Pubdate: Mon, 16 Dec 2013
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Jeremy P. Meyer

MORE POT VOTES SET

Council Weighs Decriminalizing Possession for Ages 18-21

The Denver City Council continues to approve rules and regulations on 
marijuana in preparation for the Jan. 1 rollout of the recreational 
pot industry and on Monday will have two more votes.

The council will have a public hearing and will vote on whether to 
decriminalize marijuana possession for people between 18 and 21, a 
measure being pushed by Councilman Albus Brooks, who saw an inequity 
in how offenses are prosecuted.

People under 18 caught with an ounce or less of pot are never jailed 
and instead are sent to the city and county's juvenile assessment 
center. People older than 21 prosecuted under the city's marijuana 
offenses, such as public smoking or displaying weed on the 16th 
Street Mall, are given small fines that begin at $150.

But people between 18 and 21 caught possessing less than an ounce of 
marijuana can be prosecuted with up to a year in jail or face fines 
of up to $999. In a committee meeting last week, however, Assistant 
City Attorney David Broadwell said that rarely occurs.

"This issue of marijuana possession for people under 21 is a major 
issue on the state level," Broadwell said, adding that the 
legislature will likely take up the issue next session.

"There is going to be an elaborate law dealing with sentencing and 
treatment," Broadwell said, citing a report from the Colorado 
Commission on Criminal& Juvenile Justice.

Nevertheless, Brooks has offered the bill to change the city's laws.

In the committee meeting, Brooks said it is important that the city 
gets something on the books in advance of the Jan. 1 deadline, when 
marijuana can be legally sold in licensed stores to people 21 and older.

If Brooks' bill passes, people between 18 and 21 would face the same 
fine structure as those over 21- fines that would ratchet up after 
the first offense from $150, $500 and $999. For those under 18, the 
court would retain the prerogative of required treatment in lieu of fines.

The council approved the bill in a committee last week and now will 
hold the first vote on Monday. A public hearing will be held to gauge 
community opinion.

Also, the council will vote on another bill that would prohibit the 
display, consumption, distribution or growing of marijuana on any 
city-owned property, including streets and sidewalks, within 1,000 
feet of any public or private school.

This could have been a much more imposing law if the council had 
agreed to limits on private property within 1,000 feet of a school, 
which was Councilwoman Debbie Ortega's original intent. But that bill 
died in committee.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom