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Voters here approved making Denver the first major city to legalize small amounts of marijuana, but the mayor warned that state law still makes possession of the drug illegal.
"OK of pot issue gives new meaning to Mile High City," said Wednesday's headline in the Rocky Mountain News. The measure, which passed Tuesday with 54% of the vote, says adults 21 and older may possess up to an ounce of marijuana without penalty in the city.
A few other cities, including Seattle and Oakland, have laws that make marijuana possession a low priority for police. A dozen states, including Colorado, have decriminalized possession of small amounts but still issue fines.
Unlike Denver, the Colorado ski town of Telluride, population 2,300, narrowly defeated a measure Tuesday that would have made possession of marijuana the lowest police priority. It might be already: Just 17 citations were issued there last year for pot possession.
Don't expect clouds of marijuana smoke to fill Denver's thin air. Mayor John Hickenlooper said police will continue to arrest and charge people for marijuana because state law still makes possession illegal.
Hickenlooper said the city can adopt an ordinance that is stricter than state law on marijuana but not one that is weaker.
Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., said Denver's vote will spur initiatives in other cities to legalize and regulate marijuana like alcohol or tobacco.
"It's certainly likely to energize people. This is the wind in the sails of reform," Mirken said Wednesday. "Rethinking marijuana prohibition is mainstream. This is the heart of America saying, 'Hold on, maybe our current marijuana laws don't make a lot of sense.' And the fact is, they're right."
Mason Tvert, who led the Denver campaign for legalized pot, said he will encourage people who are charged under state law to fight their arrests in court.
In Colorado, having an ounce of marijuana or less is punishable by a $100 fine but no jail time. "It's like a speeding ticket, and only a fraction of people end up going to court over it," said Tvert, founder of SAFER, or Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation.
Tvert said his group also will seek a state initiative to license and regulate the sale of marijuana. His campaign argued that legalized pot is a safer alternative, considering the problems that arise from alcohol abuse such as violent crime and health risks.
The mayor said he opposed the measure because he considers marijuana a "gateway" drug that can lead to harder substances and "much more self-destructive behaviors." Hickenlooper acknowledged, however, that Denver's vote "does reflect a genuine shift in people's attitudes."
Although Denver's marijuana vote caught attention, the main issue Coloradans approved Tuesday will let the state government keep $3.7 billion in tax revenue over the next five years. The money otherwise would have been refunded to taxpayers under a 1992 constitutional amendment, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which has strict caps on state spending. The statewide referendum passed with 52% of the vote.
Source: USA Today (US)
Page: 3A
Copyright: 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact: editor@usatoday.com
Website: USATODAY.com
"OK of pot issue gives new meaning to Mile High City," said Wednesday's headline in the Rocky Mountain News. The measure, which passed Tuesday with 54% of the vote, says adults 21 and older may possess up to an ounce of marijuana without penalty in the city.
A few other cities, including Seattle and Oakland, have laws that make marijuana possession a low priority for police. A dozen states, including Colorado, have decriminalized possession of small amounts but still issue fines.
Unlike Denver, the Colorado ski town of Telluride, population 2,300, narrowly defeated a measure Tuesday that would have made possession of marijuana the lowest police priority. It might be already: Just 17 citations were issued there last year for pot possession.
Don't expect clouds of marijuana smoke to fill Denver's thin air. Mayor John Hickenlooper said police will continue to arrest and charge people for marijuana because state law still makes possession illegal.
Hickenlooper said the city can adopt an ordinance that is stricter than state law on marijuana but not one that is weaker.
Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., said Denver's vote will spur initiatives in other cities to legalize and regulate marijuana like alcohol or tobacco.
"It's certainly likely to energize people. This is the wind in the sails of reform," Mirken said Wednesday. "Rethinking marijuana prohibition is mainstream. This is the heart of America saying, 'Hold on, maybe our current marijuana laws don't make a lot of sense.' And the fact is, they're right."
Mason Tvert, who led the Denver campaign for legalized pot, said he will encourage people who are charged under state law to fight their arrests in court.
In Colorado, having an ounce of marijuana or less is punishable by a $100 fine but no jail time. "It's like a speeding ticket, and only a fraction of people end up going to court over it," said Tvert, founder of SAFER, or Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation.
Tvert said his group also will seek a state initiative to license and regulate the sale of marijuana. His campaign argued that legalized pot is a safer alternative, considering the problems that arise from alcohol abuse such as violent crime and health risks.
The mayor said he opposed the measure because he considers marijuana a "gateway" drug that can lead to harder substances and "much more self-destructive behaviors." Hickenlooper acknowledged, however, that Denver's vote "does reflect a genuine shift in people's attitudes."
Although Denver's marijuana vote caught attention, the main issue Coloradans approved Tuesday will let the state government keep $3.7 billion in tax revenue over the next five years. The money otherwise would have been refunded to taxpayers under a 1992 constitutional amendment, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which has strict caps on state spending. The statewide referendum passed with 52% of the vote.
Source: USA Today (US)
Page: 3A
Copyright: 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact: editor@usatoday.com
Website: USATODAY.com
