A radio ad attacking gubernatorial hopeful Tom Tancredo says the Republican candidate supported a 2012 ballot measure legalizing marijuana and now wants to legalize heroin, PCP and cocaine - an assertion Tancredo says isn't true. The ad's creators pointed to a Channel 7 news report about the former congressman's appearance before the City Club of Denver in 2009, where Tancredo said it was time to consider legalizing drugs. "I think the ad is scrupulously honest," said former U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong, who didn't help create the ad, but contributed to the committee that paid for it. [continues 394 words]
A disagreement over procedural matters in the Colorado House late Friday stalled action on a marijuana taxation measure after angry Republicans exited the chamber, returned briefly after midnight and lawmakers adjourned early Saturday. The tension came after a day of wheeling and dealing, first over a school finance reform bill and then over a controversial renewable energy standards bill impacting rural co-ops. Democrats, who are in the majority, stopped a Republican lawmaker from speaking but explained he would be able to finish his argument. [continues 472 words]
Presidential hopeful Gary Johnson's message to voters is that he's better on civil-libertarian issues than Democrat Barack Obama and better on dollars-and-cents issues than Republican Mitt Romney. In the West, where several states will be crucial in determining who wins in November, Johnson, running on the Libertarian ticket, is an attractive conveyer of that message. The erstwhile Republican served two terms as governor of New Mexico, a state where he's polling at 12 percent. He's a strong advocate of state's rights. [continues 534 words]
A Colorado committee formed to defeat a marijuana issue on the November ballot has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to weigh in with his opposition. Amendment 64 would allow adults statewide to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana for recreational use. The measure is opposed by a citizens group called Smart Colorado, which is represented by the Denver law firm of Holland & Hart. In a letter to Holder, Smart Colorado attorney Jon Anderson noted that Colorado's ballot measure "parallels" a California measure, Proposition 19, that voters there defeated in 2010. [continues 252 words]
Tears flowed Wednesday in a Senate committee when a former meth user talked about how her husband's unexpected death led to her addiction, a prison sentence and foster care for her children. Pam Clifton, who now works for the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, testified in favor of a bill that would reduce the penalty for the crime of possession of drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor. The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 5-2 vote, with two Republicans, Ellen Roberts of Durango and Steve King of Grand Junction, voting "no." Republican Kevin Lundberg of Berthoud voted with the four Democrats. [continues 313 words]
Plan Would Make It Lowest Priority for Denver Police Denver voters appeared to be approving an initiative to make adult possession of less than an ounce of pot the "lowest law enforcement priority" in the city. Initiated Question 100 was put on the ballot by SAFER, the same group behind a successful 2005 initiative that made the possession of small amounts of marijuana legal in Denver. Votes in favor led by a 5-to-4 ratio in incomplete counting. "The voters of Denver have made it very clear that they do not think our city's limited law enforcement resources should be used to arrest and prosecute simply for possessing small amounts of marijuana," said Mason Tvert, the executive director of SAFER or Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation. [continues 249 words]
Two Colorado anti-methamphetamine programs on Friday received $375,000 in grants to fight what Attorney General John Suthers calls a "meth epidemic." Suthers announced that $200,000 is going to the Colorado Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, and $175,000 has been awarded to a meth treatment pilot program in Delta County. The money for the grants was provided by the Daniels Fund. "In my lifetime, it's the worst drug we've seen," in part because it's so addictive, Suthers said. [continues 70 words]
Here's what happens when lawmakers don't pay attention: An amendment making it easier for Denver pot smokers to escape prosecution slips into a bill. That's what happened Friday in the Colorado House. Lawmakers later killed the amendment but the event did provide for some hilarity as well as pointed comments about what is perceived to be Denver's hypocrisy when its come to following state laws. Denver voters last November invalidated a city law that made it illegal for adults to privately possess less than 1 ounce of marijuana. Denver police, calling the vote mostly symbolic, said they would still make arrests and charge offenders under state law. [continues 204 words]
