Pubdate: Sun, 19 Oct 2014
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Author: Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press
Page: A14

COLORADO POLITICIANS MOSTLY SILENT ON POT

DENVER (AP) - Colorado has seen feisty debates this fall, with 
candidates in close races for governor, Senate and the U.S. House 
arguing over abortion rights, energy policy and the death penalty. 
Just don't expect any of them to talk much about the biggest news of 
the year: legal pot.

While the state's 10month-old marijuana retail experiment has 
received worldwide attention and sales of recreational and medical 
pot have generated more than $45 million for state coffers, most 
voters have collectively shrugged. Predictions that they would go 
scrambling back to the polls to repeal the legal-pot law they passed 
in 2012 haven't yet materialized.

Instead, the political landscape has changed, with some candidates, 
including the governor, accepting tens of thousands of dollars in 
donations from people within the fledgling pot industry.

Now the only ones bringing it up on the campaign trail are 
third-party and independent hopefuls - all backers of legal pot. Many 
of them take issue with the state's high pot taxes - more than 30 
percent in many jurisdictions - or with regulations they consider onerous.

"I don't know why politicians aren't talking about this," said 
independent gubernatorial candidate Mike Dunafon, a long shot who is 
touting endorsements from rappers Snoop Dogg and Wyclef Jean because 
of his embrace of the drug.

Maybe it's because the major-party candidates almost universally 
agree. They say when asked that they personally opposed making the 
drug legal but respect the voters' wishes. And while the marijuana 
rollout has not been without problems, including concerns about 
children getting potent edible pot, there have been no public-safety 
problems widespread enough to focus voters' minds on a repeal effort.

Marijuana isn't playing a big role in the tight governor's race. Both 
Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper and Republican Bob Beauprez oppose 
legal marijuana.

Politicians' marijuana hesitance reflects voters' indifference on the 
topic. A September NBC/Marist poll asked residents about the law 
allowing adults over 21 to buy recreational pot. Thirty-three percent 
said they opposed the law but were "not actively trying to have it 
overturned." Eight percent said they were working to overturn it.

Third-party and independent candidates are sometimes making pot the 
hallmark of their campaigns, even in local races.

In a western Colorado state Senate contest, Libertarian candidate Lee 
Mulcahy has been throwing free dinners serving marijuana-infused 
foods. Voters have to show they're 21 before noshing on foods like 
yellowtail crudo with coconut-ginger sativa oil and a salad tossed in 
marijuana-infused vinaigrette.

"It's so fascinating, the reluctance of my opponents to even say the 
word cannabis," he said. "Voters want to be talking about this, but 
the major-party candidates have to tow the party line. They've all 
been coached to not say anything. I'm simply amazed."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom