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| A-44 Shot Down |
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Posted by CN Staff on November 08, 2006 at 06:13:50 PT By Caitlin Donnell, Colorado Daily Staff Writer Source: Colorado Daily 
Colorado -- Colorado State Amendment 44, which proposed to change the Colorado Statutes, not the Constitution, to legalize the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for adults 21 years of age or older, was failing as of press time Tuesday night.According to the Rocky Mountain News Web site, 61.9 percent of Colorado voters shot down the amendment with 38.1 percent who voted for the amendment with 1,338 of 3,161 precincts reported. While individuals who grow, transfer, possess, sell or consume marijuana violate federal, state and in some cases local laws, A-44 addressed state law for possession only. “I am very proud of the citizens of Colorado for taking a stand against the illegal drug movement. We as a community have taken a stance and I am just so very pleased that people put forth the effort to vote and show they really care,” said Beverly Kinard on Tuesday. She is the CEO and founder of Guarding Our Children Against Marijuana (GOCAM), the leading group of opponents of A-44.. Kinard said by voting down A-44, the parents and citizens of Colorado were protecting children and not providing benefits for drug dealers, which Kinard said of the amendment. If the amendment had passed, Colorado would have “become a haven for drug users and that families would have turned their back on Colorado because they would not have wanted to bring their children here on vacation,” Kinard said. The proponents for A-44, Denver-based Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), a non-profit organization led by Mason Tvert, supported Amendment 44 by saying that marijuana is a safer alternative to alcohol. SAFER's campaign says marijuana is far less addictive, less harmful than alcohol and other narcotics. SAFER also points to studies that have shown that while alcohol contributes to violence and aggressive behavior, they say marijuana does not. SAFER also attributes marijuana to be a safer alternative to alcohol as there are numerous overdose deaths each year while there has not been a marijuana overdose death in recorded history. This point, however, is not correct, according to GOCAM. Kinard has argued that there have been many incidents of drug overdose deaths in which marijuana was the only drug in the body. Kinard also said recent research that shown marijuana use is linked with cardiovascular strokes, bladder cancer and schizophrenia strengthens her argument that marijuana is in fact a dangerous drug. Tvert, however, said he was not disappointed by Tuesday nights' election results. “We said from the very beginning that we are not out to necessarily change the law but to change the people because we know that once people learn that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol, they will certainly come around and we will see a much greater number in the future,” Tvert said Tuesday night. “This is probably one of the first steps in a much greater movement in Colorado towards achieving some sanity in our marijuana laws.” Tvert said SAFER will continue to work to change marijuana laws nationwide and here in Colorado with the principle that “it's time that the government stops punishing adults who make the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol,” he said. Source: Colorado Daily (UC Edu, CO) Related Articles & Web Sites: Safer Choice Safer Colorado Pro-Pot Proposal Takes a Big Hit Marijuana Amendment Going Up in Smoke Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 08, 2006 at 07:15:39 PT |
| Now that we are slowly becoming a blue country again I have hope. Until the right is out of power the fight would have gone on and on. I am so happy my state now has a Democrat as Governor and a pro-pot Senator ( the brownie incident ). It was in the mid 80s since Ohio had a Democrat as Governor and the years we had a Democrat as Governor was the most prosperous for me and my husband ever. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by Celaya on November 08, 2006 at 06:41:54 PT |
| Now that the Dems have at least the congress, we'll see if there really remains any difference. The Repubs broke into the Tyranny candy shop. Now, will the Dems leave and board it back up? Also, we have two months of a "lame duck" congress. Plenty of time to have another 911 and preempt any Democratic reform, if any is really forthcoming. Finally, if Catherine Fitts is right ( http://www.narconews.com/narcodollars1.html ), the corrupt government would be even more determined to prevent the end of prohibition than they would to let the Dems get a majority. All the dirty tricks could have been reserved to use against the marijuana initiatives. - Hopefully, there will be much investigation. At least the "marijuana as lowest law enforcement priority" initiatives won in California (Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Santa Cruz). - Saints preserve us! California, here I come.....[ Post Comment ] |
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