Legalization or Regulation in Colorado?

In Colorado this year, there are strong efforts to reform marijuana laws. Two different campaigns, Legalize 2012 and Amendment 64, are quickly gaining the support of weedists and medical marijuana patients. Criticized as “in-fighting” by many that do not want any form of legalization, these two different campaigns have two different goals.

Amendment 64: The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act of 2012

Overview/Positive Points

• Amendment 64 seeks to regulate marijuana in a similar manner to alcohol.
• It would decriminalize possession of an ounce or less and paraphernalia. Best of all, individuals 21 and older could grow 6 or fewer plants.
• Amendment 64 also allows for licensing of cultivation, manufacturing and retail cannabis businesses which will be taxed.
• My favorite part of the amendment is what they do with the taxes; “requiring that the first $40 million in revenue raised annually by such tax be credited to the public school capital construction assistance fund”

Negative Points

• The illegality of ‘stoned driving’ would put all driving marijuana users in danger of arrest, because marijuana remains detectable in the body for much longer than its effects last. This is something that current testing does not take into account. You could get arrested because you smoked a joint a week ago.
• Cultivation must occur in an enclosed, locked space. This means backyard grows would require the serious investment of a secure greenhouse.
• The licensing fees to start a new business are incredibly expensive, discouraging small business ventures. Owners of medical marijuana businesses receive a 90% price break on this fee, giving these businesses a huge head start over any new competition.

 Legalize 2012: Cannabis Re-legalization Act of 2012.

Overview/Positive Points –

• Legalize 2012 would re-legalize cannabis for all uses for adults. It would “Treat commercial cannabis as an agricultural product either equally or less restrictively than grapes, tomatoes or other harmless botanical plants”.
• It would repeal all criminal statutes relating to cannabis.
• It takes several steps to discourage federal involvement/prosecution: requiring the attorney general to file lawsuits against the federal government and notifying them that cannabis needs to be removed from the federal schedule of controlled substances, prohibiting state resources from being spent to assist federal investigations and even providing funding to assist Colorado citizens in their legal defense.
• Taxes on cannabis would be much lower (2%-10%, decided by voters) than those under Amendment 64 (15%).
• It would require the governor, attorney general, general assembly and state agencies to implement the article,
  and would investigate, impeach or remove from office any state official that does not uphold and enforce it.
• New and actually accurate tests would have to be devised to test for cannabis impairment before anyone could be arrested for stoned driving.
• It creates a commission of seven governor appointed officials to regulate commercial cannabis. It states that six of these officials must have been advocating re-legalization for the past 10 years. This will protect against a commission that would simply shut everything down.
• It also disbands the current state marijuana regulatory agencies.

 Negative Points –

• The only negative point of this initiative is that it will be fought harder by opponents than Amendment 64, because of looser regulation and because the same businesses that stand to gain a lot from Amendment 64 stand to lose their advantage under the cannabis re-legalization act.

So, which of these amendments should we Colorado voters support?

In my personal opinion, anyone that wants to see some kind of legalization happen should support both of these initiatives. The last thing we want to do as a voting bloc is to split our votes 50/50 across the two initiatives, walk away with neither passing and letting down both Colorado and the nation.

If you live in Colorado and believe that enough people’s lives have been ruined for nothing more than their appreciation of Cannabis, please sign the virtual petition for Legalize 2012. Spread the word to everyone you know. If we get enough people to admit that marijuana is not dangerous and should not get you locked up, we will see full legalization of humanity’s most compatible plant.

Remember the numbers are on our side at the national level, we just have to carry the ball into the end zone!