cannabisnews.com: Denver Weighs Pot Proposal





Denver Weighs Pot Proposal
Posted by CN Staff on October 28, 2005 at 06:05:38 PT
By Megan McCloskey, Associated Press Writer
Source: Associated Press 
Denver -- The nickname Mile High City could soon take on an entirely new connotation.Denver voters will decide Tuesday whether it will be legal for adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. Seattle, Oakland, Calif., and a couple of college towns already have laws making individual possession the lowest law enforcement priority.
Supporters in Denver have launched a “Make Denver Safer” campaign that contends the change will help curb domestic violence because adults will opt for pot over alcohol.“There's no doubt that if people choose to use marijuana instead of alcohol we would not have the same number of problems,” said Mason Tvert, the 23-year-old campaign organizer.The argument has angered local officials.“It's a deceptive and deceitful campaign,” said Councilman Charlie Brown, who spent a recent Saturday night ripping the signs up from public parks and medians - where they are banned - and throwing them in the garbage. “Domestic violence is not on the ballot. Alcohol is not on the ballot. Marijuana is on the ballot.”Despite the attention the campaign has drawn, critics of the proposal are quick to point out that a “yes” vote won't matter much. City police will simply file marijuana possession charges under state law, which carries up to a $100 fine and a mandatory $100 drug offender surcharge fine, said David Broadwell, a Denver assistant attorney.From 2002 to August of this year, some 6,800 people in Denver were charged with possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, according to the city attorney's Office. Of those, only 74 were charged under the city ordinance. Authorities say an ounce can be used to make about 60 joints, or marijuana cigarettes.“The initiative isn't going to change the way we do business. Ninety-eight percent are charged with state penalties. If the ballot initiative is approved then it will be 100 percent of cases,” said Vince DeCroce, director of prosecution for the attorney's office.Tvert argues that the vote is more about changing the image of marijuana than anything else.“All you hear is that marijuana is the devil and it's going to cause you to ruin your life,” Tvert said. “And that's not true. We are simply trying to inject some of the other side into the argument, because currently it's been kept out.“What is it about adult marijuana users that is so scary?”The campaign in Denver and similar, nonbinding initiatives passed by students on two of the largest college campuses in the state are only part of larger plan to move the state to a system of taxation and regulation for the drug, Tvert said.“The thing is, we can't get there without doing this,” Tvert said. “We need the power of the people of Denver to lobby the state.”Bruce Mirkin of the Marijuana Policy Project, one of the largest national groups that opposes jail time for pot use, said change often comes from the local level.“It's part of starting the discussion, and I think hopefully creating momentum for at least the broader society to have the conversation about the country's marijuana laws,” he said.Last year, 64 percent of Oakland voters told police to make marijuana possession its lowest enforcement priority and required the city to develop a plan for licensing and taxing the sale, use and cultivation of pot for private use. A similar vote is on Tuesday's ballot in the Colorado ski resort town of Telluride.In Denver, critics of the proposal are wary of the reputation a “yes” vote might bring to the Colorado capital.“People will flock to Denver to use marijuana,” said Jeffrey Sweetin, head of the Rocky Mountain Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration.Even if possession of one ounce is legal, people would still have to illegally buy the drug, Sweetin said, and “people don't realize all that money goes to organized crime.”Source: Associated Press (Wire)Author: Megan McCloskey, Associated Press WriterPublished: Friday, October 28, 2005Copyright: 2005 The Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Safer Choicehttp://www.saferchoice.org/ Pot Backers Can't Stoke Hickenlooperhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21239.shtmlNo for Denver Pot Initiativehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21226.shtmlSAFER Could Still Be Smarterhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21223.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by b4daylight on October 28, 2005 at 16:24:59 PT
lol
“It's a deceptive and deceitful campaign,” said Councilman Charlie Brown,and what the government never ever has once lied to the public right..
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Comment #4 posted by Shishaldin on October 28, 2005 at 12:58:05 PT
snicker
Councilman *Charlie Brown*...haha
Where's Lucy when you need her?
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Comment #3 posted by siege on October 28, 2005 at 08:36:16 PT
ONLY 74 charged under city ordinance
How was it calif. first it was one Town them another and then the STATE. Councilman Charlie Brown has to be in favor of
Prohibition and geting the money from marijuana 6,800 people in Denver were charged with possession,  ONLY 74 were charged under the city ordinance, Ninety-eight percent
which carries up to a $100 fine and a mandatory $100 drug offender surcharge fine, said David Broadwell, a Denver assistant attorney. fine + surcharge fine, people 6726 X $100 = $672,600 + 672,600 = 1,345,200 there gos my pay for the year...
