use marijuana were more inclined to participate in violence that laughter erupted in city hall from ordinance supporters, forcing council president Michael Hancock to give a stern warning to cacklers. Tom Brewster, a licensed social worker with a substance abuse program partially funded by the University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center, expressed his concern over the ordinance increasing addiction and victimizing children. After that, Miguel Lopez spoke as a representative of the Chicano and GLBT community, emphasizing his concern over marijuana arrests targeting minorities in the city. Lopez also read supportive letters from city council members in Seatle, WA, where a similar measure has been implemented.
Category: Denver November 2007 Election
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