Colorado May Become The New Pot Legalization Battleground

Colorado is becoming the center of the new drug war - the full legalization of marijuana. California was the first battleground, but pot advocates didn't advance their agenda on the West coast as effectively as they hoped. And now pot advocates are looking for a new state to decriminalize this drug once and for all with sights set on a Colorado ballot measure in 2012, as The Denver Post/AP reports.

Since the passing of Amendment 20 in 2000, Colorado has seen a meteoric rise in medical marijuana dispenseries over the course of the last decade and they are not just in Denver or Boulder, but also in small, sometimes rural towns all over the state. With many communities like Fort Collins suburb Windsor attempting to fight back the onslaught of applications to open up these shops, most of the fighting has been mostly ineffective.

And although the first legalization measure in the state, Amendment 44, was defeated by Colorado voters in 2006, activists are not giving up.

And pot activists have reason to celebrate with some big legislative victories in just 2011 alone.

In March, state lawmakers did not ban edible marijuana products, but instead decided in favor of child-proof packaging on such products, as CBSDenver reported.

Over the weekend, a case against Dr. Toribio Robert Mestas, one of the first doctors in Colorado to be charged with writing loose MMJ recommendations and conspiracy to distribute marijuana after writing a recommendation to an undercover cop, was thrown out of court. Arapahoe County District Judge Kurt Horton ruled that Dr. Mestas had complied with Colorado's state constitution after all. As 9News reports, Dr. Mestas victory immediately threw another pot case against a different doctor into a tailspin and sets a new precedent for other practicing pot doctors.

And earlier this month, as 9News reported, possession of synthetic pot known as "K2" or "Spice" is on its way to having more severe legal consequences which eliminates some alternative competition to consumption of real marijuana. As well as the Colorado senators rejecting the "driving while high" bill last week, which would have imposed stricter consequences if a driver was pulled over with pot in their bloodstream, as The Daily Camera reports.

Last October, the city of Pueblo decided to embrace the MMJ dispensaries by voting to enact a new 4.3% sales tax that could generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in city revenue yearly, as NewsFirst5 reported in 2010.

With all of this activity, it certainly suggests the state is facing a significant and passionate lobby in the pot advocates.

Groups in favor of full legalization of pot are looking to start gathering signatures for a ballot measure starting this summer, as The Denver Post reports. Colorado is a smart choice for marijuana legalization advocates because of a large citizenry with progressive views on the use of the drug as well as the low amount of signatures needed to produce a ballot initiative - approximately 86,000 signatures are all that are needed.

Professor Sam Kamin of the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law told The Denver Post that he believes Colorado will be the next battleground:

California had its chance, Colorado is the next obvious choice.

For more information on medical marijuana and full legalization of marijuana, visit Boulder's Cannabis Therapy Institute, NORML's Colorado news website and Americans For Safe Access.

WATCH:

The Marijuana Policy Tipping Point

Comments

[Designerherbals]

08:22 PM on 05/30/2011

Oh, also, as he mentioned many of the therapeutic aspects of cannabis consumption come form the 70 or 80 other naturally occurring cannibinoids found in the actual cannabis plant. Trying to replicate them all synthetically in a lab is essentially impossible. You would effectively need a pill for each individual cannibinoid compound. CBD, CBN, CMD, CMS, etc. This is why I have never been as worried as some others are of the pharmaceutical companies taking over cannabis production if/when it is legalized. Try as they might, and you can believe they will do everything in their power to try and achieve it, they *can not* replicate the potency or the power of the naturally occurring Cannabis plant. And I for one think there is something rather divine in that ;)

[Designerherbals]

08:14 PM on 05/30/2011

Btw, I just watched the video, preach on brother, preach on.

2 things to add:

1. Prop 19 was voted down in California this past November because the growers didn't want it to pass. It was a very poorly written law which had far too many holes in it allowing for exploitation and over-regulation by government agencies and municipalities. It is being rewritten and will be back up for a vote in the fall of 2012 when I very much expect it to pass.

2. The synthetic version of marijuana that he mentioned is most commonly found in pill form and is called Marinol. It is an extremely weak and ineffective compound. It is actually quite interesting to the people who study it closely that try as they might pharmaceutical companies have been largely unable to replicate the potency of the natural occurring Delta-9 THC compound. In fact there attempts to recreate it synthetically and their utter failures are almost enough to make someone start to contemplate higher powers and all that, at the very least it is safe to say that in some regards man in all of his infinite wisdom still falls far short of what mother nature is capable of.

[Designerherbals]

07:56 PM on 05/30/2011

It is the single safest drug on the planet, and the most widely beneficial naturally occurring medicinal substance known to man. In over 8,000 years of recorded consumption there has not been a single marijuana related death, more than can be said for almost any other substance on our planet.

The legalization of marijuana in a medical sense is a no-brainer, the outright legalization is very much so a debate worth having, and public opinion should continue to progress favorably as the lies and misinformation that have permeated our culture for years are replaced with actual sound scientific knowledge and understanding.

Not even mentioning the horrible atrocities that are committed in the name of wrongfully persecuting sick and injured people who are doing nothing more than trying to treat themselves to the best of their abilities and to improve their quality of life.

[skooli]

06:48 AM on 05/29/2011

Instead of making it out right legal just have people register to be permitted to use it. Call it a concealed pot permit, named after the concealed weapon permit. You can smoke it and have it on you as long as the general public doesn't see or smell it. If for some reason you violate the conditions of the permit it will be revoked with fines. You can only get it from legal weed manufacturers and you cannot grow it yourself, in the same fashion that it is illegal to make your own firearms. And, you cannot have a firearm in possession while in possession of pot. You cannot be high while in a government building or on school grounds and especially when driving or when engaged where the safety of others could be compromised due to an altered state of consciousness.

