Posted 1:49 AM by SAFER Choice |

DEA Caught Flip-Flopping

For the quick version of the entire DEA vs. Amendment 44 story, please visit Colorado Confidential where there is an excellent run-down (or two) that brings up some very interesting questions. Unfortunately for the DEA, the more answers they provide, the more questions that arise.

Upon being outed by the Daily Camera for what appeared to be campaigning against the Colorado marijuana legalization initiative, the DEA made it very clear that they are the "experts" on marijuana and marijuana policy:

"The American taxpayer does have a right to have the people they've paid to become experts in this business tell them what this is going to do," he said. "They should benefit from this expertise."

That's funny, Jeff. We don't remember being asked if we wanted to pay you, nor were we aware that the DEA was now in the business of law making and not law enforcing.

Nevertheless, voters might want to reconsider whether these guys are really the geniuses they make themselves out to be. They sure are making some stupid moves.

For example, the Camera story reported this:

Sweetin said the $10,000 the committee has to spend came from private donations, including some from agents' own accounts. He said the DEA isn't trying to "protect Coloradans from themselves" but that the agency is the expert when it comes to drugs.

Then the DEA must have realized they made a boo-boo, because yesterday ABC 7 in Denver reported this:

"We don't have $10,000 in money. There may be organizations that are raising money," said Sweetin. "There is no $10,000 in money that I've ever heard of."

Props to Sweetin for bringing up the idea of "protect[ing] Coloradans from themselves." This phrase illuminates so many of the great points we've been trying to make:

- The private adult use of marijuana is a victimless "crime"; if you're prohibiting someone from putting something less harmful than alcohol into their body that causes no harm to others, then you are indeed "protecting Coloradans from themselves"

- More importantly, the DEA and other law enforcers should focus more of their time, efforts and resources on protecting Coloradans from others. Marijuana use does not contribute to violent crime, domestic violence or sexual assault, but alcohol -- a drug the DEA cares nothing about -- does.

Does the DEA really have Coloradans' best interest in mind? When the same government that increases the DEA's and ONDCP's funding to fight marijuana also cuts funding from alcohol education programs and underage alcohol enforcement, it has to make you wonder.

After all, this isn't a state that suffered a variety of tragic marijuana overdose deaths in the past couple years. In fact, did we mention there's never been a single marijuana overdose death in history? And there are thousands of alcohol overdose deaths each year (including a couple highly publicized cases in Colorado).

For some reason, I don't see the ATF gearing up to recriminalize alcohol in Colorado. So if they can let adults drink, why can't the DEA let adults make the safer choice to use marijuana instead?

Posted 12:30 AM by SAFER Choice |

'Ritter Vs. The Counter Culture'

Colorado Confidential ran a pretty hysterical story about Bill Ritter's opposition to Amendment 44, the initiative to make marijuana legal for adults in Colorado, despite the fact he has admitted to using marijuana.

It discusses how Ritter "experimented" with marijuana "a few times." We're glad to see Half-Baked Bill thoroughly replicated his study and clearly -- or maybe not so clearly -- put some thought into the position he has taken on marijuana. But we do think it's pretty beat that he wants to punish people for making the exact same choice he made.

In fact, Ritter's story is a great example of two things:

1) the fact that marijuana is not a direct gateway to heroin -- something our opponents have led people to believe for years. Clearly Ritter is not a heroin addict. Neither is Bill Clinton, nor Newt Gingrich, nor George W. Bush, nor Clarence Thomas, nor Michael Bloomberg, nor.....

2) how far someone who chooses to use marijuana can go in life if they don't get busted.

The campaign has made it very clear to the press (and now to the Ritter campaign) that it will use this campaign season to highlight the hypocrisy of many elected officials when it comes to marijuana and alcohol.

You might remember last year when our Denver initiative campaign went after Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who somehow came to the conclusion that adults should not be allowed to smoke a joint in the privacy of their own home, but should be allowed to drive to his pub to get liquored up.

We hope Half-Baked Bill will not cut and run like Hick and actually step into the ring to debate the position he has taken on marijuana, particularly in terms of his opposition to Amendment 44. We certainly look forward to hearing him explain how he managed to avoid the gateway, not to mention why he thinks tens of thousands of the people who might vote for him should be considered criminals.

Posted 12:09 AM by SAFER Choice |

Busted!: DEA Called Out for Opposing Amendment 44


On Sunday, August 27, the Daily Camera in Boulder reported that the federal Drug Enforcement Agency appeared to be campaigning against Amendment 44, the initiative to legalize marijuana for adults in Colorado.

The story set off a barrage of media coverage of the initiative and stimulated a great deal of debate regarding whether it is appropriate for the DEA -- an agency within the executive branch of the federal government -- to be actively campaigning against a state ballot measure. There is a good run-down of the story at Colorado Confidential.

Editorials blasting the DEA appeared in the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and Aurora Daily Sun & Sentinel. The Rocky said it best in the huge headline accompanying its daily editorial:

DEA should keep out of state politics
Fate of marijuana measure a local decision

Posted 11:53 PM by SAFER Choice |

Rolling Stone Covers Colorado Initiative

Good news travels fast...

Rolling Stone magazine provided the following write-up on the National Affairs Daily section of its site:

Rocky Mountain High: Dope Measure on Colorado Ballot

The nonprofit group SAFER (Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation) is building on its success in de-criminalizing personal pot use in Denver. It announced today that it has gathered enough signatures to place a measure on Colorado’s November ballot that would make it legal for residents 21 and over to posess and use an ounce of marijuana. From the group’s press release:

“The campaign will highlight the hypocrisy of laws that prohibit the use of marijuana while allowing and even encouraging the use of alcohol, an infinitely more harmful drug,” said SAFER Campaign Director Mason Tvert.

“We will be asking Colorado Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave why she continues to accept so much money from the National Beer Wholesaler’s Association - the primary lobbying arm of the beer, wine and liquor industry - when police in her district attribute the above-average rate of rape there to above-average alcohol consumption.

“And we expect Colorado gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter to explain why he is publicly opposing this initiative despite the fact that he used marijuana on multiple occasions,” Tvert said. “There is little doubt he would have gone on to become Denver’s district attorney and a frontrunner in the race for Colorado’s highest office had he been arrested and prosecuted for his choice to use marijuana. This just goes to show that many responsible, hard-working people around Colorado can choose to use marijuana - much like many choose to use alcohol - and they are not the drug addicts and deadbeats our opponents would like to have people think.”

Posted 11:28 PM by SAFER Choice |

Signatures Verified -- Amendment 44 on November Ballot

Yesterday the Colorado Secretary of State's Office issued a statement of sufficiency for the Colorado marijuana legalization initiative petition and placed the measure on the November 7 ballot as Amendment 44.

The SOS also released details of their count, which showed that we ended up submitting 130,815 total signatures -- nearly twice the approximately 68,000 we needed.

A write-up is available at Colorado Confidential, and SAFER Campaign Director Mason Tvert did interviews on statewide KCFR Colorado Public Radio (CO's NPR affiliate), Denver-based KBPI with Uncle Nasty, and Grand Junction's KNZZ. He is also scheduled to record an interview with Boulder-based public station KGNU today.

Posted 6:16 PM by SAFER Choice |

Campaign in the News
The campaign garnered a good deal of attention this past week following the submission of more than 129,000 signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State.

Some of the better coverage came from ABC 7 News and Colorado Confidential, and the story was also covered on NBC 9, CBS 4, WB2, FOX 31, in the Rocky Mountain News, the Denver Post, the Pueblo Chieftain, the Durango Herald, and just today in the Grand Junction Sentinel.

The plethora of coverage is a good sign for the campaign, and we hope to be in the news again soon once the Secretary of State confirms we have qualified for the November ballot. In fact, the SOS just announced today that the three initiatives that turned in before us have all qualified and will appear on the ballot as amendments 41, 42 and 43. Thus, it is quite likely we will end up as Amendment 44.

Posted 9:08 PM by SAFER Choice |

129,000+ Signatures Submitted

We are thrilled to announce that the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative Committee, supported by SAFER, submitted nearly 130,000 signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State in support of its statewide marijuana legalization initiative. This is nearly twice the amount needed to qualify for the ballot! In order to qualify, approximately 68,000 signatures must be from registered voters in the state.

This is an amazing accomplishment and we would like to extend our most sincere thanks to everyone who has supported our efforts over the past six months. First, we would like to acknowledge all of our supporters in Colorado who hit the streets to collect signatures from their fellow citizens. More than half of the signatures submitted were collected by individuals -- more than 500 overall -- who volunteered to help us through our campaign Web site.

We also owe a debt of gratitude to everyone who has made a financial contribution to support the campaign. Without this support, we could not have hired the professional circulators needed to help put us over the top. If you were one of the many donors, please know that your contribution made a huge difference.

The Colorado Secretary of State is expected to determine by the end of this month whether the initiative will appear on the November ballot. If adopted by the voters, the initiative will amend state law so that the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana is legal for anyone 21 years of age or older.

Last year, we made Denver the first major city in the United States to eliminate all penalties for marijuana possession. With hard work and a little luck, we will be similarly successful this fall and Colorado will be the first state to eliminate penalties for the use and possession of marijuana.

We look forward to kicking off the official campaign in September. It should be an exciting two month. If you are interested in helping the campaign in any way, please visit our Web site to volunteer or to make a contribution.