Yesterday, 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 double the the number of valid signatures required to qualify for the ballot! Approximately 68,000 signatures must be from registered voters in the state.
This is a truly amazing feat and we would like to extend our most sincere thanks to everyone who has supported and gotten involved in this effort over the past six months.
First, we would like to acknowledge all of the volunteers in Colorado who hit the streets to collect signatures from fellow citizens. More than half of the signatures submitted yesterday were collected by more than 500 individuals who volunteered to help us by signing up on 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 private use and possession of marijuana.
We are looking forward to kicking off the official campaign in September, so It should be an exciting two months from there. If you are interested in helping the campaign in any way, please
http://www.safercolorado.org to volunteer or to donate to the campaign.
Sincerely,
Mason Tvert
Campaign Director, SAFER
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The initiative was mentioned in the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, and other local Colorado newspapers, as well as on the ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB and Univision affiliate stations.
From KMGH ABC 7:
Voters Will Likely Decide Whether To Legalize Pot Statewide
DENVER -- Voters could be deciding on whether to legalize marijuana statewide this fall.
Members of the group Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation dropped off 129,000 signatures at the Secretary of State's office Monday morning. The signatures of 68,000 registered Colorado voters have to be verified before the measure can be placed on the ballot.
"The fact that we collected nearly twice as many signatures as are required under statute highlights the widespread support for ending the madness of marijuana prohibition in Colorado," said SAFER Campaign Director Mason Tvert.
The measure, if approved by voters, would make possession of one ounce of marijuana legal in Colorado for those 21 or older.
SAFER helped get a similar measure on last fall's ballot that made the same amount of marijuana legal in Denver. Initiative 100 was approved by a majority of Denver voters and made the city the first in the country to vote to remove all penalties for private adult marijuana possession.
However, state authorities had said Denver's Initiative-100 was virtually meaningless because of state and federal laws that make even small amounts of marijuana illegal.
Tvert said even though Denver voters had expressed their opinion that a small pinch of pot should be legal, people were still being arrested and prosecuted under state law and he wants that to stop.
The statewide proposal would get rid of the state's prohibition of marijuana and allow cities to make the rules about pot use.
"Last year's victory in Denver clearly demonstrated the support we're receiving in the state Capitol," Tvert said. "But tens of thousands of signatures poured in from Colorado Springs, Grand Junction and other areas of the state outside the Front Range. This just goes to show that regardless of Colorado citizens' political persuasions, many agree that punishing adults for using a substance less harmful than alcohol is an absurd waste of time, money and life."
The state's attorney general, John Suthers, does not buy the argument that pot is safer. He and the governor feel the measure would be defeated in the fall. Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff -- a Denver Democrat -- opposes changing the state law. He thinks drug use in the state is already too high and said the matter would wind up in the courts.
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Unfortunately, not all the news these past few days has been good news.
On the evening of Friday, August 4, a 22-year-old Boulder-area man suspected of growing marijuana was killed by the Taser of a Lafayette police officer following an investigation by the Lafayette Police Department in conjunction with the Boulder County Drug Task Force.
Family members of the man, Ryan Michael Wilson, are rightfully upset by what they believe to be law enforcement's excessive use of force in detaining the 132-pound man who they say "could never hurt anyone." They clearly do not think the 11 small plants he was allegedly growing in a field warranted such treatment by police, and we could not agree more.
Yesterday, SAFER released the following statement:
We are saddened by the tragic death of Ryan Wilson. While many of the facts of this situation remain unknown, it appears as if a young man was killed because he was allegedly growing a few marijuana plants in a field. This use of lethal force -- regardless of whether it was supposed to be "non-lethal" or "less-lethal" -- was in response to the possibility that he was growing a non-lethal plant, and it is utterly unacceptable.
No act could more clearly illustrate the failure the marijuana policies in this state and in this nation. We arrest, prosecute, jail, and sometimes even kill people for using or possessing a substance that is inarguably less harmful than alcohol. This would be an irrational policy even in a nation where alcohol was illegal. But in a society where we tolerate and even celebrate the use of alcohol, it is simply absurd.
We did not know Ryan, and we do not necessarily know all the circumstances surrounding the incident this past weekend. But we do know the government's war against marijuana is responsible. We send our best wishes to Ryan's family and friends, and we will continue to fight to end marijuana prohibition and such preventable tragedies under the guise of protecting people.