[rep suck]

08:33 PM on 05/29/2011

What?? Instead of all this unnecessary crap which is way to involved and an overreach, it's a plant for christ sake, booze and tobacco are way worse and you don't see these ridiculous laws for any of them. Treat it like alcohol or tobacco, tax it, control it and control who buys it. Very simple unlike this overreach, besides trying to enforce any of this would be nearly impossible but at least your going in the right direction.

[Tobias89]

08:40 PM on 05/29/2011

No offence to you but a permit system doesn’t seem to be the way to go. The laws on marijuana should be comparable to the laws on alcohol. A. Revocation and fines (dependant on the amount of the fines) would deny the government desperately needed funds in the form of long term taxes. B. “as long as the general public doesn't see or smell it.” is very loose terminology when considering how you define the general population. Is a pool party in my own back yard with the neighbors general population? C. What is wrong with letting people grow their own plant for personal use? This is where we could really follow the example of our current laws on alcohol in that it should be illegal only to sell untaxed marijuana. D. Any attempt to deny citizens the right to be in possession of a firearm is a violation of the 2nd amendment granted they are not a convicted felon. Last but not least E. Better methods for determining an individual’s state of consciousness are required to prohibit an altered state of mind in the locations you mentioned. For example, our current DUID laws rely on the detection of certain metabolites in a person’s body that are present up to a month after consumption. Metabolites that are not even related to the psychoactive effects on one’s body in the first place. Your ideas are uneducated and representative of the bureaucratic mindset that has our country going down the toilet.

[proudloudlib]

02:47 PM on 05/20/2011

I lived in Colorado in the 70's. Maybe I'll move back.

[maxwelldog]

01:40 PM on 07/06/2011

I'm guessing you'll leave the tornado behind?
My eyes are getting bad...does that say tomado or tornado?
I don't need this agrvation...I already come from Dan Quayle's state of Indiana and get grief when I spell it potatoes, and tomatoes.
OK, I know....
[take two]
I'm guessing you'll leave the toRnado behind?

d=^))

[patman77]

08:38 PM on 05/18/2011

surely you could have found a better picture than that dude. how about the zig-zag man ?

[fumes]

10:49 PM on 05/18/2011

how about Dr Carl Sagan:

"I have mentioned that in the cannabis experience there is a part of your mind that remains a dispassionate observer, who is able to take you down in a hurry if need be. I have on a few occasions been forced to drive in heavy traffic when high. I’ve negotiated it with no difficulty at all, though I did have some thoughts about the marvelous cherry-red color of traffic lights. My high is always reflective, peaceable, intellectually exciting, and sociable, unlike most alcohol highs, and there is never a hangover. Through the years I find that slightly smaller amounts of cannabis suffice to produce the same degree of high, and in one movie theater recently I found I could get high just by inhaling the cannabis smoke which permeated the theater.

There is a very nice self-titering aspect to cannabis. Each puff is a very small dose; the time lag between inhaling a puff and sensing its effect is small; and there is no desire for more after the high is there. The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world." ~Carl Sagan
http://www.veryimportantpotheads.com/

[maxwelldog]

01:41 PM on 07/06/2011

or Thomas Jefferson!

[rich07]

03:35 PM on 05/18/2011

I hope Washington, California, Colorado and a host of other states get ballot inititives for 2012. This will make it very difficult for the prohibition group to fight on multiple fronts as their support continues to dwindle. I was tough for Prop 19 because the battle was focused on one front...bring it on...I am sick of this ridiculous prohibition!

[RENAMED Concerned Parent]

12:47 PM on 05/18/2011

Jesus said to do unto others as we would have them to do unto us. How about a $100 annual permit to grow a dozen plants, kind of like a fishing permit? This will go a long way toward putting the criminal drug gangs out of business for good! Also, check out http://www.northpoint.org/ if you’d like to see some more very positive material about Jesus at work in people’s lives.

[ghostboy206]

06:45 PM on 05/17/2011

Go Colorado. But lets not forget that WASHINGTON STATE is collecting signatures to LEGALIZE MARIJUANA in 2011 right NOW...Check out the Sensible Washington Facebook page to learn more about Initiative 1149 which aims to legalize marijuana for adult users!! http://www.facebook.com/sensiblewashington

[Grumpy Old Dude]

06:26 PM on 05/17/2011

Geez....I just hope it gets legalized somewhere before I pass away...because wherever it does get legalized...I'm moving there the next day!

[Runruff]

04:19 PM on 05/17/2011

I am being heavily censored here due to too much info. I'm leaving.

[Runruff]

04:04 PM on 05/17/2011

Leave it to the feds to shoot themselves, literally and figuratively.

By cracking down on mmj in Colorado, they have PO'ed the populace until now we will show them who is boss in 2012.

Literally, they shoot themselves in the foot also:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmRN00KbCr8

[Runruff]

03:53 PM on 05/17/2011

Honest thief vs dishonest thieves.
When a reporter asked famous bank robber Willie Sutton why he robbed banks he said , Because that is where the money is!"
Why Politicians want to go to Washington is because that is where the money is. This brand of robber is the most detestable because they lie about their motives.

[ClassicalGas]

01:11 PM on 05/17/2011

You just shouldn't even try to legislate morality. Go Colorado!

[Blackwing]

01:01 PM on 05/17/2011

Go Colorado.