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Comment #2 posted by Richard Zuckerman on October 28, 2005 at 08:05:57 PT:
PROHIBITION COSTS
www.prohibitioncosts.org makes a sound economic argument for the legalization of "Marijuana". Better the people benefit from the tax and regulation of Cannabis than the United States Central Intelligence drug money laundering, www.copvcia.com!! An issue of Law Enforcement News [John Jay College of Criminal Justice] newspaper, about four months ago, had a tidbit of information about the State of Oregon, that 1.1 million dollars of tax revenue was produced from the medical "Marijuana" patients, that $900,000 of that money is being used constructively for Oregon State projects. There is a Cannabis tax and regulate Ballot measure for 2006 in the State of Nevada. When are the people going to wise up and stop wasting tax money and precious time on law enforcement of "Marijuana" laws???!!! Especially with the medical studies coming out on the benefits of Cannabis!!! I recently purchased Hemp Bread, www.healthyhempbread.com and Hemp pretzels with peanut butter, www.Hempzels.com. Last week, I faxed a letter to U.S. Senators Lautenberg, Corzine, Schumer, and Clinton, asking for the legalization of "Marijuana", among other things. I will only vote for Green Party and Libertarian Party candidates in this next month's election, though I am considering voting for Fernando Ferrer for New York City Mayor. I am registered to vote in New York City, Libertarian Party. About four days ago marked the 10th year after my discharge from federal supervised release from the federal felony conviction for sending a threat thru the mail to a federal district judge after same judge held that he does not have the authority to strike down the nation's Marijuana laws and firearms laws, that the individual citizen does not have a federal constitutional Right to keep and bear arms.By the way, for those people in the New Jersey/New York City metropolitan area: GRAND FUNK RAILROAD concert is scheduled for November 11, 2005, 8 P.M., at the Bergen Performing Arts Center, in Englewood, New Jersey, which is off of Route 9W, from the George Washington Bridge. Ticket prices range from $30 to $100. My motion for direct certification is pending in the New Jersey Supreme Court, with Case Manager Sandy Sanford, (telephone number)(609) 292-4837, entitled Richard Paul Zuckerman v. Borough of Highland Park, et al., asking New Jersey's Highest Court TO ESTABLISH A CAUSE OF ACTION FOR RETALIATION UNDER THE NEW JERSEY CONSTITUTION. For some odd reason, most States [if there are any at all!!] have not established a cause of action for Retaliation when a public employee violates the State Constitution. WHY NOT? One lawyer told me he runs directly to federal court because of the attorney fees statute, 42 U.S.C. Section 1988!!! I received any scary e-mail last week, from the John Birch Society, www.stoptheFTAA.org or com, about the plan by the Council on Foreign Relations' plan to abolish the International Borders between Mexico and the United States and Canada and the United States, thru their "Free" Trade Agreements. WE MUST CONTACT CONGRESS TO OPPOSE IT, PEOPLE! BETTER YET, PLEASE VISIT THE WEB SITE OF CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL AND READ HIS REASONS WHY WE MUST GET OUT OF THE UNITED NATIONS????!!!Richard Paul Zuckerman, Post Office Box 159, Metuchen, New Jersey, 08840-0159, richardzuckerman2002 yahoo.com.
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Comment #1 posted by mayan on October 28, 2005 at 06:46:17 PT
Whiners
“It's a deceptive and deceitful campaign,” said Councilman Charlie Brown, who spent a recent Saturday night ripping the signs up from public parks and medians - where they are banned - and throwing them in the garbage. “Domestic violence is not on the ballot. Alcohol is not on the ballot. Marijuana is on the ballot.”Marijuana's on the ballot? Really? Gee, maybe you could shout a little louder and give I-100 even more free publicity! I love it!Despite the attention the campaign has drawn, critics of the proposal are quick to point out that a “yes” vote won't matter much.The critics sure are crying a lot about an initiative that "won't matter much."Even if possession of one ounce is legal, people would still have to illegally buy the drug, Sweetin said, and “people don't realize all that money goes to organized crime.”We don't want the money to go to organized crime. That is why we're trying to change the law! Do these folks have any ability to think, whatsoever? The opponents of I-100 can't make an argument without making themselves look either very stupid or like complete liars. This is just wonderful! 
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