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By JON SARCHE

Associated Press Writer

Posted November 2 2005, 7:40 AM EST

 

 

DENVER -- Residents of the Mile High City have voted to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults. Authorities, though, said state possession laws will be applied instead.

 

With 100 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, 54 percent, or 56,001 voters, cast ballots for the ordinance, while 46 percent, or 48,632 voters, voted against it.

 

Under the measure, residents over 21 years old could possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

 

"We educated voters about the facts that marijuana is less harmful to the user and society than alcohol," said Mason Tvert, campaign organizer for SAFER, or Safer Alternatives For Enjoyable Recreation. "To prohibit adults from making the rational, safer choice to use marijuana is bad public policy."

 

Bruce Mirken of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project said he hoped the approval will launch a national trend toward legalizing a drug whose enforcement he said causes more problems than it cures.

 

Seattle, Oakland, Calif., and a few college towns already have laws making possession the lowest law enforcement priority.

 

The Denver proposal seemed to draw at least as much attention for supporters' campaign tactics as it did for the question of legalizing the drug.

 

Tvert argued that legalizing marijuana would reduce consumption of alcohol, which he said leads to higher rates of car accidents, domestic and street violence and crime.

 

The group criticized Mayor John Hickenlooper for opposing the proposal, noting his ownership of a popular brewpub. It also said recent violent crimes -- including the shootings of four people last weekend -- as a reason to legalize marijuana to steer people away from alcohol use.

 

Those tactics angered local officials and some voters. Opponents also said it made no sense to prevent prosecution by Denver authorities while marijuana charges are most often filed under state and federal law.

 

The measure would not affect the medical marijuana law voters approved in 2000. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that medical marijuana laws in Colorado and nine other states would not protect licensed users from federal prosecution.

 

Also Tuesday, voters in the ski resort town of Telluride rejected a proposal to make possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by people 18 or older the town's lowest law enforcement priority. The measure was rejected on a vote of 308-332.

 

 

 

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationwor...mostemailedlink

Does this mean that Rickey Williams is going to be a Bronco by the end of the year? :mischief

I wish the USA would just legalize/decriminalize the stuff. Have it regulated and taxed and save everyone a serious headache.

I think it is absurd to say that legalizing marijuana (even though I'm for it) will diminish alcohol sales.

*Will vacation in Denver now*

Regardless, marijuana is a GREAT cash crop.

Sorry to dissapoint you guys, but pot is still illegal in Denver. State and Federal laws trump city laws.

One step closer to the edge...

I hate how beer and hard liquor has become so sexy with advertising and accepted in teenage lifestyle while marijuana is condemned by alot of parents and the public.

 

When I was 17 and 18 in high school my parents knew I was going to drink so as long as I stayed at someone's house and didnt go on the roads after drinking, they didnt care.

 

When I got caught with some hash, it was the end of the world and I got busted bad. I hate the perception that weed is worse then alcohol.

I hate how beer and hard liquor has become so sexy with advertising and accepted in teenage lifestyle while marijuana is condemned by alot of parents and the public.

 

When I was 17 and 18 in high school my parents knew I was going to drink so as long as I stayed at someone's house and didnt go on the roads after drinking, they didnt care.

 

When I got caught with some hash, it was the end of the world and I got busted bad. I hate the perception that weed is worse then alcohol.

 

 

Eggsactly.

 

I think it was Lenny Bruce who said, "One day pot will become legal because all the lawyers are going to have to cover their ass for what they did in college."

I hate how beer and hard liquor has become so sexy with advertising and accepted in teenage lifestyle while marijuana is condemned by alot of parents and the public.

 

When I was 17 and 18 in high school my parents knew I was going to drink so as long as I stayed at someone's house and didnt go on the roads after drinking, they didnt care.

 

When I got caught with some hash, it was the end of the world and I got busted bad. I hate the perception that weed is worse then alcohol.

 

same sh*t happened to me.....

The government trusts you as an adult (once you're of age) to be responsible enough to decide when you can drink & when you shouldn't, whether or not you want to smoke cigarettes, and trusts you not to overdose on prescription pain medication.

 

However they do not think you are responsible enough as an adult to decide whether or not you want to smoke a small amount of weed once in a while.

 

How silly.

The government trusts you as an adult (once you're of age) to be responsible enough to decide when you can drink & when you shouldn't, whether or not you want to smoke cigarettes, and trusts you not to overdose on prescription pain medication.

 

However they do not think you are responsible enough as an adult to decide whether or not you want to smoke a small amount of weed once in a while.

 

How silly.

 

Actually, the federal government made pot illegal because they feared evil blacks and Hispanics would smoke it then go out and rape the white women.

The government trusts you as an adult (once you're of age) to be responsible enough to decide when you can drink & when you shouldn't, whether or not you want to smoke cigarettes, and trusts you not to overdose on prescription pain medication.

 

However they do not think you are responsible enough as an adult to decide whether or not you want to smoke a small amount of weed once in a while.

 

How silly.

 

Actually, the federal government made pot illegal because they feared evil blacks and Hispanics would smoke it then go out and rape the white women.

 

I thought that was for cocaine and crack.

The government trusts you as an adult (once you're of age) to be responsible enough to decide when you can drink & when you shouldn't, whether or not you want to smoke cigarettes, and trusts you not to overdose on prescription pain medication.

 

However they do not think you are responsible enough as an adult to decide whether or not you want to smoke a small amount of weed once in a while.

 

How silly.

 

Actually, the federal government made pot illegal because they feared evil blacks and Hispanics would smoke it then go out and rape the white women.

 

I thought that was for cocaine and crack.

Nah. The penalties for cocaine are lighter than those for crack. Marijuana was made illegal in the 30s, I believe.

I hate how beer and hard liquor has become so sexy with advertising and accepted in teenage lifestyle while marijuana is condemned by alot of parents and the public.

 

When I was 17 and 18 in high school my parents knew I was going to drink so as long as I stayed at someone's house and didnt go on the roads after drinking, they didnt care.

 

When I got caught with some hash, it was the end of the world and I got busted bad. I hate the perception that weed is worse then alcohol.

 

 

On the other side of the coin, (in my high school at least) the kids that had pot ended up in much worse condition then the kids who drank alcochol.

 

I hate to be cliche and call it a "gateway drug" but there is a noteable trend....

It is a gateway drug.

It is a gateway drug.

 

 

Everything is a gateway something. I see little vitality with that point, especially when stated alone.

I hate how beer and hard liquor has become so sexy with advertising and accepted in teenage lifestyle while marijuana is condemned by alot of parents and the public.

 

When I was 17 and 18 in high school my parents knew I was going to drink so as long as I stayed at someone's house and didnt go on the roads after drinking, they didnt care.

 

When I got caught with some hash, it was the end of the world and I got busted bad. I hate the perception that weed is worse then alcohol.

 

 

On the other side of the coin, (in my high school at least) the kids that had pot ended up in much worse condition then the kids who drank alcochol.

 

I hate to be cliche and call it a "gateway drug" but there is a noteable trend....

I know 4 people from high school who were injured or killed in car wrecks, and one of my best friends, because of alcohol.

 

I know no one that was killed or hurt because they were high.

I hate how beer and hard liquor has become so sexy with advertising and accepted in teenage lifestyle while marijuana is condemned by alot of parents and the public.

 

When I was 17 and 18 in high school my parents knew I was going to drink so as long as I stayed at someone's house and didnt go on the roads after drinking, they didnt care.

 

When I got caught with some hash, it was the end of the world and I got busted bad. I hate the perception that weed is worse then alcohol.

 

 

On the other side of the coin, (in my high school at least) the kids that had pot ended up in much worse condition then the kids who drank alcochol.

 

I hate to be cliche and call it a "gateway drug" but there is a noteable trend....

I know 4 people from high school who were injured or killed in car wrecks, and one of my best friends, because of alcohol.

 

I know no one that was killed or hurt because they were high.

 

 

I wasn't talking in terms of life and death, but your argument for that is certainly valid.

 

 

I was talking more about 'where are they now' kind of outlook. Kids that drank and pretty much stayed away from weed did much better in school and are now in good colleges. My friends that smoked pot, well, they're a much different story.

I hate how beer and hard liquor has become so sexy with advertising and accepted in teenage lifestyle while marijuana is condemned by alot of parents and the public.

 

When I was 17 and 18 in high school my parents knew I was going to drink so as long as I stayed at someone's house and didnt go on the roads after drinking, they didnt care.

 

When I got caught with some hash, it was the end of the world and I got busted bad. I hate the perception that weed is worse then alcohol.

 

 

On the other side of the coin, (in my high school at least) the kids that had pot ended up in much worse condition then the kids who drank alcochol.

 

I hate to be cliche and call it a "gateway drug" but there is a noteable trend....

 

I've done both. There are losers are both sides of the spectrum. Regardless. There are people who are going to abuse drugs regardless of whether you drink it or smoke it. Look at the studies on loser/lethargic potheads who don't do anything and then look at the studies on the alchoholism problem in this country. I'd argue, that for people who do one or the other that those numbers would be roughly equal.

 

The thing is, it shouldn't make you a criminal if you smoke a joint anymore than it does if you take a drink. I don't think it's the federal government's business to be mandating how I decide to get high (until it comes to the public highways, etc., like alchohol).

I've done my fair share of both as well, however not until I was out of high school. I see much less harm in a college age person partaking in weed than I do of a high school kid.

 

I make this point only because Passion mentioned how his parents flipped out when he had weed in high school.

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