Pubdate: Fri, 30 Dec 2005 Source: Daily Camera (CO) Copyright: 2005 The Daily Camera. Contact: http://www.thedailycamera.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/103 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) REEFER MUDDINESS Faulty Arguments Underline Pro-Marijuana Effort We can think of several possible reasons to decriminalize the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana. Public safety is not one of them, whatever the folks at SAFER Colorado would like you to believe. SAFER is the group that waged a successful campaign in Denver to legalize the possession and use of an ounce or less of marijuana by people 21 and over. The measure approved last month by voters was basically symbolic - Colorado law still bans marijuana possession - but success at the local level has encouraged SAFER to take the next logical step: a ballot initiative to do away with the state law. At a press conference on Wednesday, SAFER Executive Director Mason Tvert announced that his group will try to put an initiative on the statewide ballot in 2006, with the help of "students and volunteers from across the state." Like the Denver initiative, SAFER's statewide measure would legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana - although local governments would be free to keep their own anti-marijuana ordinances, and federal drug laws would still apply. Frustrated by the response of Denver police, who have said that they'll continue to enforce the state law, Tvert threw down a challenge: "If the officials in this city don't have the guts to stand up for the individuals they represent, we have no choice but to take up the fight on behalf of those individuals." The dubious assumption behind that statement is that Denver voters ever gave much thought to the real-world implications of the ballot initiative. The lack of any serious debate before the election suggests that they didn't. Had there been a real debate, we doubt that many voters would have bought the argument - if that's the word for it - offered by Tvert and his allies. The folks at SAFER (or "Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation") argue that it's hypocritical for government at any level to outlaw marijuana while "allowing and even encouraging" the use of alcohol. That's a reasonable argument up to a point, but the supporters of the Denver ballot initiative stretched it well beyond the bounds of honest campaign debate. Their basic line during the campaign for Initiative 100, the measure to legalize marijuana possession, was "Make Denver SAFER" - implying to the casual observer that the initiative was part of a broader effort to fight crime and improve police staffing. Even more openly deceptive were billboards developed (and later withdrawn) by Change the Climate, a group allied with the pro-marijuana campaign. They showed a battered woman, with a male behind her, and the slogan "Reduce family and community violence in Denver. Vote Yes on 1-100." There are good reasons to do away with the myths, scare tactics and absurdly excessive penalties attached to marijuana by the failed "war on drugs." There are good arguments for decriminalizing its possession and legalizing its medical use. Yet the backers of this statewide campaign have adopted the weak argument that pot is "safe" (as if it posed no health risks or potential for abuse), and that legalization would make the community even "safer." It's still early. The sponsors of this proposed initiative may improve their sales pitch as the campaign gathers momentum. But it doesn't inspire confidence when a group with facts and evidence on its side offers bunk and deception instead