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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Pot measure put on Denver city ballot [CO]
#4569447 - 08/23/05 04:14 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Pot measure put on city ballot August 23, 2005 - rockymountainnews.com
Denver City Council members held their collective noses Monday and approved putting marijuana legalization on November's ballot.
They had no choice.
The measure's backers had collected enough signatures to force the matter on the ballot - but city law still said the council had to give its approval.
Members lost no time in teeing off on the measure.
Councilwoman Jeanne Robb said smoking three marijuana joints was equal to smoking three packs of cigarettes a day. She said it also kills brain cells.
Councilman Charlie Brown warned that political opponents would be "lower than a snake's belly" if they tried to use the vote against members. Brown and others noted that almost 99 percent of marijuana cases in Denver are prosecuted under state law. The city ordinance would not change that, they said.
If there is strong opposition to the measure, it wasn't evident at the City Council meeting Monday night. Six people asked to speak at the announced public hearing - all in favor of the legalization initiative.
Dr. Robert Melamede, former chairman of the biology department at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, said he's smoked marijuana for 41 years. He said marijuana-like chemicals occur naturally in the body and that the real thing might well save brains cells while slowing aging.
After the meeting, Melamede called some council members "flat earthers" for their alleged lack of knowledge about the substance.
The measure would legalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by adults.
The supporters' main argument Monday was that smoking marijuana was better than drinking alcohol.
That line of reasoning did not appear to impress council members.
Councilman Michael Hancock spoke out the loudest against the measure. He said he has seen firsthand that marijuana use leads to harder drugs and can be devastating.
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CptnGarden
fuck this site
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 11,945
Last seen: 14 years, 10 months
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Re: Pot measure put on Denver city ballot [CO] [Re: veggie]
#4570979 - 08/23/05 01:25 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Councilwoman Jeanne Robb said smoking three marijuana joints was equal to smoking three packs of cigarettes a day.
thats bullshit. And breathing all the pollution in the major cities, not to mention second hand smoke, household chemical vapors, and gasoline vapors aren't worse?
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The supporters' main argument Monday was that smoking marijuana was better than drinking alcohol.
if alcohol wasn't such an american tradition it would be classified along with heroin and other harder drugs, and in my opinion it can be just as bad.
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LeftyBurnz
Mr. I Eat Butthole
Registered: 06/21/05
Posts: 24,570
Loc: FL
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Re: Pot measure put on Denver city ballot [CO] [Re: CptnGarden]
#4571012 - 08/23/05 01:35 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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definately, if pot were legal i probably wouldnt drink liquor ever again, still have a beer or two a day though.
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Ramuh
Finder of thesubbs
Registered: 07/04/05
Posts: 837
Loc: Columbus, Ohio
Last seen: 9 years, 6 months
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Re: Pot measure put on Denver city ballot [CO] [Re: LeftyBurnz]
#4571015 - 08/23/05 01:37 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Wow...I have my severe doubts to this passing, but its cool to see someone getting enough signatures, getting out there, and giving this a shot.
-------------------- Radio is down for a day or two to transfer all my music, and do some other work. "Light, coming from my mind. We are one, the night has just begun"
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kremit
n00b
Registered: 07/19/05
Posts: 8
Loc: Columbus, Ohio, USA
Last seen: 16 years, 11 hours
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Re: Pot measure put on Denver city ballot [CO] [Re: CptnGarden]
#4571096 - 08/23/05 01:58 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
The supporters' main argument Monday was that smoking marijuana was better than drinking alcohol.
That's one of the arguments I use for the use of mushrooms. Hell, it might even be a better argument for mushrooms than pot -- you don't have to smoke anything (which, theoretically, could be damaging to the lungs but mainly because I can't breathe around really any kind of smoke).
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if alcohol wasn't such an american tradition it would be classified along with heroin and other harder drugs, and in my opinion it can be just as bad.
If not worse. I might be a newbie to mushroom tripping, but from the medical reports I've read on psilocybin-containing mushrooms, it looks like psilocybin is safer to use than alcohol. How many people are killed each year by alcohol poisoning and DUI (although this is possible on shrooms)? Compared to alcohol, mushrooms are (a) better tasting, (b) doesn't cause hangovers, (c) no damage to the liver or really any other part of your body, and d) can be grown in your backyard/basement safely, so its cheaper in the long run.
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CptnGarden
fuck this site
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 11,945
Last seen: 14 years, 10 months
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Re: Pot measure put on Denver city ballot [CO] [Re: kremit]
#4571257 - 08/23/05 02:52 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
(b) doesn't cause hangovers
but it can cause alot of stress on your body in higher doses, and leave you feeling weak and tired the next day if you did the trip during the night. I call this a shroomover.