Denver Pot Vote Mostly Symbolic There are grass-roots organizations and then there are grass-roots organizations, like the one that wants Denver to allow adults to possess less than an ounce of marijuana. The November ballot initiative is mostly symbolic: If voters agree to get rid of the city ordinance making possession a crime, police would charge violators under state laws, which is what they do anyhow. Members of Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation, which gathered signatures to put the issue on the ballot, maintained at a news conference Thursday that marijuana is much less of a societal problem than alcohol. [continues 393 words]
News That Heroin Addiction Drove Daughter To Commit Suicide Strikes A Familiar Chord In The Community State Rep. Frana Araujo Mace's from-the-gut announcement that her daughter killed herself because she could not bear her addiction to heroin prompted an outpouring that has stunned the north Denver lawmaker. She has fielded hundreds of phone calls from all over the state, from politicians to teary strangers who know all too well what it is like to lose a loved one to drugs. [continues 305 words]
A federal wiretap provided a multi-agency drug task force a peek into a complex narcotics empire operating out of Larimer County. Authorities say 1,647 of 2,220 local calls made during a 23-day period last spring were about the sale and distribution of drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. "That gave us a real look at the drug trade," said Lt. Jim Broderick of the Fort Collins Police Department and commander of the Larimer County Drug Task Force. [continues 172 words]
Two Coloradans got their medical-marijuana cards Friday, the first day of a program that puts state and federal law in stark conflict. The approved applicants were the first recipients of the cards, which are part of a program voters approved in November with the passage of Amendment 20. The program allows chronically ill Coloradans who have their cards to legally possess up to 2 ounces of pot or six marijuana plants. "I think it went very well. I was pleased," said state registrar Carol Garrett of the state Department of Public Health and Environment. [continues 280 words]
Voters OK'd Registry, But Owens And Salazar Toss Last-Minute Bomb Colorado's medical marijuana program begins today amid threats from the state's top honchos that doctors who recommend pot for their chronically ill patients face federal prosecution. Voters approved Amendment 20 calling for medical marijuana in November, but Gov. Bill Owens and Attorney General Ken Salazar sent out warning letters Thursday saying it is ludicrous for Colorado to participate in the war on drugs while at the same time running a medical marijuana program with questionable benefits for users. [continues 548 words]
DENVER - The state health department expects about 800 Coloradans to participate in a medical marijuana program in its first year and twice that number the next year. The program begins June 1. It has been in the works since voters approved Amendment 20 in November. The ballot initiative creates a state registry of patients who are allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes. It establishes where they can take their meds: Lighting up at work or in public is a no-no. [continues 497 words]
Colorado Formulating Voter-approved Program For Medicinal Marijuana State officials have been quietly working to get a program in place by June 1 that would allow ailing Coloradans to smoke marijuana for medical reasons. In November, voters approved Amendment 20, which decriminalized marijuana for medical use, but the issue has been overshadowed by the debate on three other ballot issues: growth, guns and more money for education. "We got together the day after the election to start working on this," said Cindy Parmenter, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. [continues 306 words]
On second thought, maybe they shouldn't have called themselves a "grass-roots group." Two doctors and a former U.S. attorney have teamed up to fight a ballot initiative in November that would legalize smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes. Dr. Frank Sargent and Dr. Joel Karlin have formed Coloradans Against Legalizing Marijuana, and asked former U.S. Attorney Mike Norton to serve as treasurer and counsel. Norton practices law in Englewood. They are urging Coloradans to vote against Amendment 11. "It's bad medicine and it's bad law," said Sargent, who has practiced in the metro area for 30 years. [continues 82 words]
Jeffco Schools Report 175 Substance-Related Expulsions For Last Year; Denver District Had 12 Drugs, weapons, playground fights -- it's all going to be in your child's school report card. And parents in Jefferson County may be the ones most surprised. Jefferson County schools last year had 33 percent more students than Denver Public Schools but 67 percent more suspensions for drug incidents. And the expulsion rate for drugs is even more shocking: 175 incidents in the Jefferson County School District last year compared to 12 in the Denver district. [continues 661 words]
Denver jail officials this week sprang around 100 inmates to make room for new offenders at the overcrowded facility. The massive release on Tuesday put Wednesday's jail population at 1,975 -- down from the all-time high of 2,038 Saturday. That was the first time in the county jail's 44-year history that the number of inmates passed 2,000. The Smith Road facility -- build to hold 1,300 inmates -- stayed above the 2,000 mark for four straight days. [continues 258 words]
