44: Pot initiative goes up in smoke

[Euphoric]

I threw up a little in my mouth when I read this:

44: Pot initiative goes up in smoke
Article Last Updated:11/07/2006 10:09:19 PM MST

document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').styl e.width = requestedWidth + "px"; if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').styl e.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } Most Colorado voters just said no Tuesday to legalizing small amounts of marijuana for recreational use.
Under Amendment 44, adults ages 21 and over would have been allowed to possess and use up to an ounce of marijuana without facing a $100 fine.
Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, or SAFER, launched the campaign to legalize pot after a successful initiative in Denver last year.
Although the Denver measure made pot technically legal in the city, Denver police are using state law to continue to fine people $100 who are caught with marijuana.
The only Coloradans currently allowed to possess up to an ounce of marijuana are people who need it for medicinal purposes, under a state law that was passed six years ago.
Mason Tvert, SAFER's campaign director, argued through the election season that marijuana is a safer alternative to alcohol.
On Tuesday, he said he knew it would be a tough battle to change "75 years of marijuana prohibition overnight.
"It's quite clear that a number of people in Colorado are in agreement that marijuana prohibition is not working," Tvert said. "We think this is the first step in a 5- to 10-year process."
SAFER dropped $60,000 into the campaign, and Tvert sees the money as well spent because Coloradans began to have a conversation about whether marijuana should be legalized.
"It's not a issue that is going away," he said. "There is a big effort to change these laws."
Opponents to Amendment 44 were pleased Tuesday that the initiative failed, saying legalization would increase teen drug use.
"I think the people of Colorado have spoken," said Beverly Kinard, founder of Guarding Our Children Against Marijuana. "They care about Colorado, they care about the families of Colorado and they are taking a stand against the drug movement."
Kinard said if another effort is made to legalize any drugs in Colorado, her group will continue to fight it.
"They are constantly battering us with these messages about these drugs," she said. "We are sending a message back to the movement: 'We don't want you here and we don't want you damaging our state'."


http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4620674?source=rss