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d) can be grown in your backyard/basement safely, so its cheaper in the long run
growing mushrooms IS cheaper, but all u need is honey, yeast, and water to make alcohol, and its alot easier to keep sterile than growing mushrooms. But don't get me wrong, I still support mushrooms over alcohol anyday.
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kremit
n00b
Registered: 07/19/05
Posts: 8
Loc: Columbus, Ohio, USA
Last seen: 16 years, 11 hours
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Re: Pot measure put on Denver city ballot [CO] [Re: CptnGarden]
#4572703 - 08/23/05 08:56 PM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Good points. I've never experienced much of a 'shroomover' other than tiredness, but since I've eaten mushrooms late at night, I felt decent the next morning.
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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Re: Pot measure put on Denver city ballot [CO] [Re: veggie]
#4577660 - 08/25/05 01:36 AM (18 years, 7 months ago) |
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Denver initiative would legalize adult possession, use of pot August 25, 2005 - rockymountainnews.com
Denver would become the second city in the nation to legalize the adult use of marijuana if voters approve a ballot measure in November.
The first city was Oakland, Calif. Voters there overwhelmingly approved an initiative last year that requires the city to regulate and tax marijuana, similarly to the way it administers laws on alcohol. It also directs Oakland officials to make pot the city's lowest law enforcement priority.
The new law has not been enacted because it conflicts with the state of California's laws.
Denver's initiative may face the same fate.
The ballot measure would make it legal for adults 21 years and older to possess less than 1 once of marijuana. But state law prohibits the possession of marijuana.
City Council members on Monday begrudgingly cleared the way to put the measure on the Nov. 1 ballot. They didn't have a choice.
The measure's backers, Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, collected more than the 12,000 signatures needed to force the matter onto the ballot.
"This initiative shouldn't even be here at the local level," said Councilman Michael Hancock, one of the measure's most vocal critics. "I've seen the devastating effects of drugs in our urban city.
"I have no tolerance for these kinds of discussions. It has no place in the public dialogue."
City Council members pointed out that 99 percent of the marijuana cases in Denver are prosecuted under state law.
Supporters of Denver's ballot measure argue that smoking marijuana should be regulated and taxed much like alcohol. They also contend that personal use of marijuana causes less harm and law enforcement problems than alcohol.
"A lot of people say that we are encouraging the use of marijuana," said Mason Tvert, executive director of Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation. "We're encouraging an alternative that's less harmful than alcohol."
Tvert said about 85,000 people per year die in alcohol-related incidents.
"We need to have policies that reflect reality and common sense," Tvert said, "and not policies that reflect the morality of elected officials and certain pockets of the population."
One other Colorado city is also dealing with the issue this fall.
Telluride residents will be asked to vote on a ballot measure in November that would make it easier to possess or smoke small amounts of pot without the fear of being arrested or charged with a misdemeanor.
The southwestern Colorado town's ballot measure would mirror an initiative soundly passed in Seattle in 2003 that made arresting and jailing adults for marijuana use a low-enforcement priority.
In the past five years, activists in other states, such as Alaska and Nevada, have pushed similar measures. Cities such as Tallahassee, Fla., and Columbia, Mo., are preparing marijuana initiatives.
"Denver's one of the few cities in the forefront of this issue," said Krissy Oechslin, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, an organization that seeks the passage of laws that regulate the use of marijuana, similarly to alcohol.
"There are a lot of people around the country sticking their necks out because there is growing support for change in the laws that govern marijuana."
Denver's vote will be closely watched, said experts and advocates.
"Denver is the biggest city in the nation to consider such a far-reaching initiative like this," said Brian Vicente, an attorney who heads Sensible Colorado, an organization based in Telluride that's spearheading the ballot measure there. "You have other cities, such as Oakland and Seattle, that have passed such initiatives, but Denver is taking it one step further by attempting to make the use of marijuana outright legal."
Vicente said his group's ultimate goal is to push for a statewide initiative by 2008 that could require the state to tax and regulate marijuana.
Marijuana initiatives Cities and states nationwide that have adopted or rejected initiatives aimed at relaxing laws governing marijuana.
* Seattle: Voters in 2003 passed what is known as the I-75 initiative, which eases enforcement against adults possessing 40 grams or less of pot for personal and medical use. The law still allows the city to freely arrest and prosecute sellers and minors.
* Oakland, Calif.: This city became the first to legalize adult use of marijuana when voters approved a measure that requires the city to regulate and tax marijuana, similarly to the way it administers laws on alcohol.
* States where the issue has been rejected: Nevada, Alaska
Other areas of the country:
* The town of Oak Creek, near Steamboat Springs, passed a resolution earlier this month supporting the medical use of marijuana.
* About 12 districts in Massachusetts, between 2000 and 2002, passed nonbinding initiatives on taxing and regulating marijuana.
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