Pubdate: Sun, 11 Nov 2012
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2012 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Alison Vekshin, Bloomberg News
Page: 4D

$7.7 MILLION PUSHED POT DRIVE

Campaigns to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Colorado
and Washington were well financed and gave states regulatory and taxing
power over it, both changes from a failed attempt in California two
years earlier.

The first successful U.S. measures grew out of California's
Proposition 19 in 2010, which attracted donations of $4 million,
according to campaign finance records. By contrast, the two states,
which combined have one third California's population, raised at
least $7.7 million.

"I'm sure they learned from the California experience," said Beau
Kilmer, co-director of the Rand Drug Policy Research Center in Santa
Monica, Calif. "There was serious money behind the Washington and
Colorado initiatives."

Regulating the drug through such means as licensing and taxes may also
benefit state governments strained by soaring costs for labor,
including pensions and retiree health benefits, while sales- and
property tax revenue plunged after the longest recession since
the 1930s.

The two measures also drew on support from younger voters, who are
more likely to go to the polls in a presidential election, and growing
tolerance for marijuana in a nation where one-third of states already
permit its use for medical purposes.

Voters of all ages are moving toward supporting marijuana
legalization, said Mark Kleiman, a public policy professor at the
University of California, Los Angeles.

"People know more people who smoke marijuana," Kleiman said. "It's a
little bit like gay rights issues where, as people come out of the
closet, the fear tended to go away."

Washington will allow those at least 21 years old to buy as much as
one ounce (288 grams) of marijuana from a licensed retailer. The
measure directs the state liquor control board to regulate marijuana
and tax its sales at a rate of 25 percent.

The board has until Dec. 1, 2013, to set rules on marijuana
advertising, licensing producers, processors and retailers, and
limiting the number of retail outlets allowed in each county.

Colorado's measure allows possession and purchase of as much as one
ounce by those 21 and older, along with permission to grow as many as
six plants in private, secure areas.

The new law directs Colorado's revenue department to adopt regulations
by July 1, 2013, on procedures for issuing a marijuana business
license, labeling requirements for marijuana products, restrictions on
advertising and civil penalties for not complying with the rules.

A similar measure failed in Oregon. Arkansas voters refused to legalize
the medical use of marijuana, while Massachusetts voters approved such
a measure, adding to the 17 states and District of Columbia that
already allow it.

"What the states have done is perfectly constitutional," said Robert
Mikos, a law professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. "All
they've done in essence is legalize the possession, cultivation and
distribution of marijuana under state law."

If the Drug Enforcement Administration wants to prosecute cases in
Washington and Colorado, "nothing is going to stop them," Mikos said.
"But ... the federal government doesn't have the resources to enforce
the federal ban that rigorously."

Private support bolstered the wins in Colorado and Washington, said
Jonathan Caulkins, an operations research professor at Carnegie Mellon
University in Pittsburgh. "They got a small number of very rich people
to write very, very big checks. There was no big funding of any
opposition."

New Approach Washington, the group supporting the ballot measure,
raised $6.2 million, according to data from the state's Public
Disclosure Commission.

In Colorado, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol received
$1.5 million, according to data from the secretary of state. The
Marijuana Policy Project was the largest contributor with $871,372,
according to the data. Progressive Corp. Chairman Peter Lewis gave
$33,700 and the Drug Policy Alliance gave $100,000.

The Coalition to End Marijuana Prohibition secured another $511,414 in
contributions, according to Colorado data.
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MAP posted-by: Matt