Pubdate: Thu, 01 Dec 2005
Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Copyright: 2005, Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371
Author: Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News
Cited: SAFER http://www.saferchoice.org
Cited: Sensible Colorado http://www.sensiblecolorado.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?420 (Cannabis - Popular)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: 
http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Safer+Alternative+for+Enjoyable+Recreation

MAN SAYS HE'LL FIGHT MARIJUANA BUST

Real estate consultant Eric Footer was so convinced Denver voters had
legalized adult marijuana possession in the Nov. 1 election that he
allowed police to search his car when they pulled him over for an
unrelated incident.

An officer promptly found Footer's pot-filled vitamin bottle. But this
was the day after the city's voter-approved Initiative 100 became
certified, ostensibly changing local law to allow adults 21 or older
to possess 1 ounce or less of the weed.

Footer, 39, described himself as confused and angered when he was
cited two weeks ago for having the pot and a pipe.

" 'It's still illegal to possess marijuana in the city of Denver,' "
said Footer, repeating the cop's admonishment. "And he said it with
real conviction, like I should've known that."

As Denver police, prosecutors and city leaders loudly maintained
before and after nearly 54 percent of voters approved I-100 at the
ballot box, authorities are continuing to prosecute marijuana
possession cases under state law, just as they've long done with 95
percent of local pot busts.

Now, Footer, backed by marijuana advocacy groups, vows to become the
first defendant to legally challenge Denver's refusal to adhere to the
legalization measure.

Accusing local officials of "thumbing their nose" at the will of the
voters, Footer said he'll go to the Denver courthouse today, refuse to
pay the $200 of state fines and demand his day in court. A clerk will
then routinely set his arraignment for next month, according to court
officials.

"I was just angry and confused. I didn't understand how the (voter-
passed) law could be in effect and not be enforced," Footer said,
during a Wednesday interview at a Denver coffeehouse attended by
marijuana advocates. "It doesn't make sense. It either is or it isn't
the law."

Footer's Nov. 17 marijuana violation - coming one day after officials
certified the election results - sets up a legal collision between
Denver's dueling marijuana laws.

On the one hand, there's the new Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization
Initiative. On the other, state law.

It reignites a smoldering debate between the measure's sponsors and
elected city leaders and law enforcement officials who strongly
opposed the pot initiative and accused its supporters of misleading
voters with signs proclaiming: "Make Denver SAFER."

I-100's sponsor, Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER),
drew international coverage for making Denver the largest U.S. city to
seemingly legalize marijuana possession by arguing that it was a safer
alternative to alcohol, which pot boosters blame for fueling violent
crime, deadly auto wrecks and addiction.

Footer is turning for legal support to SAFER and another statewide
marijuana advocacy group, Sensible Colorado, which backed a losing
November ballot measure in Telluride to make adult pot possession the
town marshal's lowest priority.

"This is about forcing the Denver police and the Denver DA to enforce
this law and respect the will of the voters," said Brian Vicente, an
attorney who heads Sensible Colorado. "Based on the passage of I-100,
Mr. Footer made a reasonable assumption that adult marijuana
possession was protected in Denver . . . that law enforcement and the
DA would follow the will of the people.

"This is a city ordinance now; it's not theoretical."

But Assistant City Attorney Vince DiCroce said Denver is enforcing
marijuana violations as it always has.

"The state law is still in effect and cases will be prosecuted now,
just like they were before (I-100), under the state statute," said
DiCroce, director of the city attorney's Prosecution and Code
Enforcement Section, which is likely to prosecute pot cases. "We're
going to just continue to do what we've done."

Footer's is among the first of what will likely be a steady parade of
pot busts in the new I-100 era.

In the two weeks after the Nov. 1 election - but before I-100 votes
were certified - Denver police filed 51 marijuana possession cases
under the state law, which is the only box officers can check for pot
possession in their ticket books.

Those tickets were written to users of all ages.

Since the measure took effect, police have filed at least a dozen
cases for simple possession under state law to those over 21 who would
have been protected by I-100.

Footer, who's been dividing his time between Denver and Miami for the
past year, said he uses marijuana only to ease the pain of three
enlarged spinal discs on the advice of his doctor. Footer said he
turned to marijuana because his family has a history of addiction and
he wanted to avoid using prescription painkillers.

Footer's trouble began on a Thursday afternoon when he had a dispute
with a motorist whom he accused of nearly running over his foot. He
pounded on the car as it pulled off.

Then Footer climbed into a car he had borrowed from a friend and drove
off. Suddenly, he said, he was surrounded by three patrol cars and
about five officers.

Footer said police didn't find anything while patting him
down.

But when police asked if he had a problem with their searching his
car, Footer said, " 'No, go ahead.' "

"I was under the impression that it was legal to possess (marijuana).
If I had known it was not, I wouldn't have had it in the car or even
on my person. I would have just left it at home," he said.

SAFER Executive Director Mason Tvert said the group's legal team will
challenge why Footer is being prosecuted for "making a rational, safer
choice to possess a small amount of marijuana rather than alcohol. He
believed he had the legal right to do so.

"I'd like to keep a tally of how many city dollars and resources are
being put toward . . . this crazed criminal (Footer), for simply
possessing a tiny amount of marijuana," Tvert said. "We had three
police cars, five to six police officers, he's going to have to go to
court . . . and take the judge's time, the prosecutors time. It's
ridiculous."

[sidebar]

POT CITATIONS AFTER NOV. 1

51 marijuana possession cases were filed by Denver police under the
state law in the two weeks after the Nov. 1 election - but before
Initiative 100's votes were certified. Those tickets were written to
users of all ages.

12 cases, at least, have been filed by police for simple possession
under state law to those over 21 who would have been protected by
I-100 since the measure took effect.
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MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPF Florida)