Colorado’s Marijuana Legalization Movement Catches Attention of Times
The New York Times’ Kris Johnson takes a look at the marijuana legalization proposal, backed heavily by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, that seems likely to appear on Colorado voters’ ballots this November.
Given alcohol’s long and checkered history — the tens of thousands of deaths each year, the social ravages of alcoholism — backers of the pro-marijuana measure concede there is a risk of looking as if they have cozied up too much, or are comparable, to old demon rum.
“Why add another vice, right?” said Mason Tvert, a co-director of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which has led the ballot drive. “But we’re not adding a vice; we’re providing an alternative.”
The goal of legalization, Mr. Tvert added, is not to make access to marijuana easier, but rather, “to make our communities safer by regulating this substance, taking it out of the underground market, controlling it and better keeping it away from young people.”
The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has already submitted 163,598 in support of Colorado Ballot Initiative 30, approximately double the required signatures needed for the proposal to appear on voters’ ballots. Those signatures now being verified by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, a process which the department is legally obligated to complete by February 3rd. This ensures that the Campaign would have adequate time to collect additional signatures, should the Secretary’s office rule enough signatures invalid.
For more information on Colorado’s existing marijuana legislation, Ballot Iniative 30, or the state’s burgeoning medical marijuana community I suggest reading the entirety of Kirk Johnson’s article in The New York Times.
(image courtesy of The New York Times)
| Follow Manic, Chill | | Subscribe to Manic, Chill(RSS) | | Subscribe via Email |
