Pubdate: Wed, 17 Oct 2012
Source: La Voz (CO)
Contact: http://www.lavozcolorado.com/contactus.php
Copyright: 2012 La Voz Biling=FCe
Website: http://www.lavozcolorado.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5414
Author: Ernest Gurule

ON THE BALLOT: AMENDMENT 64

Editor's note: La Voz continues its political
coverage of the latest this election season.
Amendment 64 is a highly controversial topic on this year's ballot.

It would be fascinating to hear what former
Denver residents Sam Caldwell or Moses Baca had
to say about Colorado's Amendment 64. If passed
by voters in November, Amendment 64 will legalize
possession of limited amounts of marijuana to adults over the age of 21.

If approved, Amendment 64, formally called "The
Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012,"
would allow for individuals to possess limited
quantities of marijuana for personal use and
eliminate criminal penalties. The state would
continue to regulate it. Colorado is among nearly
twenty states that allow use of medical marijuana.

Why Caldwell's or Baca's opinion on Amendment 64
might be interesting is because in 1937, when the
U.S. government declared war on marijuana, the
pair became the first two people arrested in the
country for violating this new federal statute.

On Oct. 2, 1937, the day the government's
Marijuana Tax Stamp Act went into effect Caldwell
and Baca were arrested by government agents at
Denver's Lexington Hotel. Caldwell, a 58-year-old
unemployed laborer, and Baca, 26, were caught with two marijuana cigarettes.

Caldwell was charged and convicted with sales of
a dangerous drug; Baca with possession. Caldwell
got four years, Baca received 18 months.

Within days, the pair was convicted, sentenced
and shipped off to do hard labor at Leavenworth
Federal Penitentiary. Each served their entire
sentence. Caldwell died a day after his release.

If the pair was arrested today in Colorado for
the same offense, their prosecution would be far
less serious. The two joints that earned them
hard labor in Leavenworth would be handled as a
misdemeanor carrying a $100 fine.

There would also be no jail time and, with a
deferred prosecution, perhaps include scrubbing
the crime from their records altogether. A
growing number of Coloradans think it is time to
look at pot from a different perspective.

A recent Denver Post poll showed 51 percent of
Colorado voters favor Amendment 64. However,
supporters say the only poll that matters comes
in November. Until then they plan to continue
providing literature and answering questions that might sway undecided
 voters.

For state political leaders, there is little
undecided. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper says
Amendment 64 has "the potential to increase the
number of children using drugs." He also doesn't
like the idea of giving kids the idea that drugs are OK.

But proponents of legalized marijuana see passage
of Amendment 64 as a more efficient way of
keeping pot out of the hands of minors. "We
believe it will reduce teen access to marijuana,"
says Brian Vicente, Co-Director of the Campaign
to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.

"Teens say marijuana is universally available to
them," he says. On any given day, it's harder for
a teenager to get alcohol or tobacco than
marijuana. The new law will actually take it off
the street and limit youth from access to it.
"Drug dealers," Vicente says, "don't ask for ID."

Surprisingly, two conservative Republicans,
former Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo and
Broomfield State Sen. Shawn Mitchell have both
come down strongly on the side of Amendment 64.

In a September column Tancredo stated bluntly,
"marijuana prohibition has failed," while giving Amendment 64 his full
 support.

Mitchell, like Tancredo, says the 'war on drugs,'
a forty-year-old campaign initiated by President
Nixon, has just not worked. He says it is time to
find a new solution. He also says that despite
this national effort to end drug usage, a member
of his own family has struggled with drug issues for a number of years.

There is also a surprising collection of
well-known national leaders who have also joined
in the call to redirect state and national
resources away from the problematic approach to
this issue. Among them are former Secretary of
State George Schultz, former Federal Reserve
Chairman Paul Volcker, former U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan and conservative columnist George Will.

Will argues that arresting someone for a street
level drug transaction and imprisoning them at
the cost of hundreds of thousands dollars over a
period of years simply makes no sense. Further,
once back on the outside, these, mostly young
minority men, have little chance at finding good,
well-paying jobs and quickly find themselves once
again earning a living with drugs

If Amendment 64 passes, the state Department of
Revenue must formulate the rules and regulations
that will govern this new policy by next July. It
will be responsible for setting fees for
licensing, application, proper implementation, background checks and more.

Proponents believe passage of new laws governing
marijuana will have a number of positive side
effects, including a new revenue stream for
construction or public schools. Any funds
generated by marijuana sales are already
dedicated to education. It estimates that $40
million will be generated the first year alone from sales of marijuana.

"I think it will be a good thing," says Calvin
Cage, a self-described 'budtender' at Northern
Lights, a Denver medical marijuana business.
"Arresting people using taxpayers' money is a huge waste."

Cage, a disabled veteran from the Iraq War and a
medical marijuana user, says making pot legal for
over the counter sales will also make it
available to others who need it but can't afford
the state-mandated fees necessary to qualify as a
legal medical marijuana patient.

He says most of his customers are older and do
not fit the description of someone simply looking
to get high. "I've even had a nun who bought
herself a gram," he recalled. She told him that
she preferred to use medical marijuana instead of
prescription drugs for a chronic medical condition.

A lot of his customers also take advantage of a
Veterans Administration program that allows them
to legally buy marijuana. "Some use it for pain,
others use it for anxiety. We sell different strains for different condition
s."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom