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Penguarky Tunguin
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Registered: 08/08/04
Posts: 17,192
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Colorado Does It Again!
#11353822 - 10/30/09 06:46 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Colo. ski town could push marijuana legalization
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=126054&catid=339
BRECKENRIDGE (AP) - Voters in this Rocky Mountain resort town will decide next week whether to legalize pot for all adults at a time when the movement to allow medical marijuana is gaining steam around the country. Advertisement
A measure before Breckenridge voters in Tuesday's municipal election would legalize possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana along with bongs, pipes and other pot paraphernalia. Supporters of the measure say it would inch the whole state closer to full legalization.
Other cities around the country have taken similar action in recent years, including a measure in Denver that decriminalized possession.
Local ordinances to allow some recreational marijuana use have passed in Seattle, San Francisco and other cities, though in all those places the law is considered symbolic because it conflicts with state and federal laws. Alaska allows possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana in one's home, and advocates in California want to ask voters in next year's election to legalize pot.
Advocates say the Breckenridge proposal goes further than others because it allows paraphernalia as well. "I don't think there's anywhere else in the country that has legalized paraphernalia," said Bruce Mirken, a spokesman for the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project.
As in most states, drug paraphernalia possession in Colorado is considered a petty offense. Though "head shops" selling bongs and pipes are common in Colorado, the wares are ostensibly for smoking tobacco. Paraphernalia charges are usually only filed along with possession charges. Both are misdemeanors punishable by a $100 fine and court fees.
The penalties aren't serious, but about 100 people a year in Breckenridge are cited for possession of either marijuana or paraphernalia, often both. Supporters of the effort say it's not right to leave small-time pot smokers with a criminal record.
"We don't want to spend our tax dollars prosecuting this, so we're saying, let's just stop it," said Sean McAllister, a Breckenridge attorney who proposed the ordinance. Supporters include a member of the town council and the Summit Daily News, which printed an editorial backing the idea.
Its prospects are strong. In 2006, a statewide ballot measure to make marijuana possession legal failed 59 percent to 41 percent. But among Breckenridge voters it won almost 3-to-1.
McAllister's attempt to put the legalization measure on ballots needed 495 signatures. He collected more than 1,500.
Breckenridge Police Chief Rick Holman has opposed the idea, saying the measure just sets up a conflict between town and state law. Pot possession would still be a state crime, but Breckenridge police officers would have to take users to the Summit County Sheriff's Department to be cited if the measure passes.
Critics also point out that Colorado already allows marijuana for medicinal use - though debate rages because pot shops aren't regulated by the state and are proliferating.
More than 10,000 people in Colorado are cleared to use medical marijuana, and more than 100 dispensaries have opened.
This week, Summit County imposed a 120-day moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas so it can figure out how to regulate them. Six other Colorado counties and towns are considering or have moratoriums for that reason.
The debate is playing out around the country as states struggle to figure out how to regulate and enforce medical marijuana laws. The federal government complicated matters earlier this month when the Justice Department told federal prosecutors that targeting medical marijuana users who comply with state laws was not a good use of their time.
Several Breckenridge residents heartily backed the local marijuana effort.
"People think it's a waste of time for the police to be prosecuting these people," said Elisabeth Lawrence, 30. Smoking pot, she said, is "not the worst thing in the world to be doing."
Nancy Skaj, a clerk at a Breckenridge grocery store, said the measure could be a boon for ski tourists who don't have clearance for medical marijuana. "With all the injuries people get skiing up here, instead of popping pills, they should just be doing this. It's a lot more natural," she said.
Backers have one main worry - the measure's timing.
Turnout for off-year municipal elections is often extremely light among Breckenridge's 3,300 or so voters. Election Day falls during the quiet weeks before the ski business picks up.
McAllister, who has two interns waving signs and passing out flyers in support of the measure, says he's confident the effort will send at least a message about what he calls the public's changing attitude toward marijuana.
"Prohibition ended by localities and states saying they didn't want it anymore. And that's exactly how marijuana prohibition is going to end - from the ground up," he said. (Copyright Associated Press, All Rights Reserved)
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ThirdEyeOpening
Lost In My Head
Registered: 08/24/04
Posts: 2,287
Loc: How the fuck should i kno...
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-------------------- Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity. Im not too sure about the former. -Einstein Of course the rules need to be enforced, but the goal of law and order should be to create a just society, not to enforce laws. -Unknown “I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” -Stephen Roberts
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Penguarky Tunguin
f n o r d
Registered: 08/08/04
Posts: 17,192
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With paraphernalia too, pretty damn big. I bet you it goes through.
But then they'd still have to deal with state laws, but come on, it's a ski-town, they don't do shit there anyway, let 'em do nothing high!
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Gastronomicus
3-0-G
Registered: 03/31/05
Posts: 9,744
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Breck is awesome. Gonna be my #1 shred site this year
-------------------- Make my Funk the P Funk, I wants to get Funked up LAGM2024
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TODAY
Battletoad
Registered: 09/25/03
Posts: 10,218
Loc: Metropolis City, USA
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that's awesome. didn't one of the humboldt county cities legalize possession of pot and plants up to a certain weight and number?
-------------------- ca'rouse (k-rouz) intr.v. To engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking.
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Penguarky Tunguin
f n o r d
Registered: 08/08/04
Posts: 17,192
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Re: Colorado Does It Again! [Re: TODAY]
#11353904 - 10/30/09 07:00 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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-------------------- Every mistake, intentional or otherwise, in the above post, is the fault of the reader.
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Penguarky Tunguin
f n o r d
Registered: 08/08/04
Posts: 17,192
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-------------------- Every mistake, intentional or otherwise, in the above post, is the fault of the reader.
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jewunit
Brutal!
Registered: 01/11/07
Posts: 34,264
Loc: Ohio
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Oh man people all over the country must be happy as fuck. I've never been there but I'd love to hit up Breckenridge sometime.
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Penguarky Tunguin
f n o r d
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Re: Colorado Does It Again! [Re: jewunit]
#11383987 - 11/04/09 01:28 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Still pretty much symbolic as you can get prosecuted at the state level, but still, it's pretty damn cool
If we're getting it legalized for sick people, then it must be fine for healthy people to use too, right?
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Lazy Smurf
Stranger
Registered: 10/02/09
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Heard that this morning on the radio station. It's pretty awesome, right!
-------------------- "If that guy knew half the shit that I know, his fuzzy little head would explode" Matt Farrell
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Dephect
Registered: 08/10/07
Posts: 1,779
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Re: Colorado Does It Again! [Re: Lazy Smurf]
#11384137 - 11/04/09 01:50 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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That's why I love my state.
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AlteredAgain
Visual Alchemist
Registered: 04/27/06
Posts: 11,181
Loc: Solar Circuit
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Now put THAT on national news. Finally some good news
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Jadian
Ninja
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Quote:
Penguarky Tunguin said: Alaska allows possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana in one's home
And that's why I love my state
-------------------- LNC's official Alaskan stoner
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feifen
Registered: 10/18/08
Posts: 7,040
Last seen: 13 years, 2 months
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Re: Colorado Does It Again! [Re: Jadian]
#11384396 - 11/04/09 02:17 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Jadian said:
Quote:
Penguarky Tunguin said: Alaska allows possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana in one's home
And that's why I love my state
Can't you have a few plants as well in your home for personal use?
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Jadian
Ninja
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Re: Colorado Does It Again! [Re: feifen]
#11384549 - 11/04/09 02:35 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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That's a bit hazy... but common thought is you can have enough plants to produce up to but not over the legal 4 ounces. But you also have to think that if they were to actually try to bust you and weigh it.. they probably wouldn't trim it or dry it
If you aren't stupid you get left alone up here.
-------------------- LNC's official Alaskan stoner
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feifen
Registered: 10/18/08
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Last seen: 13 years, 2 months
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Re: Colorado Does It Again! [Re: Jadian]
#11384576 - 11/04/09 02:38 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Jadian said: That's a bit hazy... but common thought is you can have enough plants to produce up to but not over the legal 4 ounces. But you also have to think that if they were to actually try to bust you and weigh it.. they probably wouldn't trim it or dry it
If you aren't stupid you get left alone up here.
Care to explain in PM or something how the culture is up there? I've thought about moving to Alaska but it's always better to hear about the laws from a local. Are people tolerant of marijuana there?
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Jadian
Ninja
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Re: Colorado Does It Again! [Re: feifen]
#11384718 - 11/04/09 02:54 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Seems like damn near everybody smokes up here. Or doesn't care if you do.
Basically if you aren't downtown smoking a 5 foot bong you aren't going to jail. If you get caught smoking weed outside your house you'll likely get it taken, and have to smash your pipe, rarely might get a paraphernalia ticket if you have a particularly dick cop.
I personally had quite a pretty large amount seized through a legal warrant obtained to get in my car, along with 2 pipes and never even saw a fine. (They thought I was a coke dealer I guess)
Lots of people grow their own up here these days, because the major supply lines from Canada for commercial weed have taken large hits in the past few years. Some go the legal way to grow (you can get certified) and some don't. People only get busted when they get a bit too big for their britches. (Read: Matanuska Thunderfuck... great story there)
-------------------- LNC's official Alaskan stoner
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batheinthefountain
ॐ ॐ ॐ
Registered: 08/29/09
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Re: Colorado Does It Again! [Re: Jadian]
#11384800 - 11/04/09 03:03 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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i dont live there, but hell, im glad for every peace of land where it's legalized
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StaleShrooms
human after all
Registered: 03/31/09
Posts: 2,342
Loc: Detroit
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OH GOD DAMN IT WHY IN THE FUCK DID I LEAVE BOULDER
Breckinridge was like a two hour bus ride away and i snowboarded there all the time. woulda been nice to smoke a bowl in line for the ski lift
-------------------- Kick is seeing things from a special angle. Kick is momentary freedom from the claims of the aging, cautious, nagging, frightened flesh. Maybe I will find in yage what I was looking for in junk and weed and coke. Yage may be the final fix. ~William S. Burroughs
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