5 LESSONS CAN EASE STATE'S WAY Many people were stunned in 2012 when voters in Colorado and Washington adopted the nation's first laws making marijuana legal for adults. Some never thought it would happen. Most knew it would, but didn't expect it to be so soon. And just about everyone assumed that, if or when it did happen, it would surely happen in California before anywhere else. The Golden State has long been at the forefront of the marijuana policy reform debate. In 1996, it became the first state to allow marijuana use for medical purposes. In 2010, it fell just a few percentage points short of becoming the first to extend that right to adults 21 and older. And for the past two decades, it has been a major battleground for conflicting state and federal marijuana policies. [continues 601 words]
Re: "High times in schools," Nov. 12 news story. The Denver Post dropped the ball in its story about teen marijuana use. The article's theme is that marijuana use has increased in Colorado since it began regulating medical marijuana in 2010. Yet teen use actually decreased in Colorado after regulation. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, use by high school students dropped 11 percent in Colorado between 2009 and 2011; it increased 11 percent nationwide during the same time period. [continues 93 words]
Group Is Biased A close eye should be kept on the "watchdog" group established by former Congressman Patrick Kennedy to monitor the effects of Washington's forthcoming legal marijuana market for adults. ["Watchdog group to weigh effect on teens of legalized pot for adults," NW Thursday, July 11.] A review of all the possible effects of the new law should be conducted. Yet Kennedy's group does not attempt to hide the fact that it is only looking for the pitfalls, and cannot imagine the possibility that this law, approved by 56 percent of voters, could actually have benefits. [continues 71 words]
Samuel T. Wilkinson's attempt to tie marijuana to mental illness ("Pot-Smoking and the Schizophrenia Connection," op-ed, July 2) is reefer madness all over again. The evidence indicating a causal relationship between marijuana consumption and mental disorders is "neither very new, nor by normal criteria, very compelling," according to research published in the journal Addiction in 2010. More tellingly, a 2009 study published in the journal Schizophrenic Research found that the prevalence of schizophrenia and psychoses has remained stable or declined during periods in which marijuana use increased significantly among the general populace. [continues 152 words]
James Kellogg's Aug. 2 column, "We must be careful with legalization of marijuana," accurately identified marijuana as one of the hottest topics in Colorado. Unfortunately, the accuracy did not extend much beyond that. The author rattles off the same tired, debunked and misleading arguments that we have been hearing for years. Perhaps the most egregious example is his touting of the so-called Gateway Theory, which is the notion that using marijuana somehow results in future use of harder drugs. [continues 283 words]
Organizers of this year's Democratic National Convention have talked a lot about making it the "greenest" political convention ever. Yet one particularly popular green substance has been conspicuously absent from their plans and the public discussion: marijuana. After all, the convention is being hosted in Denver, a city known not only for its commitment to sustainability, but also for being the first municipality in the nation to make possession and private use of marijuana legal for adults. A solid majority of voters approved a ballot initiative doing so in 2005. [continues 555 words]
Government officials from Washington, D.C., gathered for a press conference last week in a small, crowded classroom at the ACE Community Challenge Charter School in Denver. In front of a carefully coordinated backdrop of books and computers, they announced that Denver School District 1 would be the first in Colorado to institute a random student drug-testing program. Television news cameras rolled as deputy drug czarina Bertha Madras of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and Deborah Price, assistant deputy secretary of the Department of Education, issued a $150,000 federal grant to the charter school's principal in the form of an oversized cardboard check. [continues 609 words]
Re: "Council shouldn't pass lousy pot law," Aug. 17 editorial. Regarding your claim that our "lowest law enforcement priority" initiative would be unconstitutional under state law, suffice it to say the omission of the phrase "home rule" speaks volumes. The one court that considered such an initiative ruled it was legal and must be implemented. More glaringly, your editorial asserted marijuana possession would remain illegal under federal law if this initiative were adopted. Federal law is 100 percent irrelevant to this debate. As we've seen with medical marijuana, states are completely free to determine how they handle marijuana enforcement. [continues 129 words]
Boo! That's a preview of the strongest argument opponents of Amendment 44 - - the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative - will put forth in the last two weeks of the campaign. Don't expect an open and honest discussion about the merits of making marijuana possession legal for adults. Instead, expect every possible scare tactic related to children you can imagine. Before our opponents are done, you will think we are trying to make marijuana part of the free lunch program at elementary schools. [continues 646 words]
Colorado -- Amendment 44, the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative, was proposed for one simple reason: The laws currently on the books force adults to choose alcohol instead of marijuana when they seek to relax or socialize. Given alcohol is far more harmful than marijuana, this makes no sense whatsoever. Let's consider just a few of the facts. Alcohol is deadly; marijuana is not. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, approximately 20,000 Americans die annually as the direct result of alcohol consumption. The comparable number for marijuana is zero. [continues 668 words]
In Marc Carlisle's recent column ("A little advice before early voting begins," Sept. 27), he said Amendment 44 "purports to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, but does nothing of the sort, since state law cannot supercede [sic] Federal law." While it is true that marijuana possession would technically remain illegal under federal law if Amendment 44 passes, the federal government has never arrested people for simple marijuana possession, and they have even acknowledged in recent weeks that they would not start now. [continues 113 words]
One on Hand... Amendment 44 poses a simple question: Should the adult possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana be legal under state law? Or, as our campaign prefers to phrase the question, should adults be punished for making the rational choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol, if that is what they prefer? On its face, there seems to be no logical reason to oppose this. What we have are two recreational substances. The difference is that alcohol is more addictive and more toxic. It is also associated with aggression and violence, which means it is far more likely to lead to the harm of someone other than the user. [continues 483 words]
Editor: Thank you for covering the Pitkin Board of County Commissioners endorsement of Amendment 44, an initiative which would make the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana legal for adults in Colorado. It is great that your readers were informed about this important development. Assuming this will not be the last time you cover this issue, I just wanted to clarify one point you made in the article. You said, "Even if Amendment 44 passes, however, adult possession of marijuana would be illegal under federal law." [continues 140 words]
Natalie Avon's column about SAFER ("Herb or Hops?" Sept. 13) demonstrates her naivete when it comes to the culture of partying on college campuses. She suggests college students stay home on weekends and have a bowl of ice cream instead of partaking in alcohol or marijuana use. First, she should consider that high-fat diets consisting of ice cream cause even more deaths each year than alcohol and marijuana combined. But more importantly, her proposal is a public policy disaster on par with preaching abstinence over educating people about practicing safe sex. [continues 121 words]
Re: "Marijuana push is for all the wrong reasons," Dec. 29 editorial. Your vitriolic editorial against SAFER's proposed marijuana legalization initiative called our assertions both "phony" and "nonsensical." I beg to differ. The SAFER campaign is making one simple point: Marijuana is less harmful - both to the user and society - than alcohol. Based on this objective fact, we believe - and obviously the people of Denver agree - adults should not be punished for using the safer substance. You wrote that I say people become alcoholics because marijuana is illegal. This is not accurate. I have simply said that the laws currently in place encourage and force people to use alcohol instead of marijuana. At the same time, it is known that alcohol is frequently a contributing factor in domestic abuse, sexual assault and other acts of violence. Marijuana is not. Thus, by increasing the likelihood that people will drink alcohol, our laws make our society less safe. How is this nonsensical? [continues 95 words]
